Last week, we had the opportunity to visit Jennifer and her dairy farm, Mapes Farm Fresh in Mifflinburg, Pa. It was a fun, rainy, morning, learning the process of all things related to dairy farming and, of course, meeting the Brown Swiss cows that produce the milk! In December 2021, Jennifer bought a milk processing building to further expand the family’s business into bottling their own milk. It has been a learning curve for her, as she figures out how much she needs to bottle, and that is where our FARM (Farm to Agency Resource Market) program has been a huge blessing. As she continues to learn how to best run this new aspect to her farm, there is inevitably surplus bottled milk that may need to be thrown out. Since partnering with us, she has been able to connect that surplus milk to local pantries and recoup some of the cost.  

We had a blast learning about Jennifer and her family and how they’ve grown and adapted to create what Mapes Farm Fresh is today. Jennifer’s enthusiasm and passion for her farm are evident in her desire to keep innovating and producing high quality, creamline milk and cheeses. She also wants to start giving tours of the farm to show and teach kids where milk comes from. In addition to visiting the farm we also asked her a couple questions to celebrate Women’s History Month and highlight Jennifer’s tenacity, and hard-work navigating and adjusting to keeping her farm running successfully.  

 How has the partnership with Central Pa Food Bank impacted your farm and community?  

When Erica asked me if I wanted to partner with the Food Bank, I was excited. It has been a hard year as we just opened our business and started bottling our own milk just a little over a year ago. We have been giving the milk that we aren’t allowed to sell after the sell by date to the church ever since we opened. It’s been a learning curve and some weeks were a huge loss because we weren’t getting anything for it. So, I am extremely thankful for this partnership, and not having a complete loss from the milk that we can’t sell- it’s such a blessing. I also love the fact that it allows those people in our community that might not be able to afford our milk to be able to get it and have all the nutritional benefits of whole milk.  

What or who inspires you?  

Our farm, my parents and the next generation inspire me to keep pushing forward, to save our farm, and to never let my dreams fall short. I started this business to save our family legacy and our dairy farm for the next generation, so they can grow up the way my brothers and I did. To experience life firsthand and to learn those life lessons you can only learn on the farm. I would not have had this dream or the ability to make it become a reality without my parents, they encouraged me to dream big and work hard to turn those dreams into goals and then allowed me to bring them to life.  

 As a third-generation dairy farmer, what are you most proud of your farm accomplishing? How have you seen your farm grow over the years? 

I am so proud of my family and our farm withstanding time. We wouldn’t be where we are today without evolving and changing over time. I have seen our barn and our farming techniques change so much over the last 32 years. When I was young, we used to milk 60 cows in a tie stall barn. Since then, we have built a free-stall barn and a step-up parlor, milking around 80 cows (at one point). Over the past three years, we have transitioned to processing and bottling our own milk right here at the farm! I am very proud that we accomplished one of our biggest dreams. If we were not able to change and evolve, we wouldn’t have the farm.  

How have you seen women making an impact in the Ag industry?  

Women have always had extremely important roles in the Ag industry. People just might not have really thought about it. Farm wives or mothers were the ones that always made sure that the crew was fed. More times than not they were the ones to make sure all the bills were paid on time. They were the ones raising babies as they did the farm work. Now, women in the Ag industry have been able to connect consumers with farmers (or whatever branch of Agriculture they are in) with the help of social media. It is a huge gap to fill. Less than 2% of Americans are farmers or ranchers. I have built my business strictly through social media, teaching, and showing people in our community where their food comes from. Hopefully, one day soon, I can truly connect that gap and allow people to come to the farm and have a tour so they will be able to have a little real-life experience to see the cows and farm first-hand.  

 Do you have a favorite flavor of milk you make? 

I’m pretty simple when it comes to favorite foods and flavors of my milk. My favorite is Chocolate! It just hits the spot when it is ice cold and so fresh!! 😊 But one of my customers’ favorites is Orange Cream and that will return this summer. 

Mapes Farm Fresh is part of our FARM program, which helps local farms get surplus products onto the tables of our neighbors in need. It’s a great opportunity to connect local farms to their local food pantries and keep local food from going to waste. We are excited to make these connections and keep Central Pa’s surplus in our communities and on the plates of our food-insecure neighbors. Â