If you think oversized scoops of fresh, farmstead ice cream dripping from a homemade waffle cone are a thing of the past, then it’s time you took a road trip. More dairy farms across the United States are crafting the frozen treat right on the farm, meeting a growing demand from consumers who want to connect with local food sources. Two of our favorite farmstead ice creams are from Ronnybrook Farm Dairy in Ancramdale, New York, and Kelley Country Creamery in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin.

Both dairies make ice cream from the milk of their own cows. Ronnybrook Farm in upstate New York is home to the Osofsky family’s herd of prize-winning pastured Holstein cows and produces a complete line of products, including bottled milk, butter, yogurt, and crème fraîche. Kelley Country Creamery, meanwhile, is a sixth-generation Wisconsin dairy farm that was inundated with more than 1,500 visitors during the grand-opening weekend of its ice cream factory in May. Both companies pride themselves in turning farm-fresh milk into ice cream within 48 hours of milking.
“We do it all,” says Denice Osofsky of Ronnybrook Farm. “We raise our own cows. We feed them with what’s grown almost exclusively on the farm. We milk them, manufacture our own products, and then deliver them to our patrons in our own trucks. You know where it comes from.”