Jackson County residents and those nearby will have the opportunity this weekend to find out all there is to know about a dairy farm and have a little fun.
Lot Hill Dairy Farm, 10025 N. County Road 375E, Seymour, will host its first Living Local Farm Festival from noon until the evening time Saturday and Sunday.
The event will feature a milking demonstration, butter making, a tractor and car show, a petting zoo, a pumpkin patch, hand-dipped ice cream and more.
“Everyone is invited to have some fun,” said Jon Claycamp, who operates the farm with his father, Bob.
Bob founded the farm in 1966, and it now has about 40 cows that are milked twice a day.
Jon said the event will partially be an opportunity to educate people about diary farming and how the farm works.
“There are kids that don’t always get to see cows or know where milk comes from,” he said. “I think that’s something I take for granted because I’m out here all the time, but I feel like we can educate people while we have fun.”
The educational part of the event will show attendees how milk is produced and used in common products.
“My dad is going to do a milking demonstration, and my aunt is going to do a butter demonstration,” Jon said.
The petting zoo will feature a horse, a donkey, a pig, a couple of cows and the latest addition to the Lot Hill Dairy family, a calf born Monday.
“It will be neat and a chance for kids to see the animals up close,” Jon said.
The farm used to host Old Time Ag Day in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but the farm phased it out.
Now, Jon thinks this festival may draw similar crowds.
“That event grew a lot, and I think this event could turn into that,” he said.
It’s also an opportunity for him to showcase what his business offers, as the farm lost a significant part of its business when Dean’s Milk Company announced this year it would end contracts with all 30 dairy farm suppliers in Indiana and more than 100 over seven states in the Midwest.
“Everything’s been tight,” he said. “Small farms are the ones hurting from it.”
The farm turned its focus to retail sales beginning in May through the farm store on the property, the Seymour Area Farmers Market and the market in Nashville.
Jon offers ice cream, gelato, butter, milk and a variety of cheeses and cheese spreads, which are always on stock at the farm store on the property.
He makes all of the products in a facility right behind the store.
“From the day Dean’s stopped picking up our milk, I’ve been pushing these cheeses and all our other products,” Jon said. “As the markets come to end over the next month, I have to look into getting products into other stores. Those are our only options if we want to keep our farm.”
He said he is satisfied with how the cheese business has taken off and the number of people that stop by to purchase items, but he hopes the event will help bring a little more attention to the farm.
“I’m looking forward to having everyone out for the weekend,” he said.
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What: Living Local Farm Festival
When: Noon to evening time Saturday and Sunday
Where: Lot Hill Dairy Farm, 10025 N. County Road 375E, Seymour
Features: A milking demonstration, butter making, a tractor and car show, a petting zoo, a pumpkin patch, hand-dipped ice cream and more
Directions: Take State Road 258 to Cortland, turn right at the caution light onto North County Road 400E, follow North County Road 400E until it curves left and becomes East County Road 875N, turn right onto North County Rd 375E (Waymansville Pike) and the farm is less than a mile on the left
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