CY Farms – Dairy Cows, Turf, & Onions… One of the Most Diverse Farms in the United States

Started by Carl Yunker as a small dairy farm with 25 cows in 1951, CY Farms was formed when his oldest son, Craig returned home to the farm from college. Carl and Craig built a milking parlor, a free-stall barn, and the 1st bunker silo in New York State and grew the milking herd to 350 cows by 1985. In 1986, Craig and Carl decided to put in a high bid through a government program designed to shrink the U.S. dairy herd and they found themselves out of the dairy business. Over the next 20 years, the farm went through rapid growth. Throughout the years, CY Farms has grown processing tomatoes, thousands of acres of snap beans and operated a custom snap bean and green pea harvesting business. Craig’s son, Christian, returned to the farm in 2008 after spending 6 years working as a Loan Officer for Farm Credit in New Jersey. Currently Craig, Christian and 5 managers run CY Farms, Batavia Turf, CY Heifer farm with a staff of 42. Today the farm grows 6,500 acres of field crops and vegetables including corn, wheat, soybeans, and alfalfa are rotated with onions, green peas and spinach. The farm continues to grow and change every year, experimenting with new practices and new crops.