Food Safety Basics for Artisan Cheesemakers / Ongoing

By Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy

Registration open now.  / $49; free to WASCA members with code

Vat Pasteurizer Workshop / Ongoing

By Cornell College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

The course consists entirely of online self-paced content and is for individuals who have responsibility for operating the vat pasteurizer or for those thinking of starting a new small-scale business. The key components of vat pasteurization include the importance of pasteurization, pasteurizer construction, thermometer requirements, chart recorders, raw milk quality, and pasteurizer cleaning and maintenance. This course has rolling admission. You may begin the course once your registration and payment are confirmed. Participants have 4 weeks to complete the course, either at home or at their facility. Registrations are accepted at any time.

• Pacific Coast Coalition – Dairy Business Innovation Initiative (PCC-DBII): Seasonal rounds of funding for dairy processor businesses in California, Oregon, Washington, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.
• USDA Grants & Loans – Federal grant and loan programs for farm businesses and organizations across the U.S.
• Tilth Alliance Organic & Sustainable Farming Fund – Grants to support farmers pursuing organic and regenerative agricultural practices.

• Food Safety Tools You Can Use (with Food Safety Training Course and Discount Code): Prepared by Dairy Farmers of Washington and Center for US Dairy
• Environmental Monitoring in the Dairy Industry [Course]: Offered by International Food Protection Training Institute
• FDA Food Safety Modernization Act Rules & Guidance
• FDA Food Facility Registration
• FDA Food Facility Attestation : Less than 1 million in sales, etc.
• FDA Prevention Strategies to Enhance Food Safety
• Eagle Certification SQF Fundamentals Verification Assessment Program
• WSDA Dairy Food Safety
• WSDA Recall Rapid Response Team
• FSPCA Food Safety Preventative Controls Alliance
• Preventive Controls Checklist (via Wisconsin Dept. of Ag)
• HAACP Principles & Application Guidelines
• HAACP Plan Templates & Forms
• HAACP vs. Preventive Controls
• Safe Ice Cream & Dairy Food Safety Map (IDFA)

• USDA REAP Grant Award Program : Rural Energy for America Program Renewable Energy Systems & Energy Efficiency Improvement Guaranteed Loans & Grants
• Local and Regional Food Systems Response to COVID : Webinar series on business topics relevant local food producers and organizations

• Edible Alpha : Financial training and resources for making money in food.

• NWIRC Northwest Innovation Resource Center : The NWIRC is a strategic partner for innovators – entrepreneurs and inventors – to help bring their ideas to life.

• NABC Northwest Agriculture Business Center : NABC helps farmers establish new enterprises, and helps make existing businesses more profitable, by providing business feasibility, planning and implementation guidance, connections to markets and capital, and access to resources.

• Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County: The Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County carries out business attraction, retention and expansion and collaborative engagement to achieve a prosperous, sustainable and equitable community while maintaining Skagit County’s natural beauty and quality of life.

• Small Business Administration/ SCORE mentorships : The SBA helps Americans start, build and grow businesses. SCORE volunteers work with the SBA to provide small business mentoring and training to entrepreneurs through SBA offices.

• Specialty Food Association Learning Center: The SFA is a membership-based trade association founded in 1952 and currently representing 3,500+ businesses. The SFA vision is to “Shape the Future of Food.” Our members are specialty food artisans, purveyors, importers and entrepreneurs, as well as distributors, retailers, and others involved in the specialty food trade.

• Vermont Cheese Council – New Cheesemaker Resources Hub: The Vermont Cheese Council is made up of cheesemaking organizations from across Vermont as well as the suppliers, distributors, retailers, and friends that support them.

• F.A.C.T. Food Animal Concerns Trust : Webinars and grant opportunities for farms focused on humane animal treatment

• Sarah Flack : Grass-based livestock and pasture information

• ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture : Grants and resources for farmers

• Science of Artisan Cheese : Conference webinars from the British Specialist cheesemakers Association

• Microbial Foods : Excellent cheese science from Dr. Benjamin Wolfe and Bronwen Percival

• The Black Sheep School of Cheesemaking : Natural cheesemaking consulting, classes and books

• University of Guelph Dairy Science and Technology

• Peter Dixon : Cheesemaking consulting, classes and helpful publications

• ACS Safe Cheesemaking Hub : American Cheesemaking Society resources for cheesemakers

• ACS Learning Center : Webinars on topics relating to cheesemaking and food-safety related topics. (For ACS members only.)

• Cheese Science Toolkit : Excellent online resource for simplifying cheese science concepts

• Connect U : Learning platform featuring free and paid video courses

• Summary on Cheese and Health: Handout from the National Dairy Council

Elisa Daun, “Washington State Department of Agriculture’s Export Resources.” Presented at WASCA Annual Member Meeting. January 30, 2025.

Nathan Stacey, “Popular Farming Concepts and their Link to Dairies.” Presented at WASCA Annual Member Meeting. January 21, 2022.

Courtney C. Johnson, “Introduction to Our 2021 USDA Farmers Market Promotion Program Grant Award.” Presented at WASCA Annual Member Meeting. January 21, 2022.

Daniel Wing. “Educational Webinar on Food Safety and Testing for the Washington State Cheesemakers Association.” Presented in an online webinar. September 20, 2021.

Gigi Berardi, “Washington Cheese Challenges and Opportunities in Making and Selling Sustainable and Delicious Cheese. FoodWise Stories and Science: Cultivating Customers.” Presented at WASCA Annual Member Meeting. January 29, 2021.