College of AGNR alum Chuck Fry poses with a triple scoop of ice cream in front of Rocky Point Creamery, located at the entrance to his dairy farm in Frederick County, Md.
Image Credit: Edwin Remsberg
Few treats are more tempting on a hot summer day than a heaping double-scoop of hand-dipped ice cream atop a sugary, crunchy cone. But for two alumni of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, ice cream represents much more than a sweet indulgence. It’s the future of the family farm.
“You have to offer something different than Cold Stone. It’s our story that makes us different,” says Chuck Fry, owner of Rocky Point Creamery in Tuscarora, Md.
Situated at the entrance to Fry’s dairy farm, Rocky Point Creamery is easily accessible from both Frederick, Md. and Leesburg, Va. Commuters and travelers passing through this area of Western Maryland routinely stop in for a scoop of Reese Pieces, Cowfee Chip, Salty Caramel Pretzel or one of the other 70 flavors Chuck’s daughter Gail makes fresh on the premises. The milk, of course, comes from the dairy herd housed on the hill overlooking the creamery.
While the creamery opened in the fall of 2011, the story behind it goes back a bit farther. In line to become a fourth generation farmer, Fry attended the College of AGNR in the early 1980s where he studied agricultural education and agricultural economics. He had planned to leave farming behind him and become a horticulture teacher but after a brief stint student teaching in Baltimore County, returned home to take over the reins at the farm from his ailing father.
“It was a tough decision to make,” says Fry. “I really didn’t know if I could do it.”
Fry has always approached farming with what he refers to as a “three-legged milk stool” business plan. A herd of roughly 170 Holsteins make up the first leg of the stool while crops, including corn, soybeans and barley, make up the second. Up until 2009, turkeys were the third leg in Fry’s’ stool but when they lost their turkey contract and milk prices were trending lower and lower, it was Chuck’s wife Paula who convinced him ice cream was the way to bring balance back to the farm.
Upon opening, the Frys kept their expectations low. “I think our initial business plan was to sell ten cones a day. We had no idea it would take off like it did,” says Fry.
Now, less than four years later, Rocky Point is serving more than 700 people a day on weekends in the summer. The line of customers clamoring for the creamy confections can snake around three or four times in front of the counter while a colorful array of frozen flavors tempts them from behind the glass.
Meanwhile, down on the Lower Easter Shore in Worcester County, Chesapeake Bay Farms, owned and operated by the Holland Family, is one of a very few dairy farms in the region. Ken Holland ’64, a dairy husbandry graduate, is recently retired but his family has been farming in the Pocomoke area since the Civil War. Roughly three years ago, the Hollands decided the only way to keep their dairy farm profitable was to start making and selling cheese and ice cream.
"We felt like we had to get a higher value for our product,” says Holland.
Holland eventually turned over the dairy farming operations to his son Danny but it was his daughter-in-law, Laura Holland, who took over the task of starting the creamery.
"I love to cook and this job is everything my other job isn’t,” says Laura Holland, who owns a DC-based concierge business.
Laura says she’s always had a deep respect for farmers cultivated mostly by her father, the late Joseph Trumbauer, a longtime Extension agent in Somerset County and 1973 graduate of the College of AGNR. Still, she never pictured herself living on a farm or developing a passion for ice cream.
“I know it sounds corny but I really just love making ice cream,” she says. “I am never sad to get up and go to this job.”
In 2012, the Hollands installed a processing plant on their farm and opened up a retail store in nearby Berlin, Md. where they started selling their ice cream and cheese. Before long, they couldn’t keep up with the demand – especially for Laura’s signature flavors, like Blueberry Crunch, which contains chunks of homemade shortcake.
Jeff Semler, a Senior Agent for University of Maryland Extension based in Washington County, says many Maryland dairy farmers consider dipping into the creamery boom.
“They’re very popular. People like to go to the farm. They like to see, smell, hear and they like to believe they’re seeing where their ice cream is coming from,” says Semler. “In most cases, the product is excellent, which is also a very good selling point.”
However, Semler advises farmers he works with to take a year to “do their homework” before taking any official steps towards launching a creamery operation.
“I’m the guy who askes the tough questions,” Semler says. “Who’s really interested? How is this going to work? Who’s going to do the work? It’s not something you can just add to your to-do list.”
Semler says figuring out zoning and health department regulations are one of the biggest hurdles farmers have to clear before deciding to get into the creamery game. And just like real estate, it’s all about location, location, location.
“If you’re in a holler down a crooked road, it’s probably not going to work,” he says. “Another thing to consider is: Do you have the personality to work with the public? A lot of farmers choose to be farmers because they don’t really like interacting with people.”
While the recipe for a successful creamery involves numerous ingredients including a good business plan, strong work ethic and, of course, delicious ice cream, Fry says one element is particularly important: “If you don’t love what you do, it’s not going to work.”
Read more of this story on page 15 of the latest issue of MomentUM magazine!
