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CapitalPress.com
Friday, June 3, 2022
Reed’s Dairy
Reed’s Dairy store near Idaho Falls is a popular family stop.
Reed’s Dairy: Serving
customers in many ways
By HEATH SMITH THOMAS
For the Capital Press
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IDAHO FALLS — Sev-
eral generations of the Reed
family have been supplying
milk and dairy products to
customers around Idaho Falls
for many years and have now
expanded to include a much
larger region.
Alan Reed’s great-grand-
father moved to Idaho Falls
from Iowa in 1910. Alan’s
dad and uncles started the
dairy in 1955, but the city
grew around it.
“My generation contin-
ued the dairy until 1980 and
then divided the operation.
My uncle, Larry Reed, and
I were partners in the dairy
until he passed away. My
brother, Bryon, grew the hay
we fed and corn for silage,”
Reed said.
Milk from their 20-acre
dairy farm was sold as bot-
tled milk, ice cream and
cheese. The Reeds have a
processing plant and a dairy
store at the farm.
“We do milk home deliv-
ery as well as taking milk
and dairy products to grocery
stores,” Reed said. For many
years, surplus milk was sent
to the Glanbia cheese plant in
Blackfoot, Idaho, but as their
customer base expanded they
were able to utilize all their
milk.
Alan’s son, Sam, gradu-
ated from Brigham Young
University-Idaho with a busi-
ness and fi nance degree and
came back to the dairy. He is
now the chief operating offi -
cer and runs day-to-day oper-
ations. Alan’s cousin, Mike
Reed, is a partner, as is herds-
man Refugio Cervantes.
“We had a closed herd of
Holsteins. Then in July 2021
we moved our 250 cows to
a dairy in Terreton and inte-
grated them with that herd.
The dairyman milks them for
us and we haul the milk back
here for processing.”
The cows are closer to
the feed; a lot of good alfalfa
hay is grown at Terreton, he
said. It was time to move the
cows; housing developments
were getting too close to the
dairy in Idaho Falls.
“We’re building a new
processing plant; we’ve out-
grown the old one that was
built in 1955,” he said.
Reed’s Dairy ice cream
and chocolate milk have a
big following. They are sold
to grocery stores and in their
own store and milk routes.
The original home deliv-
ery route includes customers
from Blackfoot to Rexburg.
The dairy store in Idaho Falls
is open Monday through Sat-
urday. They also have a dairy
store in Ammon and will
open one in Twin Falls soon.
A farm animal petting
area next to the dairy store
in Idaho Falls is open every
summer, with a large grassy
area for picnics. “We raise
chickens that run around the
place, and kids like to chase
those.”
The petting areas include
baby calves, a pony, goats
and sheep, baby pigs and
other animals.
“People come for ice
cream, pet the animals and
watch the cows,” he said.
Six years ago Reed pur-
chased a milk delivery com-
pany in Boise. This gave him
the opportunity to off er home
delivery customers more
foods produced locally in
southern Idaho.
“We’ve continued the
home delivery service and
wholesale into several gro-
cery stores. We bottle the
milk here and haul it to
Boise,” Reed said.
“We also have three dairy
stores in the Treasure Valley
— in Boise, Meridian and
Kuna — selling ice cream,
milk and cheese,” he said.
“People enjoy being able
to get fresh milk and dairy
products locally.”