Hilltopper Creamery & Farm Market

Hilltopper Creamery & Farm Market is a value-added retail location that displays farm fresh products produced alongside students as part of their educational experience within WKU’s Agriculture & Food Science Dept. We sell a variety of award-winning artisan cheeses, fresh & dry aged beef, greenhouse plants, and seasonally available fruits & vegetables directly to the community, wholesale to local

businesses, and to be served to students on campus! The Hilltopper Creamery was established to demonstrate that The small family dairy farm is not a relic of the past. Producers do not need a large herd to be successful in the dairy industry because they can thrive by producing and selling value-added products. Our facility puts this concept into practice by producing up to 500 lbs. of award-winning artisan cheese a month from our 50-60 head milking operation and still having additional fluid milk to sell or create other products. Value-added products, direct consumer sales, and Agritourism are becoming and increasing percentages of farm profits. This unit allots students the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in these areas by gaining experience in dairy handling, food production, food safety, packaging, marketing, customer service, direct sand online sales, and event management. Students gain a variety of guided Agritourism experiences through facility and farm tours, event management, community workshops, educational seminars, and conferences. In 2022, we welcomed over 450 visitors for more than 45 tours and 15 special events and participated in more than 15 off-farm community events. Events include student and community group tours, cheese making classes, guided cheese tastings, charcuterie board grazing events, farmers markets, community fundraising pop-up markets, local festivals, and hosted conferences.