New York Dairy Farm Balances Cows and Community Engagement

Friday, June 16, 2023

With 1,600 cows, a handful of show cattle and an “open door policy,” there’s a lot going on at Reyncrest Farm.

The Corfu, New York, dairy farm is run by the Reynolds family, who all work hard to keep the operation running smoothly.

“Everyone is very hands on,” Kelly Reynolds said.

Kelly’s husband, Tyler, along with his siblings Mackenzie and Andy, are the third generation at Reyncrest. Their parents, John and Shelley own the farm.

Andy’s wife, Whitney, also helps out, and the farm employs 20-25 people.

It’s a bustling operation, so each family member has a focus.

Kelly takes care of outreach and communication, running the farm’s social media pages and hosting farm tours.

“We really like sharing stuff with the public,” she said.

The farm’s Facebook page launched in 2018 and has grown to over 8,000 followers.

“Our farm was — and is — kind of always growing,” Kelly said. “We wanted our neighbors to be able to kind of have a landing page to reach out to us.”

The initial goal was to connect with neighbors, but the page’s reach has expanded beyond New York.

With a following from both inside and outside of the agricultural industry, Kelly said she works hard to be cognizant of what is shared on the page.

“I try to be really aware of what I’m posting and how I’m saying stuff,” she said. “I want people to have a positive interaction with agriculture — dairy farming — and if that’s the one thing they see, I want it to be a good thing.”

On top of sharing the farm’s story through social media, the Reynolds family hosts farm tours, keeping what Kelly calls an “open door policy.” If someone asks for a tour and the family is available, they’ll always say yes and welcome people onto the farm.