Shamrock Farm Tour

This tour was excellent! Very well-​organized and fun. The one thing that wasn’t so great was that we were the only family there that day amidst a tour of seniors. When it came time to get on the tram, the older people all rushed to get on and there was no seating left for a family of 7 (including a baby and a pregnant mama). It was awkward for us, as there were several spots for 2 people, and many couples on board who could have yielded, but no sense of courtesy. We finally asked the workers if they could find us a spot and they tapped some folks on the shoulder and we were able to get a spot. (We could have split up, but the whole point of being there was to be there as a family.) So obviously not Shamrock’s fault, but it would have been such a better experience if they had thought to load the families with young children first.

My wife insisted that we take this tour. Alright, I have nothing better to do on a Saturday. It took about 4 hours of my time between taking the tour and driving back and forth. This place is out in the boonies so call ahead for directions, I don’t think GPS will be your best bet.
Shamrock Farm is run by one of the largest companies in Arizona, Shamrock Foods. I believe they said there were about 2,000 cows/​Heifers (a Heifer is a cow that has never given birth) and a handful of Bulls on this farm. The cows are milked daily and it’s so interesting that they all line up into these contraptions that lock into place so they can be milked. This place is very clean, they must clean this place constantly. They have a gift shop and a place where you can grab a hot dog or some ice cream. They take you out on the tour in a tram, you can pet or feed some newborns. There were 15 newborns the day we were there; those bulls are definitely living the good life.
I heard this place is popular for field trips on Tuesday’s & Thursdays so plan your trip accordingly.

Whoa Helen, MOOve over, this is not just the experience for kids, parents, and elderly previous dairy barn owners, an occasional dental student celebrating their 23^rd birthday also loves themselves a farm tour. The tour is definately geared towards kids with several eye rolls following «cows love earrings» commentary to explain their tags in their ears, playground pit spot (pretty impressive display actually and feeling the milk sucking was kind of cool), and tales of Rosy the cow mascot off in the fields (making her the longest living cow in history). This being said I really enjoyed my birthday surprise farm tour! I loved feeling how warm milk is when it comes out of cows, seeing the animals in the fields, seeing the interesting automated milker, learning about the organic anf traditional field concurrently to save sick cows, and I LOVE LOVE LOVED petting/​feeding the baby cow! The milk to try at the end of the tour was great too@ I haven’t been able to find the dulce de leche milk in stores but it was a surprisingly complex, sweet, and refreshing splurge. The protein drinks are awesome as well. One of my happiest recent events and made the boyfriend and my annual Christmas card cover. I was very tempted to buy the cow socks as well because they just appeared amazing. If Shamrock farms is ever thinking about sponsoring a local runner, be sure to look me up!

Another item on the where to take folks from out of town with kids list.
Hour long tour shows where the milk on your supermarket shelves came from.
Shamrock farm was about as clean as a working dairy farm can get. Kids would probably enjoy petting the baby cows. My personal favorite was the milking barn — the precision of those cows churning through the line was impressive… reminded me a bit of people standing in lines for rides at disneyland.
Minus 1 star for the $ 9 admission. Given the somewhat infomercial feel to various parts of the presentation, Shamrock should knock a couple of dollars of that price for having a captive audience.