A southwestern Minnesota dairy farm, whose milk ends up in Burger King and McDonald's cheese, has expanded its operation from 550 to 750 cows, says the Worthington Daily Globe.

Owner Dave Vander Kooi started out with four cows as a freshman in high school as an FFA project and has built the operation into a big-time milk producer. He works it with son Joe.

“We’re a member of a large milk co-op, and most of the time, it goes to Paynesville, to a cheese plant, where it’s made into big barrels of cheese,” Dave said. “Then it’s trucked to Portage, Wis., where they take the big barrels and cut and slice it into the slices that go into the burgers for McDonald’s [and] Burger King. A lot of my milk ends up in those cheese slices.

The McDonald’s contract is a relatively new venture for the co-op, starting because of an emphasis the fast-food giant wanted to trace the origin of food products back to the farm. An enzyme in the cheese is changed to make the McDonald’s cheese taste differently than the Burger King cheese.