Along Ridge Road, a winding ribbon of asphalt that threads its way past rich green farm fields and patches of forest in Independence, Beaver County, there is a white sign appropriately shaped like a milk bottle.

It reads Brunton Dairy in black lettering and it welcomes visitors to a multi-generational commitment to the land and to family farming that spans 175 years.

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette James Junior Brunton, wife Mary Jane, and son Jim, 25 at Brunton Dairy in Independence, Beaver County. Click photo for larger image.

James Junior Brunton said he and his brothers Ed and Herb are the seventh generation to work the farm, which covers 200 acres and dates to 1832.

It takes more than just the three brothers to run the farm, though. Mary Jane, James's wife, and their children -- Jim, Jerry and Rachel -- all work full time on the farm, while their siblings Jeff and Stacy hold jobs off the farm, but still help out.

All together, 13 family members work at the dairy farm.

And there's a lot of work to do. The Bruntons not only raise the cows, they bottle the milk in their own dairy, then deliver it to homes within a 15-mile radius of Aliquippa, and to stores and markets in Beaver and Allegheny counties.

Their day begins at 4 a.m. and ends at 8 o'clock each night. The cows are milked twice a day -- 4 a.m. and 5 p.m. -- for two hours, seven days a week.

The family cares for a herd of 220 Holsteins that can weigh as much as 1,700 pounds and can live to 15 years old. Many of the cows are multi-generational residents of the farm, too.

Those cows," Mr. Brunton said, pointing to several Holsteins calmly munching hay in the main milking barn, "are descended from cows my father bought in the 1950s."

And everything those cows produce is about as fresh and local as it can get in Western Pennsylvania.

"We bottle milk every Monday and Thursday. On Friday, customers are drinking milk that's only a day old," he said.

The dairy has customers that are multi-generational, too.

The Bruntons have seen grandparents, parents and children from the same family make their way to buy milk at the small store they operate on the farm, which is open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week.

The main part of the cow's diet is hay grown on the farm, and on the 100 acres they rent nearby. The cows eat about 3,000 tons of hay a year, he said, in addition to corn, soybeans and vitamins. And the Holsteins wash it down with 40 gallons of well water a day.

Temperature is also important. Large fans deliver a steady flow of cool, moist air in the main milking barn.

Mr. Brunton said the ideal temperature is around 70 degrees. If it gets too cold, production will slow since the cows' energy will go to keeping warm.

Every day is a little different on the farm, he said, and the family tries to alter the work routine.

"On any given day, I might drive the delivery trucks, bottle milk or milk the cows. We all take turns doing different jobs," Mr. Brunton said.

One specialist though, is his brother Herb, who is the maestro when it comes to ice cream. Herb makes and hand packs about 70 gallons of ice cream a week. Chocolate, vanilla and strawberry are still the most popular flavors.

The family also sells buttermilk, whole milk and milk in 2 percent, 1 percent and skim varieties in glass bottles.

"We started out with some glass bottles at the McGinnis Sisters stores in Monroeville and Brentwood. It was something different and people just kept coming back for the glass bottles more often," he said.

Now the farm sells close to 1,000 cases a week of milk in glass bottles.

Besides the McGinnis Sisters stores, Brunton milk is available at Soergels farm market in Franklin Park, Janoski's farm market in Clinton, Patty's farm market in Aspinwall and the Murray Avenue Kosher Market in Squirrel Hill, which sells about 300 gallons of milk that is certified kosher each week.

The Brunton family farm has survived wrenching economic changes in the farming and milk business over the years, and has grown despite those trends.

What may be helping the Brunton farm is a recent trend toward people wanting healthier foods grown locally.

Many of those customers want greater freshness, quality and better food safety standards. They also want better taste in their food products, and they are looking to locally grown products to find it, said Suzy Meyer, who works with the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture, a noprofit group that promotes Pennsylvania farms and environmentally sound farming practices.

Perhaps the true secret to the success of the Brunton dairy farm, though, may be the close family ties.

"I like working with my family and with the kids," the elder Mr. Brunton said. That's one of the main reasons I stay. That, and the fact I can't find my way off the farm," he jokes.

But when it comes to talking about the future of the farm, Mr. Brunton turns serious.

Despite the long hours, hard work, and occasional economic setbacks, he says he intends to stay in business as long as he can.

"I was born here, and I will die here," he said. "I'm glad the kids and my brothers are interested in keeping the farm going," he said.

While demand for their milk and other products remains high, Mr. Brunton does envision a troubling obstacle in the future.

He has seen many family farms in Allegheny and Beaver counties swallowed by housing and commercial developments.

As he looked out at tree-covered hills from the loading dock, where each day the family's four trucks begin their delivery routes, not a house or building was in sight.

"I think we'll be here for a while," he said.