After two decades of making world-class goat cheese, Catherine and Al Renzi have decided to move on. They are putting Yellow Springs Farm in Chester Springs up for sale, writes Craig LaBan for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

The pair seeks a lifestyle change, driven in part by pandemic fatigue, which has had an extraordinarily hard impact on the dairy industry and artisan cheesemakers.

“After nearly two years of COVID headwinds, the input costs of hay, grain, the supply chain, and labor that affect us all have gone up dramatically,” said Al.

The news of the Renzis’ upcoming departure has hit the region’s cheese community hard.

“It really hurt when Al told me the news,” said chef Patrick Feury of Nectar in Berwyn. “Their cheese is just world-class. You could put it up against anything. It has so much character.”

With retirement from cheesemaking in sight, the couple is planning to pursue other interests, including advocacy for local food systems, wildlife, and water conservation.

Read more about Yellow Springs Farm in The Philadelphia Inquirer.