By MSU Communications

Holiday sales are open online and in-store for Mississippi State’s cheese.

With the holidays fast approaching, the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, or MAFES, Sales Store has opened holiday sales of its signature cheese products: Edam, cheddar, Vallagret, jalapeno and its Maroon and White gift boxes. The store, which moved into its present location in the 1970s, will undergo significant renovations beginning in mid-December.

This year’s cheese ship dates are scheduled for Nov. 4, 11, 18, 25 and December 2. Patrons are encouraged to place their orders early to ensure their holiday tables feature the beloved MSU cheeses. The last day to pick up cheese orders in-store is December 9. The store will close at 4:30 p.m. on December 13 to begin renovations.

Starting in January, with the MAFES Sales Store closed for renovations, a temporary storefront will be available at Ballew Hall with the interim location serving favorite MSU dairy and meat products, as well as the University Florist pop-in shop featuring McCartys pottery and gifts, until the renovations are complete. The newly renovated MAFES Sales Store is expected to reopen in May 2025, featuring enhanced facilities to better serve the MSU community.

“We are thrilled to continue our tradition of offering MSU’s signature cheeses during the holiday season,” said Jennifer Portera, MAFES Sales Store manager. “While we are eager to enhance our facilities, we are equally committed to ensuring that our customers experience minimal disruption. Our temporary setup in Ballew Hall will provide continued access to our products during the renovation period.”

The process of making MSU cheese begins each day before sunrise at the university’s Bearden Dairy Research Center, where MAFES staff milk up to 200 cows daily. The herd includes Holsteins, robust crossbred grazers, and the nation’s oldest continually bred university Jersey herd—the top collegiate herd for its size.

Annually, over 475,000 gallons of milk flow into the Custer Dairy Processing Plant, one of the largest on-campus processing plants in the world. Here, milk undergoes pasteurization and homogenization to produce 50,000 cannon balls of Edam, 50,000 blocks of cheddar and 10,000 wheels of Vallagret plus 50,000 gallons of reduced-fat white milk, whole chocolate milk and cultured buttermilk, 5,500 pounds of butter and 25,000 gallons of MSU ice cream.

For more information on MAFES products, including MSU cheese, and to place your holiday orders, please visit www.msucheese.com or call 662-325-2338.