Ferris Acres Creamery—

A Farming Family Plans To Get Into The Ice Cream Business

By Andrew Gorosko

“If you’re going to stay in dairy farming, then you have to do something besides farming,” said Shirley Ferris, in describing the tough economics of milk production.

Mrs Ferris should know. As the state’s commissioner of agriculture from 1995 until earlier this year, she monitored agricultural production across Connecticut.

Ferris Acres, the Ferris family’s farm, is the last commercial dairy farm left in Fairfield County, Mrs Ferris noted. The farm has been in the family since 1864.

To augment the income provided by milk production, Ferris Acres plans to build Ferris Acres Creamery, a farm store that will sell ice cream made on the premises, as well as other local agricultural products.

Mrs Ferris, who will manage the store, will be taking courses on commercial ice cream production at Penn State University.

For the past decade, Ferris Acres has operated a seasonal farm stand in the autumn. In the future, the items that were sold at that stand will be available at the farm’s ice cream store. The planned 600-square-foot ice cream store’s opening is slated for next May 1.

The store will have window service. It also will have indoor seating with picture window views of the farm. Picnic table seating will be available on a porch.

The Ferrises want to provide customers with a sense of being on a farm as they enjoy their ice cream, without allowing them to wander on the premises, which could be hazardous, Mrs Ferris explained. Realizing that Ferris Acres is a working dairy farm, customers would respect the limited access allowed to the farm, she said.

Initially, Ferris Acres ice cream, which will be made daily on the farm, will be produced from pasteurized cream, which the farm will buy from the Agri-Mark agricultural cooperative. Ferris Acres sells its raw whole milk to Agri-Mark. Eventually, after Ferris Acres acquires a pasteurizer, the farm’s ice cream would be made solely from the milk produced by cows at Ferris Acres.

The farm has 130 head of cattle, of which 68 cows produce milk, according to farmer Charles D. Ferris, who is Mrs Ferris’s husband. Most of the cattle are Holsteins.

The sign planned for the creamery will depict a black-and-white Holstein standing in a field of green grass, with a blue sky and stone wall in the background. The sign will face Sugar Street (Route 302), where 8,000 vehicles pass by daily. The road links Newtown to Bethel.

 

Rule Revision

On August 21, Ferris Acres Creamery gained Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) approval.

P&Z members approved revisions to the zoning regulations, which allow the planned store as a permitted land use. The P&Z also approved site plans for the store, which the Ferris family will build on the 80-acre farm, just west of the intersection of Sugar Street and Robin Hill Road. The farm leases additional land in the area for agricultural use.

Mr Ferris told P&Z members that dairy farmers find themselves in a “price squeeze” concerning milk production. The Ferris family wants to continue its dairy farming heritage, he said. Having a store on the farm that sells ice cream would generate profits to help the family farm remain in business, he said. A farm ice cream store also would make for a good addition to the community, Mr Ferris said.

Mrs Ferris told P&Z members the store would sell frozen deserts, soft drinks, specialty foods, and seasonal items. Specialty items would include cornstalks, hay, and pumpkins. Specialty foods would include items in bottles, boxes, and bags. The items to be sold at the 600-square-foot store would be produced locally, including selected local farm produce.

Resident Pat Stroud of 133 Sugar Street, who lives near the farm, expressed her support for the Ferris’s project.

And P&Z member Lilla Dean said, “I think it’s a good idea,” a sentiment echoed by P&Z member Daniel Fogliano.

In its revision to the zoning regulations, P&Z allowed the construction of stores at commercial dairy farms, with sales limited to frozen deserts and soft drinks to be consumed on the premises, or off the premises, plus the sale of other local farm products. The maximum permitted size of such a store is 1,000 square feet.

Site Plan

Engineer Larry Edwards described the Ferris’s site plans for an ice cream store to P&Z members.

The family has received wetlands approval from the Conservation Commission due to the project’s proximity to wet areas, he said.

Access to the store would be provided from a widened existing driveway at the farm. A 12-space parking lot would be built. The store would have its own septic waste disposal system and water well. The property would be illuminated by one street light. An unlit metal sign would be posted.

Mrs Ferris told P&Z members that the family plans to operate the store from May 1 through October 31. It would be open daily from 11 am to 8 pm. The store would have the appearance of a barn.

In approving the site plan for the store, P&Z members decided the project meets applicable zoning regulations and is consistent with permitted land uses in the town’s FR-2 zone, which is designated for farming and residential uses.