Farmer's Cow steps beyond milk

The Farmer's Cow product line has grown over the past four years to include milk, half and half, eggs, summer beverages and cider.

So with the holidays upon us, why not milk that line a bit more to include heavy cream, an essential ingredient for baking or whipping up yuletide treats.

Robin Chesmer, a managing member of the group of six Connecticut dairy farms that markets its products under the successful Farmer's Cow brand, says that's exactly what his partners did, and heavy cream products from the Farmer's Cow are now on the shelves of supermarkets around the state.

A new line of ice cream offerings, he adds, is just around the corner.

Chesmer, who runs Graywall Farms in Lebanon with his son Lincoln, says the latest offering is timed for the holidays. The farmers' Web site at www.thefarmerscow.com features a host of holiday recipes like apple ice cream and ambrosia pudding.

Chesmer likes to think of the new heavy cream product as a further diversification of the root source of the dairy group's success: the cow. "It comes from the same cows who bring you the Farmer's Cow milk," says Chesmer. The group hopes its launch of new ice cream offerings can successfully piggyback off the Farmer's Cow branding campaign. But the ice cream will have to wait - at least for a little while - as the heavy cream product gets a firmer footing among consumers.

The Farmer's Cow brand celebrated its fourth anniversary in October. The brand's success, says Chesmer, has been a confirmation that Connecticut consumers want to support this state's $2 billion agriculture industry, which includes local dairy farms, a longtime staple of the industry although their numbers have dwindled over the years. Nonetheless, dairy farms still take up more than half of the state's farmlands.

Among the six dairy farms supplying Farmer's Cow milk-related products are Chesmer's farm in Lebanon and the Cushman Farm in Franklin. Other farms are scattered around the rest of the eastern portions of the state. The Farmer's Cow's six farms milk about 2,300 cows and oversee about 6,000 acres of farmland.

Chesmer's own commitment to farming is a strong one. He and his son started the business in 1989 by leasing 185 acres of a dairy farm in Lebanon, with about 80 cows and farm equipment. They bought the dairy farm in 1992 when the owner sold the development rights to the state of Connecticut, guaranteeing its use for agriculture and making the land more affordable to farm. Over the years, the father-and-son team has put a substantial capital investment into the farm, in addition to plenty of sweat equity. Today, Graywall Farms reaches across 700 acres of land, where 400 dairy cows graze, along with nearly 300 calves and heifers. The Chesmers, who now employ six at the farm in addition to themselves, also grow corn and hay on their land to feed the cows who help produce milk for the Connecticut homegrown dairy brand.

Farmer's Cow milk products can be found in Connecticut, New York and southern New England. Its brightly adorned milk cartons, with their prominent drawing of a cow, boast of "Fresh Connecticut Milk," anchored by a "Local Is Fresh" slogan along the bottom of the carton.

The bulk of Farmer's Cow products are sold in supermarkets across the state, including some smaller locally owned chains such as Tri-Town Foods as well as some of the regional giants, such as Stop & Shop, and Big Y and Shaw's. The family-owned ShopRite stores in New London and Norwich are among the 100 or so Farmer's Cow dairy distributors. Besides its dairy-fresh branding, the Farmer's Cow brand touts its traditional pasteurizing methods. Many of today's dairy products for mass consumption use a process called "ultra-pasteurizing," which processes the milk at very high temperatures. The result is longer shelf life in supermarkets. But Chesmer and his fellow farmers maintain the process robs milk of a truly fresh taste. The dairy group also lets consumers know its milk is free of artificial growth hormones.

While it touts its traditional farming methods and its fresh-from-the-dairy-farm taste, the Farmer's Cow organization features a very modern Web site, which first greets visitors with a "moo" and even offers up a link to "Farmer's Cow tunes." There's also an image gallery and individual links to information, pictures and directions to each of the six farms that make up the brand.

Chesmer says the heavy cream offering "rounds out" the brand and helps with its growing offerings to food-service establishments, such as restaurants and coffee houses. "We provide milk and half-and-half to a number of coffee shops," he says, "and they've always been looking for heavy cream."

"This was an opportunity to fill that need, and they're (customers) supportive of local agriculture," he adds. That support is important to Chesmer and his dairy-farming partners. They believe in protecting this state's open spaces, such as its dairy farms, and the group believes its selling of dairy products in Connecticut is a tribute to the state's rich agricultural heritage.

As for its ice cream offerings, Chesmer says consumers have to be patient. He will, however, divulge a few of the top flavor picks from an online poll of customers along with a survey of consumers at farmers' markets and other events. "We had over fifteen hundred responses," Chesmer says proudly. And among the favorites? Mint chocolate chip, cookies and cream and black raspberry. "The full list of winning flavors will be announced after the holidays, when we will conduct a naming contest," he says.

He promises all the flavors will revolve around the Farmer's Cow uniqueness and homegrown qualities. "Currently, we're working out the details to come out with the ice cream in the spring," he explains. "It's going to be our cream and milk in the mix," Chesmer promises, "so it will be locally sourced ice cream."