{"id":31358,"date":"2017-09-06T10:30:01","date_gmt":"2017-09-06T14:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/?p=31358"},"modified":"2019-06-06T11:12:13","modified_gmt":"2019-06-06T15:12:13","slug":"planet-cheese-risk-taking-rancher-reaps-rewards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developer83.wordpress-developer.us\/culturecheesemag\/planet-cheese-risk-taking-rancher-reaps-rewards\/","title":{"rendered":"Planet Cheese: Risk-Taking Rancher Reaps Rewards"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n\"Planet Planet Cheese<\/strong><\/a> is a weekly blog devoted to everything cheese: products, people, places, news, and views. James Beard Award\u2013winning journalist Janet Fletcher writes <\/em>Planet Cheese from her home in Napa Valley. Janet is the author of <\/em>Cheese & Wine, <\/em>Cheese & Beer, and <\/em>The Cheese Course and an occasional contributor to <\/em>culture<\/strong><\/a>. Visit <\/em>janetfletcher.com<\/a> to sign up for <\/em>Planet Cheese and view Janet\u2019s current schedule of cheese appreciation classes.<\/em><\/p>\n

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The question<\/strong> I wanted to ask Jack Rudolph and didn\u2019t, was what his father thought about his career change. None of my business, but still. I know what MY father would have said if I had had a fancy private-college education and opportunities in high-tech and then chosen to milk goats and make cheese.
\nI\u2019m thinking that Rudolph\u2019s dad, formerly chief of operations for Stanford Business School, would have advised his son to get an MBA, draw up a business plan and then shred it because, really, goat cheese?
\nA cheesemaker might have encouraged him to take some dairy-science classes, intern at a few creameries and maybe muck out some goat barns.<\/p>\n

Rudolph did none of this. He learned to make cheese in his home kitchen, with ingredients purchased online. Yet his two-year-old Stepladder C<\/a>reamery<\/a>, near Hearst Castle on California\u2019s Central Coast, has gotten traction fast. There must be some lessons here.<\/h3>\n

Rudolph studied economics at Williams College in Massachusetts, then went to work for a tech start-up. But he soon wanted out. Making goat cheese at home was more fun, and his cheeses were improving.
\nRudolph told his dad he wanted to resuscitate his grandfather\u2019s 750-acre avocado orchard and cattle ranch in San Simeon. \u201cThe farm was failing,\u201d says Rudolph, \u201cand I wanted to get away from the tech job.\u201d
\nSince moving onto the remote ranch in 2012, he has returned the avocado trees to health, planted 60 varieties of citrus, and built a creamery by hand. He milks about 35 LaMancha goats (heading for 60 next year) and purchases cow\u2019s milk to keep cheese production going when the goats are dry. Hand-me-down equipment helped him stretch his budget. \u201cI have everyone\u2019s old everything,\u201d jokes Rudolph.<\/p>\n

Margaret Morris<\/a>, a renowned Canadian consultant, assisted with recipes and trouble-shooting, entirely by phone and e-mail. They have never met. \u201cI am five to ten years ahead because of her,\u201d admits Rudolph.<\/h4>\n

Although he now has distributors, he sells a lot of his output at farmers\u2019 markets: the cheese, avocados and citrus, plus beef and heirloom pork finished on avocados and whey. Farm tours are a huge part of Stepladder\u2019s business now, says Rudolph. His soon-to-be-wife, Michelle Angell, oversees that experience, which consumers can book online<\/a>. A feature about the tours on BuzzFeed generated so many calls that Angell had to turn her phone off.<\/p>\n

Some advice from Rudolph for would-be farmstead cheesemakers:<\/p>\n