Pennsylvania Farmer Grows His Numbers
Article courtesy of Pa Farm Bureau
Farmers and ranchers alike often can tell stories about growing their livestock operations, illustrated by a
marked increase in the number of animals they raise. But few can talk about increasing their numbers over a hundredfold like Lynn Eberly of Fayetteville, Pennsylvania.
“I milked cows for more than 20 years,” he says. “My father started this place back in 1961. I grew up on
this farm, and I worked with my dad milking his herd of about 185 dairy cattle. I considered increasing the
dairy herd to grow the operation. Then, as I looked into it, I decided to switch the operation completely, and now I’m raising 30,000 Pekin ducks.”
Was going from dairy cattle to meat ducks a tough transition to make?
Not according to Eberly. “We had about two years of both milking and poultry. Then six years ago I just sold off the cows.”
“Still, the ducks aren’t the only thing we do. I’m also growing about 600 heifers for other dairymen in the
area. And we’ve got 500 acres under cultivation, about half in forage for the heifers, the other half in cash
crops – corn, soybeans and wheat.”
Eberly starts with 12-hour-old hatchlings, and he feeds them up to a weight of 7 pounds. The process takes 38 days. “We’ve got three ages of ducks here at any given time,” he explains. “We ship 26 flocks over the course of a year for an annual total of nearly a quarter million ducks.”
One Big Farm, One Big Family.
Raising almost 250,000 of any kind of livestock might sound like it requires a big crew, but Eberly makes it work with one full-time employee of 20-plus years and two part-timers. Like a lot of farmers, Eberly’s farm also depends on his extended family when needed.
“We raised three daughters, and we have seven grandkids, going on eight. They all live close so we see them all regularly. They all have good jobs outside of agriculture, but we can count on them to come over and help out if we need it.”
Lynn Eberly won’t let any discussion of his farm happen without a mention of the bookkeeping aspects of his business. “My wife, Sue, is the accountant for this farm, and she does a great job. She’s the first one who spots it if the bank makes a mistake.”
A Membership with Grand Values
As a multi-generational farmer, Eberly was able to gain much of the knowledge and experience he needed
growing up on the family farm. And one of the things he learned from his father was the benefit of Farm Bureau membership. “My dad was always a Farm Bureau member,” he says. “He was never real active, but he knew it was important to support what they were doing. What we like about Farm Bureau is how they advocate for all of us. When they say they’re the voice of agriculture, they’re not just speaking for dairy or soybeans or beef – they speak for us all.”
Of course, Eberly also understands the value of some of the other benefits of Farm Bureau membership. “I just bought a new Cat skid loader, our third in 13 years, and my Farm Bureau membership saved me $500. So it would be worth joining just for that, even without all the support they give to our whole industry.”
That new machine comes from Cleveland Brothers Equipment Company, where Eberly has dealt with Account Manager Chris Sullivan for several years.
According to Sullivan, “We’ve known Lynn for a long time. He has a 2011 Cat 242B skid steer that he’s run for more than 4,000 hours. He’s been very pleased with the reliability and low total cost of ownership of that machine. Based on how he uses it, we knew he could be more productive and efficient with a bigger machine. When the Farm Bureau membership discount program was announced, I checked in with him to make sure he was aware of this additional benefit. He was happy with how his 242B was running, and when he learned that he could save additional money through the program, we worked out a deal on a new 262D skid steer to add to his fleet.”
“The extra power and lifting capacity of the 262D make it a more efficient machine for a lot of the work he
needs to do. He also likes a lot of the built-in conveniences of the D series, especially the safety features like the backup camera.”
Learn More about the PA Farm Bureau
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau members can save up to $2,000 when buying or leasing a qualifying Cat® Backhoe Loader, Wheel Loader, Mini Hydraulic Excavator, Multi Terrain Loader, Skid Steer Loader, Compact Track Loader, Telehandler or Small Dozer. Visit fbadvantage.com/cat to print your Membership Verification Certificate. You must present the certificate at time of purchase or lease quote to receive the discount.