Farm
A FUTURE BUILT ON
Cheese
Connersville family takes legacy farm in sustainable new direction words: Julie K. Yates | photography: Erik Cosar
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itting close to the road about three miles south of Connersville is an unassuming barn-like yet modern structure where a delicious transformation happens. Here, a many-step process turns raw homestead milk into artisanal cheese, and multi-generational stewardship of a family farm continues. Jacobs and Brichford Farmstead Cheese sits on the site of Matthew Brichford’s great-grandparents’ former farm. Another set of greatgrandparents resided nearby on land owned by the family since 1819. Brichford acquired the property connecting the two tracts and since the early 1980s—along with his wife, Leslie Jacobs, and daughters Miah, Maize and Eliza—has sustained the tradition of making a living from the land.
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edible INDY Winter 2018
Implementing an Idea The evolution into making small-batch, high-quality cheese was a natural extension of the family’s business and something they considered for several years. To prepare, they took classes, visited farmstead operations in France, researched breeds and spent hours consulting with experts before making the switch from being solely a livestock and dairy operation into creating French- and Italian-style cheeses. Brichford has always been a trailblazer; the farm had the first New Zealand–style milking parlor in the state, and its livestock herds have used a rotational grazing system since the late 1980s and gone completely grain-free since the late 1990s. With Jacobs and Brichford cheeses, he
