Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Chester County Farmers of the Year named
Team at Seven Stars Farm among winners
Men and women whose families have adopted farming techniques and philosophies that would have been foreign to their predecessors have been honored with the title of Chester County Farmers of the Year.
The award, bestowed by the county’s Agricultural Development Council and the county commissioners, was given to the team of owners at Seven Stars Farm, the East Pikeland dairy and yogurt operation in Kimberton, East Pikeland Township; and to Lewis Wilkinson of Chatham, London Grove Township, a multi-generational “custom” farmer.
The awards were announced at the county commissioners meeting on Thursday.
“On the face of it, Lewis Wilkinson’s operation and Seven Stars Farm appear to have little in common,” said Ag Council Director Hillary Krummrich. “However, both family run operations play vital economic roles in the county and are the products of farmers who care deeply for the land and natural resources in their care. We are fortunate to have such a diversity of successful farm businesses here in Chester County.”
Seven Stars Farm Manager Mark Dunphy accepted the award on behalf of his wife, Cindy, and partners David and Edie Griffiths.
The team operates on approximately 350 acres of preserved land leased from the Kimberton Waldorf School, with whom they share a strong reciprocal relationship, Krummrich said in a release. Both the school and the farm follow the teachings of Rudolf Steiner, meaning that the farm is certified biodynamic and that the plants, soil, and animals are treated as an interconnected system.
Seven Stars Farm is widely celebrated for its organic, European-style yogurt which is carried in markets nationwide. The team does everything on site from field work, to running the dairy, processing the yogurt and even sales and marketing. They credit much of their success to the strong partnerships they enjoy with the family members, friends and employees who help run the farm, as well as the several organically certified farms that supply additional milk needed to meet the ever-growing consumer demand for the yogurt.
“It is a philosophy that looks at the soil, the plants, and the animals as a whole,” she said of Seven Stars’ operation. “It is like looking at the farm as a living organism, in and of itself. It is a really unique and integrated system, and they do an amazing job.”
Dunphy said that he had entered the agricultural field in the mid-1980s, and began adopting techniques that were considered “out of the box,” rather than rely on ages-old practices. He also noted that an important part of the farm’s work is to introduce young students from Kimberton-Waldorf and other schools to the world of farming.
“We have a belief system that accepts that in today’s world, kids have a difficult time having a relationship with the natural world,” Dunphy told the commissioners. Many young people, he said, believe that, “milk comes from Wawa.”
Wilkinson, whose father, grandfather and greatgrandfather were all farmers in southern Chester County, farms over 1,000 acres between his own property and several large parcels he manages under various management agreements. His work, said Krummrich, helps those large land owners who do not farm themselves maintain their property as protected open space.
He and his small staff are responsible for planting and harvesting a wide variety of crops including hay, soy and corn. The hay he harvests goes towards supporting two of the county’s most important agricultural industries: dairy and mushroom, she said.
In his remarks, Wilkinson cited advances in agricultural technology, in both sophisticated precision farming equipment and genetic engineering, as the key factors allowing him to increase productivity and scale over his 38 years of farming. He said he was happy that one of his children had returned home from college to help him install the new gadgets like GPS units in older machinery.
“The technology today is where your children are going to be filling in the open spots,” he said.
Krummrich called Wilkinson part of the “quiet community” of farming in the county. “You won’t meet him at a farmer’s market or see him on the street,” she said. “But what he does is so important and integral in the agricultural community in Chester County.”
In addition, the council awarded its annual Distinguished Agricultural Service award to Howard and Janet Robinson, active Chester Delaware County Farm Bureau members since 1968.
The Robinsons have held long term leadership positions in the chapter and its various subcommittees, encouraging members to become active in their local governments and educating residents about the importance of supporting local agriculture. They are also very active members of their local grange organization, school board and the creation of the Oxford Village Market, which has helped revitalize the downtown Oxford area, Krummrich said.
The Ag Development Council promotes agriculture in the county by raising awareness on issues regarding the viability of local agriculture and promoting agricultural excellence and farming.