It’s a Family Affair
at Calklins Creamery.
Since 1841, the Bryant family has operated Highland Farm on more than 250 acres in Northeast Pennsylvania. Today, the father Bill and son Zach manage the grazing program for their registered herd of Holstein cows (the black and white moo-moos’). Their Holstein cows live in a tie-stall in the winter and are on grass during the summer.
In 2006, daughter Emily returned to the farm to establish a small raw milk cheesemaking operation that became Calkins Creamery. Emily Bryant Montgomery and her husband Jay Montgomery moved back to Wayne County from Bakersfield, California, with an idea to help the family farm prosper. The couple had developed an interest in producing artisan cheese from farm-fresh milk. In California, Jay gained experience at an ice cream manufacturing company, and Emily, who had worked at the Penn State University Creamery as a food science undergraduate, took a cheese-making course at Cal-Poly University. They began to research cheese consumption in the United States, market opportunities near Wayne County, and the costs of production. Ultimately, Jay and Emily decided they could successfully fuse their creativity, their business savvy, and their desire to help the family farm; the foundation of Calkins Creamery was established.
Emily converts grass-fed raw milk into multiple varieties of farmstead and artisan cheeses. The family’s motto is “conserve, preserve and sustain.”
