Mel and Sue Brown, Amaltheia Dairy, Belgrade MT

At Amaltheia Dairy, located in Belgrade Montana, north of Bozeman, offers organic goat milk cheese and organic pork.

Mel and Sue Brown milk more than 150 goats and, in their small cheese plant, they turn out award-winning chevre, ricotta, and feta cheese. The chevre comes in four flavors and Sue is experimenting with aged cheeses.

Following a “full circle” philosophy, the Browns manage and profit from waste products from their operation. During the manufacturing process, cheese-making produces huge amounts of protein-rich whey. At Amaltheia, the whey, which is an organic by-product, is feed to a herd of organic pigs.

At the same time, 500 goats and dozens of pigs produce a lot of manure. That waste is composted and bagged for sale to local gardeners. A fine example of turning a waste product that could be expensive to remove and dispose of, into a high-quality, value-added product that is much in demand.

Amaltheia cheeses are currently sold in food co-ops and natural food markets through out the western US and on the Amaltheia Dairy website, and Amaltheia organic pork is sold in markets in Montana.