Free Republic

If you've never been in the presence of a day-old calf, they happen to be disconcertingly large. Recently I followed one—the color and size of a golden retriever—as it stumbled around Diane St. Clair's barn, bleating loudly. Rain pounded on the roof, my boots were spattered with mud, and my neck ached after a five-hour drive. But it hardly mattered. I'd come to this sparsely populated corner of western Vermont to taste the country's most sought-after butter.

Consumers from Wisconsin are crossing the border to Illinois to stock up on a commodity they can't buy in the Dairy State -- Irish butter.

Wisconsinites who enjoy Kellygold Irish butter have been forced to venture across state lines to buy the gold foil packaged dairy goodness. Butter protectionism in the Dairy State has made this foreign butter illegal.An obscure regulation turns "ungraded butter" into contraband. Since Kerrygold isn't produced in the good ole U.S. of A., it's not graded and hence, illegal. Selling illicit butter bears a fine up to $1,000 and a possible six-month stint in the slammer. If you haven't tasted Kerrygold, I can assure you it is definitely worth the drive across state lines. It's pricey, but worth every penny.Wisconsin local...