SANTAQUIN, Utah — For generations, Rowley's Red Barn has been providing Utahns with fresh produce and other farm-to-table ingredients.
"We want people to come here [and] feel like they've stepped onto a farm — a real working farm," said Tod Rowley. "When we built this facility, we wanted to be open year-round."
But when there isn’t anything in season, what is a farm to do?
The answer: they churn out a locally-made tasty treat of their own — and they're holding a contest to determine what ice cream flavor is the most popular.
The winner will get a 2.5-gallon bucket of Rowley's Red Barn ice cream.
And sure, the weather may not be the type normally associated with cold treats.
"But we have people come in for ice cream for breakfast, ice cream for dinner," Rowley said.
So, with the NCAA basketball tournaments — aka "March Madness" — starting later this week, Rowley's Red Barn is doing a "bracket challenge." Anyone over the age of 18 can download a bracket on the farm's website, fill out their predictions, and turn it in by emailing a photo of the bracket to redbarncontests@gmail.com or dropping it off at one of their stores (Santaquin or Washington City).
The deadline is Monday night at 11:59 p.m.
"The bracket is just a fun contest that we do... just to see what flavors sell the most," Rowley said.
The goal is to guess which flavors sell more in the head-to-head contests between flavors, held on different days starting Wednesday.
"We actually weigh the buckets every morning and then we'll weigh them every night, so we know exactly how many ounces of ice cream sold," Rowley added.
That means there can be some strategy involved if one wants to increase their chances of winning.
"Invite the whole extended family out here and make sure they get that exact flavor," Rowley suggested.
The winner of the bracket challenge will receive a 2.5-gallon tub of ice cream. The second-place prize is a pie and a medium vanilla ice cream to take home. Third place receives a gift certificate for four small ice cream scoops.
Brackets and more information about the contest can be found on Rowley's "Ice Cream Madness" website.
