Farmers pursue new purposes to preserve age-old livelihood
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Jeff Urso, left, and Bob Hunt hunt at the Four Seasons Game Bird Farm in Middlesex. -
Slices of pie filled with berries from Sand Hill Berries in Westmoreland County are for sale in the gardens of the farm. -
Umbrellas dot the Nectar Garden at Sand Hill Berries, where customers can pick their own bouquet of flowers. -
Wine is displayed at Greendance, the winery at Sand Hill Berries. -
Visitors to Greendance, the winery at Sand Hill Berries in Mount Pleasant Township, can enjoy wine and food in the gardens surrounding the winery.
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There's a saying in farm circles: Get big or get out. But some farmers here are proving there's another way to survive. Diversification -- essentially a "re-purposing" of the family farm -- is bolstering profits and enhancing staying power at a time when many farmers feel forced to trade their tractors for briefcases or hard hats.
The strategies are varied: the berry farmer who begins baking and selling berry pies; the crop farmer who opens his land for hunting; the tree farmer who transforms a barn into a gift shop.
Each strategy has two things in common: eliminating the middleman -- which strengthens the connection between the farmer and the public -- and putting more money in the pockets of the farmers' overalls.
It's win, win, win -- for the farmers looking to preserve their way of life; for a region in which agriculture is a key economic generator; and for suburbanites and others who yearn for locally produced foods.
The future of family farming will be rooted as much in creative thinking as in the dirt, said Leah Smith of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. The group's mission is to promote profitable farms that produce healthy food and respect the environment.
"We are challenging the conventional idea that you either get big or get out in agriculture. We are finding new ways to connect with consumers and give them an opportunity to get closer to the family farm," Ms. Smith said.
For John Kennedy of Middlesex, the son of a dairy farmer, it "hit him hard" as a teenager that "there are only so many ways to support yourself on the farm, and I'd better start trying some more."
He was in high school when the drought of 1988 struck, sending shock waves through the farming community. "I realized that I didn't want to be totally at nature's mercy for my livelihood, but I wanted to continue to farm," he said.
He sold the Camaro he had bought with his 4-H project earnings over the years and used the money to buy game birds. He and his wife, Valarie, now operate the 450-acre Four Seasons Game Bird Farm, a regulated hunting preserve in Middlesex.
First Published September 16, 2010 12:00 am
