history of for-lou farms
For-Lou Farms began in 1942 when Forest and Louise Sparks purchased the farm. The farm name comes from their first names. They built the dairy barn, the centerpiece of the farm, in 1947 for their Guernsey dairy herd. The Sparks’ took great pride in their herd. Their son Phillip farmed with Forest and continued to do so after Forest’s death until he retired in 2011. They had some of the best Guernseys in the nation and traveled to shows across the country. In 1992, they even had the National Champion Guernsey cow. They also loved to share their farm and the dairy barn. They hosted tours for dairymen from all over the world, plus field trips for local school kids through the years in conjunction with Phillip’s wife, Ruth’s, school where she taught. In the 70’s, the farm was featured in a couple of Farm Bureau commercials because of the iconic barn. Even after Phillip had to retire from milking, he worked tirelessly to keep everything in tip top shape.
After the cows were gone, a couple of family weddings were held in the hayloft of the barn, including our own in 2015. So not only is it a very special barn to the farming community of Hancock County, it was very special to us, even before we knew we would purchase this “dream farm” in 2018. Phillip passed away not long after our wedding, but even at the end of his life he wanted to be sure the farm looked beautiful so he could share it with family and friends. We wanted to find a way to carry on the farm and continue to preserve the barn.
It’s hard to make a living as a dairy farmer these days; so we switched gears for Red Devon beef cows. We want to do our best to be good stewards of the land and raise healthy animals, so we knew grass-fed was the best model for us. Raising beef cattle left us with little use for the dairy barn but letting it waste away wasn’t an option; so we decided to find a way to continue to share it with the community.
Since our own wedding day at the farm was a dream come true, we figured other couples looking for a peaceful farm in the Indy area for their big day would enjoy it as well! The future of For-Lou Farms is exciting, and we hope you’ll be a part of it!
Besides raising cows and hosting events in the dairy barn, we also own Divine Heritage Barns, a reclaimed barn lumber business. Evan started taking down old barns and repurposing the lumber full time in 2017. If you’re interested, check out www.divineheritagebarns.com.
Our world revolves around our little girl, Caroline, our twin boys, Everett & Flynn, and our baby boy Milo. They’ll be running this farm in no time!