THE CREAM OF THE CROP

Ashley Bridges McMurry knows the long road to success is seldom straight

- Des Keller

Ashley Bridges McMurry was born to farm and that’s no hyperbole. She lives near Shelby, North Carolina, on Bridges Dairy Road, named for her farming ancestors.

At 8 years old, she began overseeing the care and feeding of the bottle calves on the 100-plus-head dairy owned by her grandparents, Charles and Edith Bridges. She didn’t take the bus home from school; her grandfather picked her up so she could do those afternoon chores.

“I saw my grandfather every single day,” McMurry says. “I was doing chores with him, had 10 to 15 bottle calves and another set of weaned calves up to 6 to 7 months of age to care for. I was working, but I had a sense of freedom and responsibility at a young age.”

Today, McMurry operates Guernsey Girl Creamery, lauded for its milk and award-winning cheese. The creamery sells 90% of the production from dozen-plus Guernsey cows on that same farm at a tiny store open on Saturdays, when a couple dozen regulars may be lined up by 9 a.m.

Overcoming Roadblocks

Though McMurry’s return to the family farm may seem preordained, it didn’t happen easily. Tragedy and economic struggle have thrown up roadblocks, and the effects are still felt today. McMurry recalls the day 24 years ago when, in eighth grade, she was taken out of school to the hospital.

“It was about a week before the state fair and Grandpa was trying to catch show heifers when he was attacked by a bull,” she recalls. “My father [Kevin Bridges] was also working at the farm that day and came up the hill to discover Grandpa lying in the pasture.”