The second place Trail Blazer was Alex Crowl, also of Elkton, while third place went to Spencer Layton of Alexandria, Virginia. The 2012 Maryland Geocache Ice Cream Trailblazer is Laurie Shilts of Westminster (Carroll County). Second place is David Rader of North East (Cecil County) and third place is Diane Sporer of Hampstead (Carroll County.)

As the 2012 Ice Cream Trailblazers, Ms. Farris and Ms. Shilts will receive a $50 gift certificate to the creamery of her choice; a DVD of The Maryland Harvest, an hour-long documentary about renown Maryland chefs and their partnerships with local farmers; and a copy of the acclaimed cookbook Dishing Up Maryland by Lucie Snodgrass. Second place winners in both divisions will receive the DVD and the cookbook, while the third place winner wins the cookbook.

Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail, minted earlier this year, is a network of seven dairy farms in the state that make ice cream on the farm and sell directly to consumers. MDA encouraged Marylanders to pick up an official “Ice Cream Trail Blazer Passport” in June and have it stamped while visiting all seven creameries during the summer. Completed passports were sent to MDA this month for a chance to win prizes.

“I congratulate all the winners for taking up the challenge and blazing the trail for others to follow,” said Secretary Hance. “I visited each of the creameries myself this summer and I hope everyone had as wonderful a time as I did visiting the dairies, talking with farmers and enjoying the freshest best tasting ice cream you can possibly get. The ice cream trail represents just seven of the 495 dairy farms in Maryland. We hope that Marylanders will continue to visit these farms – several are open year round, talk to farmers and learn about agriculture while enjoying Maryland’s best ice cream.”

Milk and dairy products are Maryland’s third largest agricultural commodity and accounted for more than $182.7 million in farm receipts in 2010.

The seven creameries on the Maryland’s Best Ice Cream Trail are: Rocky Point Creamery and South Mountain Creamery in Frederick County; Prigel Family Creamery in Baltimore County; Broom’s Bloom Dairy in Harford County; Kilby Cream in Cecil County; Misty Meadows Farm Creamery in Washington County; and Chesapeake Bay Farms in Worcester County. Information on the location of the creameries on can be found at www.marylandsbest.net in the “find me local section.”

Although, the competition is over, MDA continues to encourage residents to visit the creameries on the ice cream trail. The geocache portion of the trail is still available.

The Maryland’s Ice Cream Trail was a joint promotion supported by MDA and the Mid-Atlantic Dairy Association, the local affiliate of the National Dairy Council. Learn more about dairy farming and why “Your Milk Comes from a Good Place” at www.dairyspot.com. MDA also partnered with the Maryland Geocaching Society for the geocache portion of the promotion.