History:

Our family's Sussex County agricultural heritage dates back to 1910, when Jacob Tanis Sr. bought his first Sussex County Farm. Having immigrated from Holland in the 1890's, the Tanis family initially settled in Paterson, NJ.

Young Jacob got into the dairy business by selling extra milk from the family cow. He began looking for land and came to Sussex County. It wasn't long before the Tanis family established one of the world record dairy herds. Jacob built a herd of 2,000 purebred Guernsey cattle and increased his farm to over 3,400 acres in Northwest New Jersey. Ideal Guernsey Cattle was known for its reputation of excellence and its standard for quality.

The dairy operation scaled down in the 1960's and Jacob Tanis Jr. began developing a prize-winning herd of Aberdeen Angus under the Ideal brand. Though some things changed, Jacob kept to the standard passed on by his father and instilled the same in his children. The standard? Simply put...Quality First. 

In July of 1984, Jan Tanis Jorritsma and her husband Ben opened their first produce stand. The business outgrew its first location just a few short years later and Ideal Farm and Garden Center moved to Route 15 in Lafayette where it remains and thrives today.

The move allowed the business to expand to meet the growing popularity and customer demands-but the move also brought things full circle. The current location was once part of Jan's grandfather's Guernsey herd operation.

While changing times have certainly brought some changes to the Ideal brand, one thing has and will remain the same- the Ideal Farm and Garden commitment to quality in all we produce or sell.