Hippy Cow: More than a Creamery

It’s a raw milk revolution.

At least, that’s what the Nelson family is counting on. Their “Hippy Cow Creamery” on Blackburn Avenue in Cody is a celebration of the health benefits—and deliciousness—of milk straight from the cow. And the Nelsons—parents Mark and Mary, with daughters Sadie Howard and Maggie Haron and sons Angus and Arleigh—are proving that raw milk products are in high demand.

“We started out our little milk business with subscribers,” said Sadie. “We would have people prepay for five weeks at a time for a certain amount of milk, and they would come weekly and pick up their milk.”

But the family’s small business started growing, and opportunities arose to expand their offerings from just the raw milk.

“We had a little, like an oil field man camp, in the front room, and we turned it into a little store,” said Sadie. “We had our fridge, and then Mountain View Coffee Roasters from Meeteetse, we paired with them and started selling their coffee through there. And then we had an aunt who started bringing sourdough bread and selling that there. And we quickly outgrew that.”

In July 2025, the Nelsons opened their shop at 164 Blackburn Avenue Unit A. Sadie said that with the move to Blackburn from their Rocky Road farm, the family sees many more walk-ins than they used to.

The Owners and Family of Hippy Cow

“Our customers used to be mostly subscribers, but it shifted massively when we moved up here,” she said. “We’ll see maybe five new customers a day.”

Espresso coffee (paired with homemade honey-based syrups), freshly baked sourdough and other pastries, spices and jams, candles, soaps and lotions made with goat’s milk, and other homemade items are all on display at Hippy Cow Creamery.

“In the span of six months, we have 10 vendors,” said Sadie. “They are in charge of stocking their shelves, and they pay just a small fee to rent from us, and then we take the money and give it right back to them, and it’s kind of like a farmer’s market.”

Why Raw Milk?

Since the Wyoming Food Freedom Act was passed in 2015, the popularity of raw milk has gained traction in the Cowboy State. But Mark explained that the family’s personal raw milk revolution began with an effort to improve their own health.

“Mary and I had a pretty big garden down at our place,” he said. “We just thought, let’s start. We want to know where our food comes from.” Mary and her daughters were already purchasing raw milk from friends and neighbors, when an opportunity came up in 2023 to buy their own cow.

“Sadie’s neighbor had Darla (the cow), and they moved away,” said Mary. “She asked Sadie if she wanted to buy it. But we didn’t have a rope. I mean, we had literally nothing. So we were like, well, we’d love to, but we just can’t.” While they had to pass on the opportunity at that time, three weeks later they were asked by Darla’s new owner if they’d be willing to take her, as the new owner’s work schedule changed.

“We were like, ‘Alright, I think God wants us to buy this,’” said Mary. “So we pooled our money, we each went in equally and bought Darla the cow. The gal we bought her from, she trained us on how to work the milking machine.” But even with three families using the milk that Darla produced, they found they still had raw milk to spare.

“And now people were like, ‘Can we buy it?,’” said Mary. “And so we sold the extra. And then we thought, well, that’s kind of a good gig.” And Hippy Cow Creamery was born.

“Mom, Maggie and I have always had a garden,” said Sadie. “And we always joke that we’re a little bit hippy. And then in November, we wanted to make a Facebook group so that people could find us for the milk, so we were like, well, we need to come up with an actual name. And the idea just kind of just popped into all of us.”

Quality Is Key

Mark explained that the key to raw milk safety, as well as taste, is temperature and cleanliness. “It has to be extremely clean, extremely cold,” he said. “We have to keep all of our equipment extremely clean, and that starts at the cow, all the way to the milk fat and handling.”

Hippy Cow Creamery stores their fresh, raw milk in two 65-gallon cold vats that they are already outgrowing. “We make cream, we make yogurt, ice cream, butter, cottage cheese,” said Mark. “At home we make mozzarella and ricotta. We’re headed towards making hard cheeses, but we want to get all the systems set up right.”

The family is particular about what their cows eat, as well. Mark said that they recently had a nutritionist work with them to develop a better cow feed formula. “We’re very specific about what we’re going to allow to be in the feed,” he said. “Because the milk comes straight from the cow, right into the jug.”

The family credits friends and colleagues with helping them to succeed in a venture that they admittedly knew very little about when they decided to go into the dairy business.

“We have a great working relationship with Lynn George (at George’s Dairy Farm),” said Mark. “And we buy our feed from Farm Fresh Feeds just across the Willwood bridge right there, and all that stuff is sourced locally.”

“I love the idea of providing this healthy food for our community,” said Mary. “I just think that it is so wonderful that people have a place that they can go and they can get a normal loaf of bread that has nothing harmful in it, and wonderful milk that heals so many things in our bodies.”

Hippy Cow Creamery is open from Monday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. To become a subscriber to Hippy Cow Creamery, contact the Nelsons at (307) 250-8426, or email [email protected]

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