Meadow Creek Dairy

Galax, Virginia

Meadow Creek Dairy is a family farm located in the Piedmont region of Virginia - the hilly land that abuts the Blue Ridge Mountain range. Rick and Helen Feete began dairy farming there in the 1980's and turned to cheesemaking as a way to add value to their Jersey milk in 1998. Meadow Creek is a seasonal grass based dairy, meaning that they only make cheese when their cows are out on pasture - from mid-March until December. Helen and Kat Feete are the head cheesemakers in the family, and produce three varieties of complex and delicious raw cows' milk cheese.

Father-son team Rick and Jim Feete are responsible for Meadow Creek’s only crop – the verdant pasture that makes for such happy cows and such incredible cheese. The highlands of southwestern Virginia could be compared to famed European Alpine cheesemaking regions in terms of their lush, varied grasses and forage for the cows to eat. Rick and Jim work the land without pesticides or herbicides, maintaining a biodiversity in the soil and pasture that shows in the finished product – the cheese! The cows are predominantly Jerseys, but over the years the Feete's have introduced some European genetics to diversify their genetic lines and breed for hardier mountain cows.

Photo Credits: Meadow Creek Dairy