Milky way
Marian Tuck reaches to pet one of the cows while they eat at Hedstrom Dairy. Marian's parents, Jared and Mary Tuck, will open Kalispell Kreamery in late October, offering locally processed milk and dairy products. K.J. Hascall photos/Daily Inter Lake
Bill Hedstrom and his daughter, Mary Tuck, milk cows at Hedstrom Dairy on Thursday night. Each round of cows takes about 15 minutes to milk.
Local family to open milk processing plant
The Hedstrom family, a fixture in the local dairy business for 30 years, is opening a milk processing facility called Kalispell Kreamery.
The family has lived in Flathead Valley for five generations and their operation is one of two remaining dairies here.
"This dairy has been part of community," said Mary Tuck, daughter of dairy owners Bill and Marilyn Hedstrom. "It's a family operation and we want to continue the tradition. Through our travels and experiences, it was a family decision. Economically we looked at it, and with the way milk prices are going it's smart to process our own milk."
Mary and her husband, Jared Tuck, will open the creamery in late October, and Mary's two sisters also will help. The Tucks have purchased a number of cows - each produce about 80 pounds of antibiotic- and hormone-free milk a day - from the Hedstroms.
Kalispell Kreamery will begin by processing 500 gallons of milk a day, and volume will increase as the creamery establishes a local market. Milk from Kalispell Kreamery will be available in local grocery stores at competitive rates, as well as at the creamery at 480 Lost Creek Drive.
The Tucks plan to produce ice cream and cottage cheese, as well as unhomogenized milk that will be for sale at the creamery.
Mary explained that in unhomogenized - cream on top - milk there are larger globules of fat that have not dissolved into the milk, which are easier for the body to digest and are not absorbed into the blood stream, lowering fat intake.
Hedstrom Dairy currently has a contract with Country Classic (formerly Darigold), and ships 20,000 pounds of milk to Bozeman every other day, which costs the dairy $35,000 a year.
The milk spends six hours in a truck while it is shipped to Bozeman and the Hedstroms and Tucks feel that processing it in the valley gains freshness.
"It has a longer shelf life, not three days away from the shelves, but hours," Jared said of processing the milk locally. "From the cows to the dairy. Streamlined."
The family views the integration of the creamery as an opportunity for value-added products. Mary said they are considering home delivery as well.
Bill and Marilyn Hedstrom processed milk themselves in 1977 and 1978, pouring raw milk into glass bottles. Then the state of Montana began to require pasteurization. However, the Tucks are drawing upon the Hedstroms' experiences to get the creamery up and running, though Kalispell Kreamery will use eco-friendly milk bag packaging instead of glass bottles.
HEDSTROM Dairy has a closed, 10-generation herd of about 200 cows, which means new stock hasn't been introduced in 25 years. One hundred and fifty are milked twice each day, while at any given time 50, in between calves, are dry and out to pasture.
Hedstrom is experimentally breeding Brown Swiss to some of his Holsteins, to produce longer-lived cows and to increase the butter-fat content of the milk. The dairy practices artificial insemination to protect the cows.
"We have a lot of bulls and they're all in a little can," Hedstrom joked.
The dairy buys almost all of its hay from local farmers, though on occasion gets hay from farmers in Ronan. It also purchases barley locally.
"From the feed to finished product, it stays in the valley," Jared said. The dairy mixes its own feed to ensure the quality of the milk.
"Everything we have going into the cows we have control over, and that quality goes into the milk," Mary said.
KALISPELL KREAMERY was just awarded a $50,000 Growth Through Agriculture grant from the Montana Agriculture Development Council. The goal of such grants is to provide financial assistance to develop new products or innovative ideas that enhance Montana's agricultural industry.
The grant will assist with building costs to develop the business' on-site creamery facility, refrigerated truck upgrades, laboratory certification and marketing and educational material development.
The Tucks plan to give educational tours to school groups to teach children about dairies and milk processing.
"We want to educate the community on where their food products come from," Mary said.
The creamery building, which is nearing completion, will feature large windows through which guests can view the processing room where the milk will be pumped from two 10,000-pound holding tanks. The dairy will give tours of the facilities.
The Tucks hope customers will appreciate the almost entirely local process and that children will benefit from learning experiences at the dairy.
"We're providing a value-added, high-quality product by hard-working people," Mary said.
Reporter K.J. Hascall may be reached at 758-4439 or by e-mail at kjhascall@dailyinterlake.com