Brunton Dairy Farm owners hope new barn will be built by end of the year after devastating 2023 fire

BEAVER COUNTY, Pa. — The cows are coming home.

On Friday, Channel 11 saw the progress made at Brunton Dairy Farm in Independence Township, Beaver County since the family’s barn burned down in a devastating fire in October 2023.

PHOTOS: Massive flames rip through dairy farm in Beaver County

The owners said they were going to hang it up after that, but the community’s support helped them move forward.

“The support surprised me because the day of the fire, probably the week after, I was not going to get back into it. If it wasn’t for the support, I would not be doing this today. I never expected that much support from the community from all over,” said Ed Brunton, Brunton Dairy Farm owner.

Almost eight months later, the family is now rebuilding. Earlier this spring, they started building a new dairy barn. They hope it will be done by the end of the year. They are aiming for this fall. That’s when the cows will be allowed back in. The barn will be advanced with new technology.

“We are going with robotic milkers. The cows will be able to milk by themselves when they want to,” said Ed Brunton.

The milk plant next door is expected to be finished sometime early next year. The owners said overall, it’s about a $3.5 million project.

Since the fire, the cows have been staying at a farm about 15 minutes away. The milk has been shipped to Schneider’s Dairy.

The owners said they can’t wait to continue their family legacy for many years to come.

“That was one of the big pushers after last October was just trying to keep it alive,” said Herb Brunton, Brunton Dairy farm owner. “It feels good to pass it along.”

The owners said their goal is to be back up and running fully operational next year in March.

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