A Fayette County dairy farm that made a quick turnaround to pasteurize, bottle and sell its own milk instead of dumping supplies due to a milk glut will be featured at 2 p.m. Thursday on “The Daily Briefing” on Fox News.
Ben and Mary Beth Brown, owners of Whoa Nellie Dairy Farm in Acme, reported on their Facebook page that they are scheduled to be interviewed live by Fox personality Dana Perino to discuss their plight.
The community’s support of the farm was featured April 14 in the Tribune-Review. The Browns said they are gratified by the continued support from area residents.
The Browns, who have a 500-acre dairy farm that’s been in the family since the 1700s, were impacted by the coronavirus pandemic because the milk market became oversaturated due to the cancellation of school contracts and the closing of restaurants.
On April 11, the local dairy received notice that its buyer, Schneider of Pittsburgh, would not be picking up the milk due to the lack of business. The Browns opted to begin pasteurizing, bottling and selling milk on the farm and posted a plea on its Facebook page.
Since then, the Browns have been selling hundreds of bottles of milk and other dairy products daily to customers who have been lining cars up to support the farm on Bear Rocks Road near Fayette County’s border with Westmoreland County.
The farm store is open noon to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The Browns posted on Facebook: “We can only pasteurize and bottle 30 gallons at a time, but we are going to work around the clock to try and bottle as much as we can this week. We are really going to try to not waste a drop! So, we are going to open up our farm store on Wednesday now, too!”
The Browns have acquired a larger pasteurizer to help them during the venture.
