Colby Cheese Bill Gets Hearing at the Capitol

Wednesday, January 19th, 2022 -- 12:00 PM

(WRN) At the Capitol, lawmakers took a slice of their time on Tuesday for a hearing on making Colby the official state cheese.

State Senator Kathy Bernier notes it was developed in the Wisconsin community of the same name. “Colby is truly a homegrown Wisconsin original. It’s innovative processing and massive popularity . . . put Wisconsin on the cheesemaking map.”

Representative Donna Rozar represents Colby, where the cheese of that name was invented. “Colby cheese is not made in Colby anymore, but this is much bigger cheese than just the small city of Colby. It became a statewide cheese and then a nationwide cheese, and we’ve even had some correspondence from people who live in Europe, that Colby is their favorite cheese.”

Previous attempts at adding Colby to the state’s official symbols have failed to advance in the legislature. If approved by the legislature and signed by the governor, Colby would join other dairy themed state symbols, including the state beverage, milk, and the state domestic animal, the dairy cow.

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