About Our Farm

Happily living under the rainbow
 
About Our Family Farm
Farming has been a Skelton family tradition for over 150 years. Terry's great grandfather Jasper began farming in northwestern PA in the 1850's. His son Brady, Terry's grandfather, followed suit, and Terry's father Jim purchased his own farm in 1945. Terry & Trish along with their children, Sam, Molly & Clay have continued the family tradition.

The farm has gone through many transitions in the 30+ years Terry has operated the farm. When Terry was a teen and through much of his thirties it was a 100 head dairy and crop farm that he operated with his father. Trish added alpacas in the spring of 1994 and Piedmontese cattle soon after. It didn't take long for Terry & Trish to decided to sell the dairy herd and pursue the alpaca business full time, while building the Piedmontese herd. After over a decade of alpaca breeding success, in the spring of 2009 the Skelton family decided to slowly phase out of the alpaca business to devote more time to their growing beef and hay business. A dozen or so lovely alpacas still grace the farms pastures.

Piedmontese Beef cattle have resided on the Skelton Farm since 1995. The Skeltons love their cattle and it shows. In addition to all its other attributes, Piedmontese cattle are a particularly beautiful breed. Anyone driving by the farm is free to enjoy watching adults graze or the young calves romp through the pastures anytime. All cattle are bred, born and raised here in the lush pastures in Edinboro, PA. When not grazing on fresh grass, our cattle eat only hay that has been harvested from our farm. Cattle fed the best quality forages stay healthy and produce the best tasting beef.

Cows and calves roam the many pastures on our farm in family groups. During the winter months they have access to barns, but most prefer to seek shelter in the woods on the property. They drink spring water from our farm that is sparkling clean. Young steers and heifers leave the herd for a short period of time during weaning and rejoin the group within a few months. Bulls have a separate pasture but join the herd during breeding season.

The Piedmontese docile nature allows the bulls, steers, cows and calves to all live side by side harmoniously. Because of this incredibly low stress, naturalistic life, they are very healthy. On the rare occasion that an animal needs to be treated with an antibiotic, it is recorded and that animal will never be offered to consumers.

Today, Terry spends most of his time in the pastures with the cattle or in the fields of hay during harvesting. Winter is spent repairing and maintaining equipment, barns and fencing; Getting hay & fresh water to the cattle, and delivering hay to our clients.
Trish takes care of marketing and is our farm photographer. She also stays busy in the office, keeping the web site updated, answering the phone, emails and taking care of billing. You’ll probably talk to her about your beef order.
Clay helps his dad around the farm , when he's not busy with school or sports. Molly is now a part time photographer, pursuing an accounting degree at Edinboro University. Sam is busy earning her MFA at Miami University in Ohio.
Grandpa Jim has officially retired and is enjoying his free time with his huge extended family.

Skelton Farms

100% Grass fed & Finished Piedmontese Beef & Orchard Grass Hay