Salute to Idaho Agriculture: Ballard Farms

GOODING, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Ballard household returned to Southern Idaho within the nineties and went proper again into an Idaho custom, opening a dairy in Gooding.

“Dairy for some time,” stated Ballard Farms Proprietor Stacie Ballard, “[then] determined so as to add a value-added product, so we selected cheese as a result of when you don’t promote all of it you may throw it on the shelf and age it.”

Cheese turned the sustainable enterprise mannequin for the Ballards, and this yr, they determined to transition away from dairy and focus fully on cheese.

“We simply couldn’t afford to feed them anymore,” Ballard stated, “and it’s a disgrace that it’s cheaper to purchase milk than it’s to make your personal milk.”

Whereas economics compelled the farm to maneuver away from their very own milk manufacturing, the Ballards continued to make sure their enterprise continued to stay native.

“We really purchase our milk from a small dairy down the highway,” Ballard stated.

Now, with their focus singularly on arguably the preferred dairy byproduct, Ballard Farm has grown a fame for a novel product.

“Most well-known is definitely our grilling cheese, which is a cheese that doesn’t soften, and you need to use it as a meat substitute,” Ballard stated.

Grilling cheese could also be the preferred, however that doesn’t imply that Ballard Cheese has a restricted unfold of choices.

“[We have] white cheddar, pepper cheddar, black pepper cheddar, truffle and salt cheddar and our latest and most liked is our huckleberry cheddar,” stated Ballard.

Copyright 2022 KMVT. All rights reserved.