Hard work pays off for Folts family dairy farm

“Ultimate production is a result of ultimate cow comfort,” Josh Folts explained, adding, “The production we have is some of the best in the state.”

With robotic milkers and a “social area” for the cows, this isn’t their fathers’ dairy farm. That’s because neither of Josh or Ginny Folts’ parents were farmers.

The couple took the leap seven years ago, entering a field that others in the state were leaving by the hundreds every year. The decision makes their North Collins farm one of only a handful of 21st-century, first-generation dairy farms in Western New York.

There were nearly 6,000 dairy farmers in New York State in 2006. That number had dropped to 3,600 by 2020, according to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets. Still, the dairy industry in New York generated nearly half the state’s total agricultural receipts.

First-generation dairy farms are difficult to start because besides the cows, there is a lot of equipment to purchase to feed the cows, milk the cows, and store and cool the milk. Once farmers get started, there is a lot of expertise around to help them, according to Katelyn Walley-Stoll of Cornell Cooperative Extension’s Western New York Dairy, Livestock and Field Crops Team.

“Beginning farmers are really excited to take all of that information because they’re not battling 500 years of family tradition. They’re willing to try something new and take on new research, and if it doesn’t work, go back to the drawing board,” Walley-Stoll said.

While he did not grow up on a farm, Josh Folts told Ginny his dream before they were married.

“This is something we always wanted to do,” he said.

But they didn’t do it overnight.

Josh Folts started working on the Phillips Family Farm in North Collins when he was 17, and after college, he…