Amaltheia Organic Dairy received preliminary approval to use more than $550,000 in taxpayer dollars to help purchase its leased acreage in exchange for placing the farm into a conservation easement to preserve it in perpetuity.
On Tuesday, the Gallatin County Commissioners approved their support for the easement, committing $552,000 in open-space funds and marking the first official step for Amaltheia before they can seal the deal in 2025.
“We are very excited, we have farmed that land for 24 years and it’s pretty special, it’s a fabulous wildlife corridor,” Susan Brown, Amaltheia’s owner, told the Chronicle. “If we lost that and didn’t have grazing space ... it would be difficult to keep the goats on the 20 acres (that we own).”
Along with four other conservation easements, the commissioners committed some $3.2 million to preserve over 1,670 acres. Still, the Amaltheia agreement is perhaps the most unique, as the dairy farm intends to use the process to purchase the farm.
Started by Susan and Melvyn Brown, Amaltheia Organic Dairy has operated in the Gallatin Valley for nearly 25 years. It is off Penwell Bridge Road northeast of Belgrade.
Today, Amaltheia offers organic goat cheese, vegetables, and you-pick flowers. The Browns’ children, Nathan and Sarah, have also joined the operation.
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