History of the farm in Brian’s words: “My great-grandfather, John Baptiste Fiscalini, immigrated with his parents from Switzerland to the US in the late 1800’s and they dairy farmed in San Louis Obispo and Cambria until 1912, when John Baptiste moved to Modesto. He bought 120 acres and started dairy farming with 12 Holsteins in 1914. To this day, we farm the same 120 acres.”
The dairy today
Fiscalini Farms isn’t just a dairy farm: they also make cheese on site and have since 2000. Brian’s sister, Laura Genasci, and his dad, John B. Fiscalini, are both partners in the cheese business. Brian and Danielle are raising three small children: Mathew, Claire and Thomas.
On the dairy, they milk 1500 cows in a double – 27 parabone milking parlor. (It’s a hybrid between the herringbone and the parallel.) It was constructed in 1993. In 2009, they added a methane digester which converts dairy waste into electricity.
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The Farmstead
Due to increased demand for their cheese, the family is expanding their cheese business, adding extra cheese making capacity. When they started over 20 years ago, their goal was to differentiate Fiscalini from other dairies by starting some on-farm processing.
Today, they use around 15% of the milk for cheese and hope to eventually process 100% on-site into cheeses and other dairy products. Brian said, “We wanted to control our own destiny and have a little more control over the prices and growth, so we started making cheese.”
The family makes aged cheddar cheese, some Italian cheeses and young flavored cheddar. They sell locally and to grocery and specialty stores in the western US region as well as maintain a small retail store at the farm. Fiscalini cheese can be found in restaurants, and is used by catering companies, and at-home grocery delivery services.
The future of the farm
Brian says, “We have some ideas for either ice cream or gelato, but we aren’t there yet. The future looks bright. We have nearly doubled our cheese business in 1 year and it’s a doable growth.”
Right now, they’re expanding their cheese making capacity and doing some minor free-stall remodeling.
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