The farm of Ken Beer is located in Hilltown, PA. He works the farm with his sons. They farm not only in Hilltown but in several surrounding communities.

KEN BEER

Ken Beer has been farming since 1950 - over 50 years. His farm was his family farm. He left farming for industry for some time where he had higher pay, but he wanted to be on the farm. He has four children and his two boys can run all the equipment on the farm. They learned the basics sitting between his legs on the equipment when they were young. Farming is a family thing; most families can't take their kids to work.

Ken Beer farms close to 900 acres of land with two people doing the work. He owns 220 acres himself; the other land is rented. He runs a cash grain farm and has no cattle. He used to have dairy cattle, and until very recently had a few beef cattle. He worked his own farm since 1960 and now two people can really run the farm. He has harvested as much as 450 acres of corn a year. In an outstanding yield, he has grown 200 bushels per acre.

The job is interesting; everyday there are new challenges from controlling herbicides for insects and weeds to dealing with the weather. A farmer doesn't care how many hours he works. He has to stick with the job and needs to work at it and keep at it. Things don't always go the way you want in a job like this.

Ken Beer's farm house.		Door on the side of the tractor trailer.
View of barn and silos .		Another view of the Beer farm.

MAKING A LIVING (A View from Ken Beer)

A farmer can earn a good living. Farming is a way of life and involves working with one's family. Financially things are not good now for the family farmer; prices are low and depressed. Commodities farmers have to buy to put into crops are high. Farmers such as Ken Beer hope that this will change, but these economics are not changing quickly right now.

Everything a farmer buys is at retail product.Everything a farmer sells is at wholesale price. Most businesses that have it the other way around can't stay in business. "Someone tells us what we have to pay for the supplies we need and someone else tells us what we have to sell our product for. Its not easy."

Farming is the basic supply of food to our country. Ken Beer feels that farming is important to the economy because it is the only way to balance trade; almost everything else is imported. Farm products are something that Americans can export. Ken Beer feels that we are not doing a very good job right now to balance the imports and the exports.

Farmers are people who enjoy working outdoors. It is not as strenuous as it used to be, but it is physical labor. You need to get enough sleep to operate the heavy equipment safely. You can't stay out all night and expect to run equipment and farm in the morning.

A family farmer doesn't take a regular paycheck from the farm like other businesses. Each year a farmer takes money in when he sells a crop. He needs to plan expenses for the upcoming year. Expenses include the costs of planting a crop and the costs of equipment, supplies, and services. The farmer takes money out of the farm account to live and support his family. With a larger farm corporation, the individual farmer or farm worker would usually get a paycheck.

Experience is the best education for a farmer. Ken Beer also feels that a high school education is important for a farmer to be able to deal with all the finances. A farmer has to balance a budget and the profits for the family farmer. Small farmers cannot afford to make financial mistakes.

RICHARD LABS

The farm of Richard and Lydia Labs is located in Bedminster, PA. Labs works the farm with his sons. Richard farms _____ acres with the help of his sons.

The Labs farm was the home built by Henry Stauffer in 1760. The original home was probably a log house (the stone building was likely a later addition). Stauffer was the ancestor of the Stovers and their descendants who worked as millers in this region of Southeastern Pennsylvania and Western New Jersey.		View from road of the farm today. In addition to the original homestead, there is a barn, summer kitchen, and other out buildings.
This out building houses the summer kitchen with the original walk-in fireplace.		Hay wagons in one of the out buildings show it is harvest season.
Silos for grain storage allow for winter storage of grain and possible sale at a higher price during the winter.		Tractor and planting equipment are driven up Kellers Church Road to another field (top). The gas pump for the tractors is a convenience on the farm (bottom).