By Cassandra Harris
Pennsylvania has fewer farms than it once did, but the average farm is getting larger — a shift occurring amid rising operating costs, shrinking profit margins and an aging generation of farmers struggling to find successors.
Next to the office holding freezers full of lamb and beef on Tall Pines Farms, farmer Glenn Wagoner, pointed to a 1988 Ford TW 25 tractor, used to haul equipment to make hay and spread manure. They use older machinery because new tractors are too expensive.
“The equivalent today for that is a quarter of a million dollars,” he said. “Now, you just can’t make your money back. There’s just no way you can sell that many cows, and so, what do they do?”
Since 2016, the number of farms statewide has dropped by almost 17%, according to data from the United States Department of Agriculture. In that same period, the acre per farm has increased by 7%.
Rachel Wagoner raises beef cattle and sheep on Tall Pines Farms, a family-owned business located in Darlington Township, Beaver County. She married into it through her husband, Chris Wagoner, who is a fourth-generation farmer; Glenn Wagoner is his father.
Rachel is also an editor of Farm and Dairy, a publication focused on the farming industry.
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