Within the tiny confines of a Jordan farmhouse, Meg and Bruce Schader are making a yogurt far healthier than your typical brand.

This past fall, the Schaders opened a small plant on Wake Robin Farm to make milk and yogurt free of pesticides and antibiotics.

“A lot of people are looking for that in their food supply; they want it as pure as it can be,” Meg said.

The nutritional value of these dairy products is a direct result of the grass-fed diet enjoyed by the eight Jersey cows producing milk on Wake Robin Farm. That diet creates a higher count of CLA - conjugated linoleic acid - in the cows' milk than grain or hay diets. Studies have shown that when CLA is ingested by humans, it can help safeguard them against obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol.

The Schaders' dairy products are also non-homogenized and therefore free of the unnatural fats in most milks and yogurts that the human body does not break down easily. In the absence of homogenization, a layer of cream forms at the top of each quart the Schaders sell.

The yogurt - which they make in plain and vanilla flavors - is also thinner than most big brands because the Schaders do not add thickeners or stabilizers. Its only source of sweetness is pure maple syrup, rather than refined sugar.

So far the Schaders have taken their yogurt to several food stores in the Syracuse and Auburn areas, including the P&C Food store in Skaneateles and the Big M in Elbridge. They plan to begin supplying it to Wegmans stores in Syracuse and Auburn by the end of February.

“We really believe in local food. It costs less to sell it locally and takes less of a toll on the environment with the fossil fuel you don't consume to take it far,” Meg said.

Regardless of how many more locations may market their milk and yogurt, the Schaders have no plans to add equipment or expand beyond their small bedroom-sized factory. Their ultimate goal is to supply food vendors inside a 30-mile radius with the 1,000 weekly quarts they can currently produce.

“We don't plan to expand, just to get to that plateau,” Meg said.

The one way the Schaders would widen their operation is by also making a swiss or cheddar cheese with the milk that is often left over from the maximum of 200 gallons their cows produce every week.

“We have hope of developing cheese because it's a lot less perishable and you can store it longer,” Meg said.

The Schaders decided to get in the dairy game to avoid the seasonal aspect of vegetable farming, which was their focus at Wake Robin Farm since they established their business in 1999. Their 25-acre farm, named for the wildflower found in its woods, sits less than two miles from the dairy farm of Bruce's parents. There he developed the hands-on farming experience that he would eventually teach Meg, who had studied agricultural science at Cornell University.

Once the Schaders purchased the pasteurizer and all other necessary equipment, they set out to learn the sensitive process of producing yogurt.

That process begins with collecting the milk from the Schaders' cows, then pouring it into the pasteurizer, where it is heated to 170 degrees Fahrenheit and then cooled down to 110. Five different probiotic strains, including acidophilus and Streptococcus thermophilus, are then added to ferment in the milk before the mixture is placed in the incubator for two to five hours.

“The hardest part is deciding when the yogurt's done and then taking it out of the incubator,” Bruce said. “Every batch comes out a bit different.”

Once the yogurt has left the incubator and been chilled, each quart is packaged with the maroon, green and gold colors of Wake Robin Farm and sent to stores.

Although Bruce recalls the very first batch of yogurt made on the farm being close to satisfactory, Meg adds that it took 󈬄 or 30 batches to really tweak it.” Part of the appeal of producing yogurt for the Schaders was the short span of that learning curve, which was much less time than it would take to perfect the process of growing vegetables or even cheese.

“You can wake up the next day and see if it turns out OK,” Bruce said.

The learning process was pushed along by visits from inspectors with the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. The Schaders also enrolled in several classes at nearby farms to learn the finer points of yogurt production.

Helping the Schaders in the Wake Robin Farm plant is their friend Brian Luton, who began vegetable farming just as his neighbors shifted their sights toward dairy farming.

“Bruce has a master's intuition for this,” Luton said.

The local response to the Schaders' yogurt has been overwhelmingly positive, particularly from the wide base of customers who once bought the couple's vegetables. But the yogurt's biggest fans may be the Schaders themselves. Despite working so closely with it for several hours a day, the Schaders have yet to tire of tasting the fruits of their labor.

“I can imagine it happening at some point, but we're addicted to it ourselves; we eat it non-stop and push it on everyone we know,” Meg said.

Staff writer David Wilcox can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 245 or david.wilcox@lee.net