We love sharing heartfelt stories and this one is no different. This Pennsylvania dairy farmer spent night and day to bottle his own cow milk instead of dump it out. The support for this was overwhelming.
Background
First, a little background. Whoa Nellie Dairy farm in Pennsylvania has been around since the 1700s. It has been providing high-quality, cream-line milk right from the start of the farm.
It has been in the family since the 1700s as well. Ben Brown and his wife Mary bought the farm from his parents just four years ago. The farm has been just “barely scraping by” for a few years as Ben shared with a local newspaper.
When the virus hit, he thought that it would be the end of his farm and was afraid. The farm has been in his family since the 1700s and he didn’t want to lose it.
Crisis-Hit
Recently, his dairy processor told Ben that he wouldn’t be purchasing his milk anymore and that Ben would need to dump the milk.
Ben could not bear the thought of dumping hundreds of gallons each week until his cows dried up. He sold some of his milk in a local store, but the majority had gone to his dairy processor.
His Solution
Instead of dumping, Ben spent day and night pasteurizing all his milk and bottling it up himself to sell in his store. He opened the store for longer hours and shared about it on Facebook.
He would pasteurize the milk in small batches in his 30-gallon vat and then bottle it up.
When they shared on Facebook what was going on and what would happen, the result was outstanding.
The Result
Locals lined up every day to buy the milk. There was always a line of about 20 customers waiting to get into the store to get the milk.
One customer shared, “I know their uncle, Larry Basinger, and we want to help the Brown family through this. We’re going to buy 10 gallons. I have orders from our whole family.”
They sold out within hours and have been selling out almost every day since they started. On the days they don’t sell out, they donate the milk to local charities.
Ben said, “I hate waste, and I don’t want to dump milk. People can use it, and I still have to pay my bills,”
Just two weeks ago, Ben was able to buy another 45-gallon pasteurization vat. With this, he doesn’t have to stay up all night to pasteurize the milk anymore.
People will do anything to help out their friends and family. This Pennsylvania dairy farmer did the right thing with his milk and others followed to show their support.
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6 comments on “Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Bottles His Own Milk”
That’s is so awesome praise God for that .
Families like this are going to make sure we get through this! From the bottom of my heart, Thank You from me and my grandchildren!!
I am not sure why all of you are not getting the fact that the Browns are NOT donating anything. They recieved a check for $2500 for the milk to be put in the food boxes. They SOLD the milk. From the very beginning when they posted that they were going to bottle milk around the clock, someone asked them if they could donate it rather than dump it and their response was NO, we are a small farm and the cost of electric, employees etc. does not make it practical. They only donated because the mayor of Connellsville pa gave them a check. The mayor BOUGHT the milk. The New Stanton church also purchased milk that whoa nellie then handed out for the church to the first responders. So for Mary Beth to go on national tv and radio and say that they are not doing it for the money , they just don’t want to dump milk knowing that so many people are out of work right now is disgusting. WHAT DOES SELLING YOUR MILK FOR $5.25 a gallon do for those people??? The only ones they are helping are themselves.
Though I live in Ohio now. Connellsville is my hometown. Mayor Lincoln is doing wonders in a small town with little resources. He is doing a great job. And to Ben, at Whoa Nellie Dairy what a wonderful thing to do. I hope this continues after the pandemic. I hope we can all appreciate the good wholesome food available that don’t come from a big box store. Buy local, stay community strong!
Dear Brown Family,
Thank you so much for finding a way to
Not waste the gift of milk and gifting what is not sold. Another American hero.
Good For you. We used to take 5 gallon glass jugs to a farmer to get our milk, when I was a kid.Â
Have your customers save the bottles for you.Â