Adirondack Farms

Peru, NY
6,000 acres
3,500 milking cows

Cows over apples

Jon Rulfs was raised in a pair of family farming businesses: Adirondack Farms dairy and Rulfs Orchard. “I grew up with apples and cows,” he recounts, “and when the time came, I chose to go with the cows.” His passion, he had discovered, was with the animals and the land. “I prefer cows to people, but that kind of backfired because now we’ve grown the business and we have 60 employees,” Jon admits with a chuckle. Still, he loves what he does, working closely with business partner, Shane St. Cyr, to keep all systems running smoothly, including a new biodigester. Each day brings joys. “It can be as simple as a calf being born or getting in a crop before it rains,” Jon says.

Family Activities
Specialty Foods

Sweet story

From early June strawberries, to pumpkins and pies, to a busy gift basket season, there is no downtime, Shannon says. The petting zoo is a big attraction, as is the corn maze. “It was never expected or intended that my daughters would end up at the orchard. They went off and did their own thing,” Jon says. But, without them, he acknowledges, the family would likely have had to sell or close the orchard and market. “My two girls returning home and asking if they could do this, it’s the perfect story. What makes it even sweeter is that it happened on its own, just because they wanted to do it.” 

From summer to late fall, you can visit Rulfs Orchard for fun family festivities

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