Dairy farm gets the gold for exemplary organic practices

After thoroughly hosing and sweeping the milking room at Paradise Springs Farm, Mike Reid and Tibby Plasse usher their cows one at a time into the milking stalls. Their towheaded four-year-old Loren flits around the farm, a small tornado of energy completely in his element.

Bob Marley is blasting. Music relaxes the cows and keeps them from tensing at external noises.

“They get a lot of Jerry,” said Plasse. “I think jazz or classical would be better, personally.”

Each cow scarfs down sprouted barley and molasses as Reid plugs her into the milking machine and strokes her hide. This happens twice a day, every day.

Paradise Springs was just named one of the ten best organic dairies in the country. The farm, which is also one of only three Biodynamic certified dairies in the country, is tucked into the foothills of the Big Holes. Chickens sprint through the yard and the pastures are verdant with clover, oats, alfalfa, and ryegrass. The herd of 19 heifers likes to congregate in aspen groves on the outskirts of the fields.