Bluerock Valley Farm

Welcome to Bluerock Valley Farm! We are the 4th generation of Shores to farm here in Washington Boro, PA. We are a small farm that is in the process of transitioning from row crops to a pasture-based model. Our vision is to manage our animals and land in a way that mimics nature. Our animals will be rotated onto fresh pasture and will not be feed antibiotics, growth hormones, or GMO feed. This will result in nutrient dense food and a diverse poly-culture on our farm. We encourage our customers to get to know us and where their food comes from! So some background about the farm. My Grandfather, Lewis Shore, was raised in NC and fought in WW2 as a refrigeration mechanic. Shortly after the war he moved to PA looking for work, when he met my Grandmother, Arlene and had 3 kids: Joyce, Wes, and Bob (my Dad). They started farming at our current location in Washington Boro in 1949. What did they farm you ask? How about...everything! Dad tells stories of ducks, horses, tomatoes, tobacco, pumpkins, dairy, goats, sheep, corn, soybeans, chickens and the list goes on. Pop was one of the early farmers in the area to embrace no-till farming, and grew the dairy herd out to around 300 head. As my Dad; Wes; and Joyce grew up, Wes was the one who eventually took the reins of the farm. In the late 70s and early 80s, they got rid of the cows and built a confinement poultry laying house in addition to primarily planting corn every year. This worked well for Wes (who is a bachelor) until he started to get close to retirement age, which is where we come in. So, here we are in the beginning of 2019. The farm is mostly rented out to a local dairy, and the barns are full of storage. We plan on diversifying and increasing the income on the farm by slowly converting the cropland back into pasture that is a mixture of grasses, legumes, and forbs. The new pasture will support sheep, pastured poultry (layers and broilers), beef, and other seasonal species (turkeys) that we plan on having processed at USDA inspected facilities to sell directly to consumers. We also plan on using goats and pigs to recondition some heavily wooded areas by rotating them through the underbrush to promote new growth and shade for the summer months. But this cannot take place until we: establish reliable clean water sources, employ water management principles, sow a variety of grasses and legumes to establish pasture, set up portable electric fencing, and deploy portable working facilities and shelters for the animals. Hopefully what all this leads to is soil that is vibrant, teeming with biological activity, retains a high amount of moisture, and supports a number of highly nutritious grasses, legumes, and forbs. This will lead to animals that are healthy, active, calm, and outperform their counterparts when compared to large-scale confinement operations or feedlots. We can then offer these as viable alternatives for those who have misgivings about our current food industry, are tired of seeing another mass food recall, want healthy nutrient dense food, or want to know where their food comes from.