Sundaes on the Farm taking place at Tri-Kay Dairy Farm

For the 11th year in a row, the Tioga County Agricultural Resource Group presents Sundaes at the Farm on July 30, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. This free, family, agricultural event is both fun and educational. Tri-Kay Dairy Farm, located at 481 West Creek Road in Owego, is the host this year. 

As in past years, there will be self-guided barn tours with the farmers on hand to answer questions, educational displays, 4-H food booth, and activities for kids and live music by the Get Down Boys. The Tioga County Dairy Princesses will serve free ice cream sundaes with toppings made from local ingredients. 

Tri-Kay Farm is a multi-generational family farm that was started by Joe Kwiatkowski in the early 1900’s when he began milking around 15 cows. After WWII, Joe’s son Wesley bought ten cows when he returned from military service. Younger brother Floyd joined in the 1940’s and the name Tri-Kay Farms was formed. 

In the 1950’s, they built the big round barn that can hold around 60 cows. Later, in 1960, they implemented the first Dairy pipeline in Tioga County which carried the milk directly from the milking pumps to the tank, eliminating the need to capture the milk in cans and transporting it by hand to a tank. 

The tradition of brothers working together on the farm continued when Wesley’s sons, Henry, Matt, Jim and Mark, took over after their father and uncles retired. Today, they milk 200 cows and grow their food on 500 acres, 200 of which they own and 300 of which they rent. They focus on efficiency, looking for ways to increase their harvest without expanding to more land, and by taking care of the ground and planting crops that produce well. At this time, they are between alfalfa harvests and are looking forward to harvesting the 60 to 70 acres of oats they plant every year. 

One of the unique things about Tri-Kay Farm is that they use a unique mating system that matches bulls with cows depending on their breeding traits. They also know that happy cows give more milk, so they make sure their stock is comfortable, with rubber flooring, barns built to stay cool in the summer and warm in the winter, and stalls with mattresses. 

The brothers work as a team. Henry acts as herdsman in charge of feed and rations for the cows, Matt does the feeding; Jim takes care of young stock, and Mark does the planting and fieldwork. They employ workers to help with milking duties, which Matt, Jim and Mark also do. 

Tri-Kay Farms is a fine example of Tioga County Agriculture. It is a family farm where quality has been the goal for three generations. 

Every year, hundreds of residents and visitors travel the country roads of Tioga County to attend Sundaes at the Farm, which is hosted by a different farm every year, to celebrate the agricultural roots of Tioga County. This is a fun way to spend the day, a great way to get to know your local farmers and to learn about local agriculture. 

Sundaes at the Farm is sponsored by the Tioga County Farm Bureau, Dairy Farmers of America, Ward & Van Scoy, Home Central, Leprino Foods Inc., Tioga State Bank, and Farm Family in cooperation with the Tioga County Agricultural Resource Group (TC ARG), a county association that works on agricultural initiatives and is made up of representatives from several Tioga County organizations and farmers. 

For more information, please contact the Tioga County Tourism Office on 80 North Ave. in Owego by calling (607) 687-7440.