Every cheese and yogurt the Missouri creamery entered — including its new Mount Bethel Blue and debut yogurt line — scored high enough to medal
WESTON, Mo. — July 10, 2026 — Green Dirt Farm, a small sheep dairy and creamery in Weston, Missouri, announced today that it won nine awards at this year's American Cheese Society (ACS) competition, one of the most closely watched cheese competitions in North America.
Every product Green Dirt Farm entered this year — its full lineup of established sheep milk cheeses, plus two new additions: a line of sheep milk yogurts and the farm's first blue cheese, Mount Bethel Blue — earned enough points to win a medal.
ACS medals aren't awarded by ranking entries against one another. Each cheese is scored independently by two judges: a technical judge, who evaluates craftsmanship and technical execution, and an aesthetic judge, who scores originality, flavor, and beauty. Only cheeses that clear a minimum point threshold earn a medal — meaning a nine-medal year reflects nine cheeses the judges found genuinely excellent, not simply the best of a weak field.
“We enter this competition every year, and after more than 70 American Cheese Society awards, what keeps bringing us back isn't the medals — it's the judges' feedback,” said Sarah Hoffmann, founder of Green Dirt Farm. “Every entry comes back with detailed notes that make our cheese better. But winning nine medals this year, including for two brand-new products, tells us something too: a tiny cheesemaker in Missouri is making some of the best artisan cheese in America.”
Green Dirt Farm specializes in sheep milk cheese and yogurt, a category still rare among American creameries. Sheep milk is prized for its rich, distinctive flavor and is naturally higher in protein and calcium than cow's or goat's milk. Its fat and protein molecules are also smaller, which many people find easier to digest than other dairy.
About Green Dirt Farm
Founded in 2002 by Sarah Hoffmann, Green Dirt Farm is a Certified Animal Welfare Approved sheep dairy in Weston, Missouri, 40 miles northwest of Kansas City. The farm raises its dairy sheep on pasture and hand-makes artisan sheep milk cheeses and yogurts. Green Dirt Farm has won more than 70 awards from the American Cheese Society, along with additional honors from the World Cheese Awards and other national competitions.
Media Contact
Sarah Hoffmann
Green Dirt Farm
[email protected]
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