Shuler Dairy Farms — Local services in Lake Charter Township

What an amazing experince. We came on a weekend in December about 3pm and were lucky enough to get a private tour from Bill, the owner/patriarch of the farm. I'd prefer going in the winter as getting a 90 minute private tour was priceless. The technology and innovation at this farm will blow you away - literally. There is technology to keep the air moving in the barn that keeps flies and smells away while keepign the cows comfortable. It was snowing outside and it was chilly in the barn, but still comfortable. This is a hands on, in the thick of it kind of tour. You won't be put on a bus and driven around the farm. Proper footwear is something to consider. This is the cleanest dairy farm I've ever seen but you still need to watch your step, if you know what I mean. Its also a working farm that won't stop for tours. Bill's sons were moving around and working the whole time. You get an apprecition for how hard this family works 365 days a year. Bill showed us the robot milkers, the maternity section, my boys were able to milk a Jersey by hand and pet a calf. We met a 2,000 lb bull and got to walk along the feeding isle and let a few cows lick our hands. There is also a touching 13 minute video that shows you the long history and potential future of the farm. Bills personality and humor make the tour such a great experince. His passion really is in the farm, the cows, and sharing it all with city slickers like us. The tour was so great that I was expecting some type of join my cult or time-share hard pitch at the end but it was just Bill being passionate about his lifestlye and family history. The tour was $5 each, which seemed so low for the experince we had, so we of course gave a sizeable tip. There was some free cheese to try and a nice bathroom that was easy to access. There are a few stairs to climb getting around the farm and one flight of stairs if you want to watch the 13 minute movie. The only thing that could be better is if there was more stuff to buy. I wanted to buy more cheese, ice cream, maybe a trucker hat. Bill did say that there is a lot more to do in the summer such as soft serve ice cream, a small petting area, and fainting goats.... I'm coming back to see the fainting goats. The farm was easy to get to and there is tons of parking. If you are anywhere in the area, you owe it to yourself and your family to stop in. Even if you have been to other farms, you need to stop in and see this one. We will be visiting the farm at least once a year as we are in the area quite often. I think you will learn something new every...

Kind of disappointed. Went there with sister in law and our kids to try their ice cream and we were really excited. When we got there we tried to go into the front building because that's where we thought the ice cream was. My 2 year old walk inside real quick but the man in the building told us the ice cream was around the corner. When we get there they tell us that they haven't bought the right equipment for pasturizing yet so they don't have homemade ice cream. The website and all their advertisements say "fresh ice cream." Instead they have a food truck with soft serve for $3.00 a cone! Yikes! We decided to go back into Bridgman to get some cheaper ice cream. As I am leaving a woman comes up to me and asks "did you pay for your tour?" (The tours are $5/person by the way) I tell her we didn't go in the tour. She then asks "didn't you go in the building?" I said yes, my son did because that's where we thought the ice cream was. She asks again "but you didn't go on the tour?" I say no and she replies with a "hmmm ok..." Like she doesn't believe me. I was SO excited to try their homemade ice cream but after being disappointed with no ice cream and that lady left a real bad taste in my mouth I don't think we'll...

I had a further work colleague recommend Shuler Farms as a great place to visit. He was right, we had a fun and really informative time at Shuler. Bill was a very gracious host and gave us all the history of the farm to start. We went out to the observation deck and he walked us through how the farm works, how cows are handled, and even how bulls are picked. The technology upgrades at the farm were probably my favorite part, they are very impressive and really cool to see, especially if you’re into that kind of thing like I am. Petting the calves was also fun, as was going around to where they were feeding.

Overall a great experience, we only wish the ice cream stand was open at the time of year we went (March), but we’ll try to come back in the summer for...