Kalispell Kreamery in Flathead County is one of the largest dairy producers in Western Montana.
The business, which has 300 milk-producing cows, is following strict disease prevention measures to protect its cows and dairy farmers as the bird flu continues to spread into dairy farms across the country.
“Everything from the whole milk straight from the cow, to reduced fat to skim, we do a chocolate milk which is really popular, people love chocolate milk, we also have ice cream, yogurt and then we have a cold brew drink as well,” said Kalispell Kreamery co-owner Mary Tuck.
Walk into your local grocery store and head to the dairy section and you will likely see Kalispell Kreamery products.
“You can get 'em as far as Billings,” added Tuck.
Tuck said the Flathead County farm has been producing dairy products for close to 50 years and they follow strict disease prevention methods to keep their cows and farmers safe.
“When we look at things coming through, disease prevention-wise, the biggest thing that we focus on is our closed herd, that is by far the best way to keep disease from spreading,” Tuck told MTN.
Tuck said being a relatively small dairy farm allows them to keep everything in-house.
“We function as a closed herd, which means we don’t bring any cows in from outside sources, and we don’t sell our cows to any other outside sources, so we’re completely self-contained," Tuck explained. "So the chance of contamination from an outside animal to our animals is basically non-existent because we don’t have other animals coming into our place."
Tuck said farmers dealing directly with cows wear latex gloves, wash often and follow strict authorized personnel zones, helping prevent the spread of diseases such as bird flu.
“You might carry it on your shoes, car ties, we don’t know where it’s coming from, so we make sure that disease stops before it enters into a barn.”
Tuck noted that capping the dairy farm at 300 milk-producing cows gives them an advantage when it comes to animal and farmer safety.
“If you want the farm charm you have to put up with a few of the bugs, and part of the bugs are for us to stay local...to stay small. And for us to stay a farm that you can come and enjoy and visit and see and know your cows and know your farm, we have to stay small enough to make that functional, so that’s what we’ve chosen to do."
