
3 minute read
Farming for the Future
SUPPORTING BERKS AGRICULTURE
Farming for the Future
Financing helps local family
By Shanon Sabanos, Community Development Initiatives Coordinator, GRCA

Mark Balthaser, a young, beginning farmer, is following his family’s 130-year tradition. He has worked for his parent’s dairy and cropping operation for years. His parents, Randy and Traci, have owned and operated Northkill Creek Farms in Bernville since 2010 when they purchased their three farms made up of 280 preserved acres from Randy’s father, Wilson Balthaser.
Mark and his parents have constructed two poultry houses for Bell & Evans. Mark will be raising ABF birds for Bell & Evans with the intention of eventually transitioning to organic birds. The family worked with TeamAg for the site prep and worked with Zeise Equipment for the construction of the buildings. They included an additional pad in preparation for a third building in the future. These buildings were constructed on a 79.4-acre farm property located at 665 Shartlesville Road, Bernville.
The Balthaser’s currently milk about 120 cows. Their herd is primarily Holstein cattle, with some registered Brown Swiss. Randy and Traci also farm approximately 400 acres in crops. This new venture with Bell & Evans is their way of providing a new enterprise for Mark to continue the farming operation and begin the sixth generation of the family business.
The Greater Reading Chamber Alliance (GRCA) worked with Mid-Atlantic Farm Credit and Pennsylvania Industrial Development Authority (PIDA) to finance the $1,300,000 project. Through the collaboration of these institutions, GRCA was able to facilitate the succession planning of these local farmers as well as add to the economy of Berks County.
Every five years, the Berks County Workforce Development Board sets its Industry Priorities to identify leading sectors. For the five-year period of 2022-2027, agriculture is listed as a ‘sustaining industry’ as it continues to track with relatively stable employment at approximately 3,600 jobs in Berks County. Location Quotient (LQ) quantifies how concentrated an industry is within an area in comparison to the rest of the country. For example, an LQ number over 1.0 indicate sectors in a region have high concentrations of employment compared to the national average. Strong Ag Sub-
SCORE is currently looking for qualified volunteers to mentor people going into business or currently in business. We have a need for accounting, legal, computer skills, general operation expert.
If you have extra time and would like to help us with our request, you can go to our website or call 610-376-3497 or 484-577-9791.
Thank you, Co Chairs, Dave Verrill and Pete Kostick

Berks Schuylkill Chapter of SCORE | www.berksschuylkill.score.org | 401 Penn Street Reading PA c/o Alvernia University
Sectors based on Location Quotient in Berks include: • Mushroom Production LQ = 106.62 • Poultry Production LQ = 86.92 • Chicken Egg Production LQ = 9.16
Over the past several years, the majority of PIDA loans in Berks County have been for agriculture-related projects. PIDA provides low-interest loans for eligible businesses and is directly administered by GRCA’s affiliate organization, the Greater Berks Development Fund (GBDF). As the only Certified Economic Development Organization in Berks County, GBDF can assist a variety of different industry sectors to access PIDA financing including manufacturing, industrial, agricultural, research and development, hospitality, defense conversion, recycling, construction, child daycare, retail and service, export, and computer-related service enterprises. PIDA financing can be used for land and building acquisition, construction and renovation costs, machinery and equipment purchases and working capital.
For information on the PIDA program or other financing opportunities, please contact me at 610.898.7761 or ssabanos@ greaterreading.org.

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