A 110-year-old Green County, Wis., cheese cooperative has filed for bankruptcy but the farmers who own the co-op and supply milk to the Twin Grove facility have found temporary buyers for their milk, the Wisconsin State Journal reported. Maple Leaf Cheese Cooperative and Maple Leaf Cheesemakers failed to reach agreement on a contract, and production at the plant ended this week. The co-op, which owns the building and some of the equipment inside, filed for chapter 11 protection on Wednesday to restructure its debts so it could buy more time to find a new partner to make cheese at the plant. The 25 farmers have found temporary markets for their milk, but the hope is to reopen the cheese plant in the next three to four months so the farmers can return to supplying milk to the plant, located southeast of Monroe, Wis. The cooperative is hoping that the bankruptcy court will authorize payments owed to patrons for milk delivered prior to Wednesday’s petition date. Maple Leaf Cheesemakers announced in October that it would cease production at the Twin Grove plant in early December, which left farmers scrambling to find new homes for the combined 3.5 million pounds of milk they supplied monthly to the cheesemakers.
