TUSCARORA, MD - People now have a sweet reason to visit Maryland dairy farms.
The Rocky Point Creamery in Tuscarora keeps farmer Chuck Fry busy. He has more 200 dairy cows to take care of and ice cream to make for his on-farm store.
"I'm 4th generation, and my son and grandkids are 5th and 6th generation, and we want to be able to pass the land along to them without doing anything else but milking cows," Fry said.
Now people will have a tasty reason to come out to Fry's creamery. The Maryland Department of Agriculture launched the 'Ice Cream Trail.'
"The ice cream trail is important to the Maryland dairy industries because we're losing cow numbers quickly, and it's a really good thing to do to get people back to the farm to see where milk, and cheese, and ice cream comes from," Fry said.
People can visit the seven Maryland dairy farms with on-farm ice cream for the program. They'll get to go on a GPS 'geocash' search to get all kinds of goodies, including a cow stress ball, stamps, and coins.
Those with Maryland Department of Agriculture hope the trail shows people how ice cream goes from cow to cone.
"They come out on the farms, and they get to eat ice cream, see the cows, and get a true understanding of where their food comes from," said Buddy Hance, Maryland secretary of agriculture.
Kids who tasted Rocky Point Creamery's ice cream gave it two thumbs up.
"My favorite thing about ice cream made on a farm is that it's made from our cows, and usually other places just get it from another farm." 12-year-old Colin Lockard said.
"I like ice cream from the farm because it's cold, it's sweet, and it tastes good," five-year-old Cole Mohler said.
People who visit all seven farms between June 20 and September 7th can be named Maryland's 2012 Ice Cream Trail Blazer and try ice cream fresh from the farm.
South Mountain Creamery in Middletown and Misty Meadows Farm Creamery in Smithsburg are also part of the Ice Cream Trail.
To see a map of the seven dairy farms participating, and for more information, click here.
