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ISSUE NO. 17 • April 30, 2026 • RutherfordWeekly.com • 828-248-1408
Guernsey Girl Creamery is “a little dairy with big flavor” By Alan Hodge
Look for this sign at 3361 Bridges Dairy Rd. just outside Polkville.
Ashley with sons Silas, 9, Charlie, 13, and cow Twinkle.
Spring is here and Guernsey Girl Creamery near Polkville is moo-ving swiftly into another season of offering superior dairy and other homemade food products to its customers. The operation, whose apt motto is “The Little Dairy with Big Flavor”, is located at 3361 Bridges Dairy Road off Stagecoach Road near Polkville. Ashley McMurry, her husband Dustin, and kids Molly, 4, Silas, 9, and Charlie, 13, run the 140-acre place. Ashley is the fourth generation of her family, the Bridges, to live on Bridges Dairy Road. She gave a rundown of its history. “My great-grandparents Charles and Kathleen Bridges started farming on this road,” Ashley said. “They grew cotton, tobacco, and raised hogs, and chickens. In 1949 my grandfather Charles, Jr., started the dairy. My father Kevin eventually took it over. He still lives here in the house great-grandfather built.”
In 2008, Ashley graduated from NCSU with a degree in Agriculture and a minor in Animal Science. In 2010 her father retired, and she began running the operation.
Daughter Molly, 4, and her barn cat Oliver. (Photo provided)
“I was able to keep some of the cows,” she says. “In 2011 I received a $10k grant from Rural Advancement Foundation International. I was also able to borrow equipment like a milk pasteurizer from the
A Guernsey Girl Creamery cow having lunch. (Photo provided)
Tank holds 285 gallons of raw milk fresh from the Guernsey cows.
Husband Dustin McMurry watering some of the plants that are offered at the dairy store. (Photos by Alan Hodge)
NCDA.” Since then, the farm has grown. “We now have fifty Guernsey cows,” she says. “We also have fifty beef cattle in Belwood.” The cattle eat a lot of hay. “We grow hay on 500 acres of rented land in places like Cliffside, Casar, and Lawndale,” said Ashley. According to Ashley, the Guernsey cows produce about 700 gallons of milk per week. “I do the milking twice a day,” she says. “The milk is A2 which makes it easier to digest. It is vat pasteurized.” The milk is sold in one-gallon and half-gallon jugs at the dairy roadside store in plain, chocolate, strawberry, and coffee flavor. The chocolate is especially rich and its smooth, creamy, chocolatey flavor makes the big box store variety seem like brown water. “We have a very broad customer base,” Ashley says. “People come from as far away as Charlotte, Asheville, and Morganton. They take it home in coolers.” Ashley also churns the milk into cheese which is also available at the store in the form of curds and pimento cheese. “I taught myself how to make it,” she says. In addition to milk, Dustin grows a variety of vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, lettuce, and broccoli for sale. “He has a two-acre garden and a greenhouse,” said Ashley.
Continued on page 17.