Bippity Boppity Boo! Discover the Magic of Magic Valley Dairy Producers
Take your friends and family on an adventure through the Magic Valley’s world of dairy producers. We’ve created a map highlighting some of the delicious and interesting dairy businesses to visit and learn about this important Idaho industry.
Idaho ranks #3 for dairy production in the U.S., and every single Idaho dairy farm is family-owned. Since there are so many dairies right in our backyard, consider taking a tour of participating dairy operations in the Magic Valley, where a large number of producers call home.
We’ve designed this handy map calling out the locations to visit for locally produced cheeses, milk, ice cream, yogurt, and more.
Ballard Family Dairy & Cheese
Home to hand-crafted artisan cheeses, Ballard Family Dairy & Cheese is a true Farmstead operation with the dairy herd and cheese-making operation right there on the family farm.
Stacie and Steve Ballard started their 35-acre dairy farm in Gooding in 1995. Steve wanted to start a dairy despite having no personal experience. Fortunately, both Steve and his son, Travis, have worked with heavy mechanical equipment and are good with their hands. Those skills proved indispensable to the farm’s success. Today, Ballard’s is a year-round operation with about 100 Jersey cows.
Like many Magic Valley dairy farms, the Ballard’s initially made a living supplying milk to nearby large cheese operations, like Glanbia. The family diversified into cheese making in 2004 to add value to their milk and diversify from the volatile fluid milk market. Starting out as novices at cheese making, the family began with cheese curds and later expanded into a full line of farmstead cheeses.
Chobani
Maker of America’s No. 1-selling Greek Yogurt brand, Chobani was founded on the belief that people have great taste — they just need great options.
Chobani produces high-quality authentic strained Greek Yogurt products made with only natural ingredients from its plants in Twin Falls, Idaho, New Berlin, N.Y., and South Victoria, Australia. At more than one million square feet, the facility in Twin Falls is the largest yogurt manufacturing plant in the world!
Chobani is committed to using milk from regional farms and strengthening its surrounding local economies. All Chobani products are kosher certified, contain five live and active cultures, and are made with milk from cows not treated with rBST, with most of its products offering more protein than regular yogurt.
Chobani products are available nationwide in the U.S. and Australia, and in countries in Asia and Latin America.
Cloverleaf Creamery
Cloverleaf Creamery uses an old-fashioned technique to bottle healthy, all-natural milk from their small dairy of registered, pedigree Holsteins. Bill Stoltzfus has been in the dairy business since the early 70’s and is nationally known for his humane dairy operations and practices, and his award-winning herd.
Cloverleaf Creamery’s use of recyclable glass bottles is not just for show; they give the milk a better taste by keeping it colder and fresher longer.
If you’re ever in the area, Bill and Donna invite you to visit the dairy, just south of Buhl. Then, stop by the creamery to taste their all-natural, homemade ice cream. YUM!
Glanbia Cheese Marketplace
The Glanbia Cheese Marketplace opened in October of 2015, making this award-winning Idaho-made cheese available exclusively in the Magic Valley. The Marketplace is a good place to find Glanbia’s core products as well as a few specialty products and flavors.
Harmony Hens
It’s a big, ambiguous trail from farm to fork.
Harmony Hens doesn’t want it to be that way. They raise their hens openly organic and purposefully pastured, which means they’re transparent about how the lovely ladies are raised from day one and they purposefully pasture the happy hens on certified organic pasture and feed. Put simply, Harmony Hens respects that chickens are by nature free-roaming omnivorous birds that love nothing more than to scratch up bugs and fine dine on the best an organic bird can eat.
Harmony Hens considers you a partner of their farm. Bigger than trends and diet fads, the health and nourishment of families are the core of its mission. Words and labels don’t feed the family, the way their hens are raised and the quality of the eggs you eat are what really matters. They believe every dozen eggs you buy is not only a tangible vote towards your family’s health but provides the means to actively feed the happy hens and allow them to roam freely on the best certified organic pasture around.
High Desert Milk
High Desert Milk prides itself on superior quality products, manufactured in the agricultural heart of Idaho. The company originated in 2001 as six dairy producers with aspirations to create a stable market for their milk and develop dairy products they could be proud of.
High Desert Milk’s board members hold ownership of the farms and dairies, the trucks, and the milk plant. Through vertical integration, High Desert is able to control and monitor all aspects of the supply chain and offer customers the freshest products in the market.
The products offered include Grade A Nonfat Dry Milk Powder, Skim Milk Powder, Whole Milk Powder, Buttermilk Powder, Grade AA Butter, Salted and Unsalted, and Cream. These products are produced to conform to both domestic and international standards and are available worldwide.
Kimberly’s Best
Kimberly’s Best saw a need to produce new and innovative dairy products, like cheese and bottled milk from A1-Free milk and also from fresh goat’s milk. Their commitment to customers is always delivering a high-quality product that tastes delicious. They strive to bring a fresh, new experience to customers with delicious cheese and great-tasting milk that is easy to digest.
When Kimberly’s Best Creamery started processing milk, they made a commitment to only source milk from their dairy using the highest quality feeds and forages, and managing the herd humanely and without the use of artificial growth hormones.