Dakin Dairy Farm Market & Cafe, Myakka City FL

Very informative tour led by a very compassionate team. Courtney Dakin led our group with a chill yet informative atmosphere. She answered all questions readily and we got to participate in milk tasting, butter making, goat feeding, and a calf cuddle! She works hands-on with each calf in that area and keeps a list of them all - including birthdays! I recommend this for a fun stop on your weekend trips - however, be aware, this is a working dairy farm that can include smells and “presents” that those not used to animals aren’t used to - watch your step! Dakin Farm also has up signs on every building with instructions on how to report any concerns you may have directly so they can address them. If you see something, say something - they really do care! Will visit again. Support local dairy!

Your vanilla bean triple cream Greek yogurt is the best yogurt in the world! I surely will miss it if you take it off the market. Please reconsider!

Went here for what seemed would be a delightful field trip experience on a sustainable farm. What I saw in my opinion was animal cruelty and terrible farming practice. My cousin is a milk farmer in Ohio and has free range grass fed cows. They do milk the cows mechanically, but their cows live happy healthy lives! Dakin farm has their cows living on a concrete block of stalls in feces. The cows feed from cut grass that is brought into the feces filled stalls. Animals by nature do not lay in their own poop. These animals are covered in feces and washed with a little water before hooking up to a milking mechanism. Lots of the cows that were being milked were emaciated and appeared sick. Even the few babies in the "petting zoo" were skin and bones. I accidentally went into their front office and witnessed hundreds of babies in cages. The conditions these cows live in are absolutely unacceptable and when they offered me a glass of chocolate milk I declined because I couldn't stop thinking of the sick and battered animal it came from. Animals keep us alive by offering themselves to nourish our bodies so it is my belief that while they live they should be treated kindly and given a beautiful life! The tour guide mentioned that these cows rotate to be milked 24 hours a day. This experience convinced me to become a share holder at a small clean and sustainable farm where cows get pampered and loved well. I will never support this nonsense again. Yuck. Poor babies! Photos attached.

Drove out of our way to visit as a stop on a Labor Day weekend trip to find out they are no longer doing tours until further notice and basically are no longer open to the public beyond the little market they have with milk and such for sale as of the week of August 30.

I tried calling and sending a message on Facebook where no one ever answered, and checking their website and social media the week and day of, but no notice of basically being closed was listed, even though they had posted about photography sessions. I will say the online tour booking system showed no availability, but honestly it looked like it just wasn't working or disabled from Hurricane Idalia and never turned back on and their website still says just now they are open for tours.

The two ladies that were inside the market (one of the Dakins and another staff member) were apologetic and comped our ice cream and told us where to walk out to and see some of the animals near the parking lot, but if they want to keep this a visitor attraction, communication needs to be better.

I know they got hit hard by Hurricane Ian last year and the health of the cows and production (as this is a working farm with several large milk contracts) is more important than being a tourist attraction as they recover, but the grounds seemed very run down, especially in the area with the sheep and calves.

I understand things and people come and go, but this is a loss to Florida agrotourism and agriculture if it never returns to what old reviews on here say. I wish you guys the best in the future.

Loved the experience. The guided tour was informative, and making butter at the end was memorable. I would not want to make butter that way, but I have respect for those who did.

We love Dakin dairy farm! I took my 18 month old son on the tour today with Brooke and we loved it. They give you chocolate milk and cheese at the end. It’s really cool to visit the cows and you can feed the goats for free. Also great ice cream and the best milk can’t beat it!

I never been there, but, I was watching Bay News 9 today August 10,2023, around 1: 30pm, and I’m very concerned about the cows. Some of them looks very skinny, some more than others. What’s going on, what’s wrong? Are they sick. Not enough food? Please answer me. I’m just a concern citizen.

My family visited here while vacationing in Florida. It was a fantastic tour! My children loved learning about where their dairy products came from and getting to taste test products. A highlight of our trip!

It was a nice experience for the whole family. You will get to know very closely how the process of caring for the cows is, bathing them, making the milk, the cheese but best of all, is that at the end of the tour you can try a delicious and creamy CHOCOLATE MILK! And if you have time to stay a while longer, you also have delicious things to eat and delicious ice creams. For how interesting and fun everything was, they have great prices that are really worth getting to know with the whole family, so be encouraged to live this adventure once and for all and take advantage of this last month of summer to get to know this wonderful place and support our local businesses.
Thanks to all the staff at @dakindairyfarms for a wonderful afternoon. We always want more.

This place is a hidden gem, literally as we passed it and had to turn around. We were a little late, yet a lady was kind enough to grab her baby and lead us to the rest of the tour, so sweet.
This place is full of happy cows, I got no sense of stress there, and it was clean and I was suprises I was at a farm. The tour is very informative and we got to see how organized the milking process is, how the cows know what to do. We got to see cheese being made, milk pasteurized and in the end we got to make butter. We also tasted some of the best chocolate milk ever, and now know it does not come from brown cows
They have a little bar where they serve lunch and home made ice cream. Wait it's not over, they also have free feed for the goats and we then went on a adventure looking for the goats. These little houdinis had escaped their park, but soon we found the gang coming at us.
Do visit the place, it's a step away from the theme parks, fun day to appreciate agriculture and sustainable farming practices. Learn where the milk comes from

Not sure if I went off-season in July but expected more. They didn't have very much more to choose from other than Ice Cream.

I love the tour with Kaylee I hv to said A+ she was very kind with the group. Also at the shop everybody was awesome. Definitely eill be back with my family. I couldnt live without buying my favorite chocolate milk deliciosa. Also the Ocean Mist Ice cream

Drove out to Dakin on a Tuesday morning. Although there are no tours on Tuesdays, the family welcomed us to visit with the goats and cows and enjoy their playground. Gave my kids full cups of feed for the goats, who happily vied for the pellets. Everyone was gracious and kind, taking time away from their own work to answer our questions. The whole experience made our day.

What a great learning experience for both me and my son. We decided to visit and cuddle some calves and take a Saturday tour and this place did not disappoint. Every single employee excelled in the way that they treated customers and you could tell they genuinely enjoyed their job. There were two that I wish I got their names so I could give an individual shout out bc they were amazing, it was the male and female working the store area, they were kind and helpful and went above. While we were here we fed goats, tried some chocolate milk, played in a huge sand pile, wondered around and visited the cows. If you're looking for an activity with your kiddos this should be on your list.

We took the tour and it was pretty neat. Be prepared it's a cattle farm and the smell of poop is evident. The kids enjoyed the chocolate milk and butter making at the end of the tour. There is a nice playground on the property and goats to feed. Fun for all.

Was so much fun to visit. I worked here years ago probably back in 1988/89 was really neat to go back and see the farm got a shirt and some chocolate milk. Loved the visit was wondering when did the tear the farm house down? When I worked there I took care of the baby calf’s. And I also did the feed wagon too. I always enjoyed my time working with the. I remember we had 1 big Swiss cow among all the Holsteins and she would let u ride her. It was pretty nice especially if u had to go far in the field jump on her and you would only have to walk back. Oh the silly things you remember when your old. Missed looking up and seeing the house though. Lots more barns than when I worked there. But still very beautiful and brought back so many memories! Bought the bbq sauce haven’t tried it yet!

Our guide Kaylee was very kind and answered questions during the tour. Very nice facility with an experienced guide, a shop, and tour. Chocolate milk is included at the end:)

Don’t show up with what they consider a “professional” camera. I was singled out and told to make sure I did not video any of the “children” at the farm. Up to to this point the only thing I shot video of was some of the photos and items on display in the store.

I asked if she had told everyone else with their cell phones the same thing. And of course she did not. She said I would have to ask permission every time I wanted to shoot video. I said l’ll just put my camera away.

Pretty much ruined the experience for me. I would have just left, but after driving for almost 3 hours to get there I didn’t want to disappoint my children.

At least the enjoyed their time there.

Amazing products from an amazing family! We loved the pulled pork sandwich, and all the dairy products were so smooth and fresh! We did the tour and had a great time & learned a lot. I could go on an on about the food and dairy products, but our favorite part was the people. They were so kind and welcoming, and I really admire their values. I’m so happy we went! We will be stopping by their market every time we’re in town. Thank you!