The 35th annual Franklin Fall Farm Fun Fest will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at Creekside Dairy, 4675 Fort McCord Road, Chambersburg, Pa. 17202.
The free event is a project of the Franklin County (Pa.) Farm Bureau. Visitors will be able to tour the working dairy farm and learn how the operation produces nutritious food for consumers.
The event will feature family fun and agriculture education. Visitors will be able to take a farm wagon tour and milk a cow by hand, as well as see the latest milking technology in action, robotic milking systems.
“The Franklin Fall Farm Fun Fest allows farmers the opportunity to showcase the commodities they produce,” said Sarah Meyers, co-chair of the bureau’s Agriculture Promotion and Education Committee.
“The event also serves to educate those who enjoy those products about where their food comes from and the processes needed to get it from farm to fork.”
Parking and admission are free. Free milk and ice cream will be served.
Lunch is available for purchase from a stand operated by the FFA.
A bus tour to nearby Backroads Greenhouse, a garden center, will be available. Backroads Greenhouse grows and sells a variety of flower and vegetables plants, while offering a fun experience for visits or events with seasonal attractions in a picturesque venue.
Dean and Denise Ocker own and operate Creekside Dairy, alongside daughters Danae, Dashia and Danica. It is one of the 300 dairy farms located in Franklin County. Creekside Dairy is focused on keeping the dairy cows healthy and comfortable, which ultimately provides quality milk and dairy products to consumers. The milk produced there is part of a dairy industry in Franklin County that makes a $1 billion impact on the local economy.
In 2024, the Ockers installed a robotic milking system which has allowed a more flexible work schedule for the farmers and has improved cow welfare, increased efficiency, enhanced data collection and improved hygiene and the health of the animals.
The Ockers, who are involved in various agriculture education and advocacy activities, hope sharing their farm with the public will help provide the opportunity for the public to see what farmers do to provide food for consumers.
“It’s a great way to show the community that farming is not just a Monday through Friday job,” said Denise Ocker, who serves as the co-chair of the Franklin Fall Farm Fun Fest. “It’s 24/7. It’s a lifestyle.”
Dean added that providing the opportunity for the public to come to the farm is all the more important as fewer and fewer people are involved in agriculture.
“We’re getting further removed from farms,” he says. “We’re generations away from it now.
“A lot of people think they go to the grocery store and get their food. Most people don’t understand it beyond that. And that’s part of this event.”
For more information, visit Franklin Fall Farm Fun Fest on Facebook.
