Cheese maker dreamed of becoming a dairy farmer

December 8, 2006

By MARY AMES

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Even regular customers who buy cheese curds at the corner of Trunk and Bogard roads may not know Gary Beu always wanted to be a Palmer dairy farmer.

&#8220Maybe it was bad genetics,” Beu said.

Before he realized that dream, Beu, with his wife, Carla, operated Aviation North, a flight school and air taxi in Chugiak for 10 years.

That and dairy farming are notorious for long hours, high overhead and uncontrollable factors.

&#8220They are weather-related businesses that are big holes to throw money into,” Beu said.

In 1990, the Beu family bought 20 acres of raw land off Palmer-Fishhook Road.

&#8220There was nothing but trees,” he said.

That summer, they put in a driveway, did some clearing, built a barn, put in a well and septic and bought a few

sheep. It was the beginning of

Windsong Farm.

&#8220It was a hobby farm, but we were there, finally,” he said.

Two years later, Beu and a neighbor with seven children decided &#8220to go in halfsies” and buy a cow, he said. The families traded milking chores every three months.

Then the cow had a calf, which had a calf, and so on every year, he said, and he couldn't part with the critters.

&#8220We ended up with a dairy with too much milk,” he said.

&#8220I said, ‘We gotta make cheese.' Nobody had done it before. I may be learning why.”

The initial plan, in 2001, was to make Gouda and other aged cheeses, but the state veterinarian - at the farm inspecting the process - suggested Beu make cheese curds instead of tying up all his money in the aging process.

&#8220I didn't know what that was,” Beu said.

&#8220He said they sell by the ton in Wisconsin and Minnesota.”

Beu was attracted to the idea of making cheese curds in the morning and selling them that afternoon.

Nobody in Alaska could teach him how to make curds, though, so he learned by

experimenting.

&#8220The first taste, personally, I was underwhelmed,” he said. &#8220I like sharp cheese and this is real mild and moist. I'm a meat-and-potatoes guy who can eat cheeseburgers three times a week.”

Now, Windsong Farm makes four flavors of cheese curd, Beu said: plain with a little salt, Cajun spice, zesty Italian, and garlic and dill.

The spices need to be added while the curds are very moist, so it won't work for people to buy plain cheese curds and spice them to taste at home, he said.

But there are other things people do with cheese curds.

&#8220A lot of people batter them and deep fry them,” he said. &#8220In Canada, they make a dish called poutine, taking fresh-cut french fries, fresh cheese curds and pouring on chicken-milk gravy.”

To cut down on labor, the Beus sold the dairy herd and now buy their milk, but even so, a normal cheese-making day starts at 2 a.m., he said, and the curds are packaged by about 3 p.m. Then Beu goes out to sell the curds while his wife cleans up. Chore-wise, things are done by about 7:30 p.m. On Tuesdays, Beu sells curds at the four-way stop at Trunk and Bogard, Wednesdays he sells to local grocery stores, and Thursdays he sells in Peters Creek.

But in spite of all the hard work, Windsong Farm is sinking in red ink.

&#8220We borrowed all the money in the world and started the cheese operation,” Beu said. &#8220We are steadily and slowly growing, but the USDA said we can't do this anymore. We are convinced we're three to six months away from making full consistent payments, but we have a lot of behind payments, and nobody is convinced we can do it.”

Beu said he needs to almost double sales to stay afloat. But, he has had offers of help from people in the community who don't want to see Windsong Farm go down the drain.

&#8220It's sad for us and sad for the community,” he said. &#8220We have people say, ‘Please don't close,' We've had several people offer free labor to help with all this, but we haven't figured out what we can have them do.”

Contact Mary Ames at

352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.