Good afternoon Cheese Lovers,

First and foremost, outside beer and wine (unless that law is changed...), EVERYTHING in our store is now online. And that's very relevant due to what we're going to cover next.

Executive Order 20-99 Changes
We’ll cut to the chase and get to the changes to our operations as part of the latest Executive Order, 20-99, and to do our part for COVID-19:
We are ending Farm Tours, immediately, for the next four weeks

We will continue our store hours 12 to 2:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday. As we have since March, we encourage takeout/pickup or delivery for a more contactless transaction online.

We will continue our delivery next week Wednesday (and Tuesday/Thursday if needed). Order by 11:59 p.m., Monday, November 23, for delivery throughout most of Minnesota (see image) and the Eastern Dakotas. We know we will be in the Twin Cities Wednesday. You can order platters and anything from our website until that point. Delivery is $20 per stop, or FREE if more than $85.

Last Chance for our MN Thanksgiving Box (just 24 remain)
Support Minnesota Cheesemakers with our 8-item, 3.875 pound box of Minnesota’s finest cheeses in time for Thanksgiving, includes one of two FREE cheese classes by Forage to Fromage and FREE shipping.

Pie and Platter time!
It’s that time of year to grab a platter and pie. While Thanksgiving might be smaller you can still make it special with a cheese platter or one of our fantastic apple pies. Whether it’s our Redhead Mini ($25, but volume discounts through Christmas), Platter for Two ($32), small cheese-only platter ($55) or large platter with meat, bread and crackers ($205), we’ve got something for you and the family to snack on… for days if you choose.

End your celebration with one of Linda’s Apple Pies. With apples from our own trees, Linda takes special care into baking everyone with the right amount of sweet and spice.

If you've got kids or spouses home more, grab some of our Jer-Lindy Farms ground beef or hamburger patties. The grill might be put away, but it's a great season for meat balls, enchiladas, chili, shepherd's pie, tacos, meatloaf or a beef stroganoff burger. Just a few ideas... we're working on recipes. :-)

Question of the week: Why do farmers go to the polls?
You’re probably sick of the election and results. Sorry to say, but every single year states are certifying their election results and will keep doing so until December 8… with electoral college election on December 14. So, we’ve got a few weeks of election news left. But this isn't what you think it is.

But what do the polls say? Funny you should ask. We recently learned that the polls are, like all good things, are about the cows. Okay, polls being “good” might be controversial, but a recent Wall Street Journal article taught us that the word “polls” derives from the counting of polls by farmers… that is the top of their head.

The original question here was “Why are the areas with horns called polls?” And, well, we honestly don’t know the answer to that. Pol, from the German or Dutch, pol, can mean head or a metaphor for head, the article said, like the top of a hill.

So farmers, started counting by polls to do a poll count, and for dairy cattle there is a very defined poll – where the horns come out. This eventually turned to a “poll tax” which was a tax levied on every single person (and then only later was it an actual tax at the proverbial polls – this time meaning election polls).

So, vaca (cow) turned into vaccine because cowpox helped us create the smallpox vaccine. And polls form the top of cows’ heads helped us develop taxes and polling statistics. Ain’t cows great?

Actually one big decision today on our and many farms is whether to buy into genetics that are "polled" - meaning born with no horns. Cows receive either the P or p gene - and the dominant PP means they'll be born without horns. Over time, we'll likely see fewer horns born on our and many farms as the dominant gene is bred into the gene pool. Our veterinarian comes to neutralize the horn buds about once a month, making sure the horns don't grow and human nor heifer are injured. It is one of the best safety features we do.

That's all for this week. Hope to see you next week on the Thanksgiving route(s)!

Lucas, Alise, Jerry and Linda