The MAFES Sales Store, known affectionately as the MSU Cheese Store, produces artisan cheeses, ice cream, butter and milk. Cheese and dairy products are made from milk produced by the MAFES Bearden Dairy Research Center just a few miles from campus. The university’s herd produces more than 3 million pounds of milk each year, about 369,000 gallons. Dairy products are processed by the MAFES Custer Dairy Processing Plant and used throughout campus dining facilities and at numerous restaurants in Starkville. A unit of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station, the store also offers butcher cuts of meat from the MAFES foundation herds, jellies and more. Discover the freshness of locally produced, natural dairy and meat products by visiting the store, open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday–Friday, and on home football game days. Call 662-325-2338 or visit msucheese.com.

What Makes Our Products Great?

Since 1938, Mississippi State University has been making the famous “cannon ball” Edam cheese, which has endured as an MSU symbol! F.H. Herzer introduced the first Edam, an artisan cheese that would soon become an infinite part of MSU tradition. The story of MSU cheese is much bigger than Edam. It begins at the Bearden Dairy Research Center where Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station (MAFES) staff milk up to 200 cows, twice daily, 365 days a year. Milk is delivered to the Custer Dairy Processing Plant where employees churn out 5,500 pounds of butter and about 50,000 gallons of fluid milk each year. About 25,000 gallons of ice cream are produced each year by the plant. Muscadine Ripple, a popular favorite, is produced with muscadine grapes grown and harvested at the MAFES South Mississippi Branch Experiment Station. The plant produces 50,000 three-pound balls of Edam cheese each year, 50,000 blocks of cheddar, and 10,000 wheels of vallagret. All milk used on campus comes from the MAFES Custer Dairy Processing Plant.

What makes us most proud of producing Genuine MS products?

The MAFES Bearden Dairy Research Center and the MAFES Custer Dairy Processing Plant are teaching laboratories for students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. They also serve as research laboratories for students and scientists in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station. The facility is equipped with the most modern equipment available and provides an excellent teaching and research laboratory for the students studying dairy foods at Mississippi State University. Students in the College of Veterinary Medicine also train at the MAFES Bearden Dairy Research Center, providing practical, hands-on experience. The cheese operation is a by-product of the teaching and research programs. In addition to providing a self-supporting plant, it advertises and promotes Mississippi State University and the State of Mississippi. The plant provides some financial support for our research and teaching programs.

How does buying Genuine MS products make a difference here in Mississippi?

Farm-fresh products are better in so many ways. They are better nutritionally because they don't have added preservatives. They are better for the local economy, which helps our friends and neighbors. And they taste better. The MAFES Sales Store (MSU Cheese) is proud to provide farm-fresh products for our students and our community.