Bob Berich Named 2009 Farmer Of The Year By Westmoreland Conservation District

Bob Berich of South Huntingdon Township has been named 2009 “Farmer of the Year” by the Westmoreland Conservation District.

Although it’s only been about a year since Bob became the owner and operator of a 50-acre farm that’s about midway between Scottdale and Smithton, he has been helping to work this land for almost his whole life – first as a boy growing up there in the 1970s and ‘80s, and then as an adult, living five miles away but returning daily to help his dad keep up the family’s 40-year agricultural operation.

When his father passed away in 2008, Bob, his wife Jen, and their children Tim and Katie moved into the farm’s 1860s-era house and began making some changes to make the farm more sustainable.

One of the most significant was putting in rotational grazing, an effective conservation practice that uses fencing to divide farm fields into a number of separate areas or paddocks. By allowing animals to graze in only one fenced area at a time, grass and vegetation in the other paddocks have a chance to regrow. The farmer keeps a close eye on the extent of grazing and makes decisions about when to move the animals from paddock to paddock.

Rotational grazing is a boon to both the farmer and the community. For the farmer, it improves animal health, saves on feed costs, and produces more product. For the community, it reduces soil erosion, improves the use of animal manure, and improves water quality.

Bob rotationally grazes his state-certified Angus beef cattle and the legacy sheep herd that was his father’s, letting the sheep into a paddock right after the cows have been there. “It’s amazing how much this system has helped the operation,” Bob said. “I’m feeding far less hay. And because the sheep pick out the things that the cattle didn’t eat, it’s almost like they’re “free riders,” and not eating at all. Plus, they really bring up the nutrient level of the pasture.”

Bob has installed some 7,600 feet of rotational grazing fencing, creating 29 acres of paddocks for his 40 cattle and 20 sheep.

About 2,500 feet of the fencing he installed is along the stream that flows through his property. This streamside fencing, along with three new dedicated areas he created for the animals to cross the stream, have limited the access his livestock have to this tributary of Meadow Run, helping water quality in this stream and those it flows into, namely Jacobs Creek and the Youghiogheny River.

To provide water for his animals, Bob installed three spring developments with water troughs. He also installed 100 feet of stabilized animal walkway and next year he plans to add a manure storage area and a heavy-use feed pad.

He recently developed a voluntary nutrient management plan for his farm.

Like his parents before him, Bob uses his farm to raise a variety of local products -- not only Angus beef cattle, pigs, and free-range chickens and turkeys, but also sheep, which he breeds for the Easter lamb market. He raises all without hormones or antibiotics and sells directly to consumers.

For more information visit the Berich Farm website or call 724-858-8938 or send email to: jbberich@verizon.net.