If you are a die-hard Wisconsin lover, don’t have a cow over what you are about to read.

California smokes Wisconsin when it comes to milk production.

The Golden State comes in at 41.7 million pounds a year. Wisconsin is at 31.8 million pounds.

Channeling a popular ad campaign of the California Milk Advisory Board, the happy cows of California “moo-ved” past their Wisconsin counterparts in 1993 and never looked back.

That said, Wisconsin definitely earns cheesehead status.

The self-proclaimed “America’s Dairyland” produces 25 percent of the nation’s cheese. California is No. 2 with just under 20 percent.

If reading about cheese makes you hungry for cheese, there are two places in the 209 where you can go to the source to enjoy lunch.

And along the way you can take in the Northern San Joaquin Valley countryside.

One is in Hilmar, and the other is in Oakdale.

Both are worthy of a Saturday afternoon or mid-week jaunt.

Both have cafes with menus built around cheese along with plenty of non-cheese options.

Both offer tours of the cheese making process.

And both are more than happy to sell you cheese.

My favorite is the Oakdale Cheese Factory.

At least once a year, I bicycled to Knights Ferry via the backside of Woodward Reservoir past the remnants of the mid-19th century Irish settlement of Eugene.

My return trip would be via Rodden Road that becomes River Road (that will take you into Ripon) after crossing Highway 120 just outside of Oakdale.

It is just west of the Highway 120 intersection where you will find the Oakdale Cheese Factory.

Over the years, it has been a popular rest stop for Yosemite bound travelers to enjoy lunch in an idyllic country setting or pick up cheese on the way home.

It goes without saying I love cheese.

But my visits there were to replace calories I pedaled off with culinary treats that made the granola bars I usually ate while cycling seem as tasteless as tofu.

I usually ordered the grilled cheese with a slice of cheesecake.

The great thing about it is by the time I reached River Road’s intersection with Jack Tone Road and made my way back to Manteca; I had burned off most of the calories.

By car, it’s a 20-mile trip.

The sandwich options are limited — grilled cheese and grilled cheese and ham. Tomato soup is served in the cold months. There are of course drinks.

You can partake in three types of German-style cheesecakes by the slice or take a small or large cheesecake to go.

The three year-round cheese cakes are plain, plain with lemon curd, and chocolate almond.

There are also seasonal flavors.

You can also try cheesecake brownies, truffles with bits of Gouda cheese mixed in and other desserts.

They also offer three types of fresh bread.

And, of course, cheese.

If you want to do more than lunch, Oakdale has “antique” shops, some specialty stores that are worth browsing, and the low-key Cowboy Museum.

You can go and come back on Highway 120 or take in the countryside via River Road.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. They are closed Sundays.

For more information go to oakdalecheese.com

The Hilmar Cheese Factory — the largest in the United States — is in the community of the same name.

Hilmar is in Merced County. Oakdale is in Stanislaus County.

Milk is the No. 1 farm product in Stanislaus County with $1.1 billion in receipts in 2022. That was 30 percent of the overall agricultural production of $3.7 billion.

Milk is also the top farm commodity in San Joaquin County at $625 million out of an overall production of $2.5 billion.

Tulare, by the way, is the No. 1 dairy county in California as well as the United States.

Hilmar processes more than a million pounds of cheese a day making it the undisputed big wheel for cheese crafted in one location.

It’s a factory as opposed to Oakdale’s more boutique-style of an approach.

Their cheese production is also more pedestrian concentrating primarily on the simple varieties of jack and cheddar.

Hilmar Cheese Factory has a more robust deli offering that includes sandwiches with meat as well as salads.

The signature sandwich is the zesty tomato grilled cheese built around slices of Hilmar Monterey Jack.

There is also a gift shop along with educational displays.

The Hilmar Cheese Visitors Center is open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and closed Sunday.

You take Highway 99 south to the Landers Avenue exit (Highway 165) and head south for a bit before you come to the visitors center on the right.

For more information go to hilmarcheese.com