Why You Should Vist the Fair Oaks Farm

If you ever plan on traveling through Indiana, stop at Fair Oaks Farm. No, really, stop there, and better yet, make your trip into an overnight stay. Fair Oaks Farm is a modern working farm and at the same time, designed for tourists to visit. The concept behind Fair Oaks Farm is to give visitors a real view of a modern farm experience. The admission fee is reasonable. We purchased the one-day pass for $20 which includes the fee for bus tours to the dairy cows and the hog barn. It’s family-friendly with lots of activities for families, even the very young.

The farm is located at 856 N. 600 E., Fair Oaks, IN. It’s right off of Interstate 65 and very easy to find. 

Overnight accommodations at the fairfield inn and Suites

When we arrived at Fair Oaks Farm, we realized it was too late in the day to partake in the tours. We really wanted to “take in” the whole experience, so we stayed the evening at the on-site Fairfield Inn and Suites. The food at the attached Farmhouse Restaurant was very good and I highly recommend eating there.

Interesting fact: There are 99 rooms at the Fairfield Inn. One room for each farmer owner of Fair Oaks Inn. Yes, there are 99 owners. Also, they only serve WHOLE milk. Interesting, I thought! 

Interesting note: In the lobby, not only is there two cows to greet you but you will see the red, yellow, and green pictures (see above). There is a significance as the red barn is behind the front desk. It means to stop. The green abstract picture means go–once you check in, “go” to your room. The yellow picture means to pause. It is located near the chairs and couches in the lobby area. 

Dairy farm 

The dairy farm at Fair Oaks Farm has 36,000 dairy cows. Not all the dairy cows are housed on one farm. There are eleven different dairy farms owned and operated by Fair Oaks Farm. The majority of the milk is processed and sold to Krogers.

We were fortunate to be given a sneak peek of their new milking robotics. It will be open to the public soon. I love this display before we entered the robotic milking barn. They estimate about a 15-20% increase in milk production with robotic milkers.

Hog Farm

The hog farm at Fair Oaks Farms is a 2400 head breeding/gestation/farrowing farm. This is where the breeding, housing of pregnant sows, and the birthing process happens. Once the pigs are weaned, they are sold to other farmers, who raise the pigs to market weight.

From personal observation, the pigs looked great. Very healthy. This is truly a working farm as we were able to watch the farrowing room attendants take care of the baby pigs as they were born.

crop adventure

The Crop Adventure building is just as it sounds. I thought they displayed some really interesting facts about farming. Check out the signs. 

I highly recommend visiting Fair Oaks Farm. This has been on my bucket list for a very long time. It was much larger than I imagined. I feel like it showed the true story of farming and the tour guides were excellent at sharing the real story of modern-day farming. It is a true working farm. They also have an on-site Cowfe’ (coffee shop) that serves cheese and ice cream, along with a gift shop. It’s a very popular destination for school children.

Note: I am not doing Fair Oaks Farm any justice when it comes to children’s activities. Let me just say, there are plenty of places for children to connect where their food comes from and farm entertainment. And I would definitely recommend older adults to visit. 

There is plenty for all!