BELLE VERNON, Pa. — An on-farm weekend project to supply dairy products to a community in need during the COVID-19 pandemic evolved into a full-time operation that continues to grow for the Orr family of Harmony Acres, in Fayette County.
“Not everyone has access to local milk, meat and food, so providing that to our friends and neighbors has been a blessing all around,” said Jennifer Orr, owner of Harmony Acres, in Belle Vernon.
Jennifer sells creamline whole milk and other products in Jen’s Jug Hut, a 320-square-foot store that offers an array of dairy products, including plain and flavored milk, cheese varieties and butter, with many other in-season selections.
Seeing the burgeoning operation through the pandemic, price hikes and product shortages has not been easy, but Jennifer said they’re in it for the long haul and are expanding production.
“I personally have a desire to feed people, nutritiously, so not only are we able to support our family farm with the milk and products we sell but we love to partner with our local food banks throughout the year, so our whole community has access to wholesome dairy products as well.”
Sixth generation
Jennifer and husband, Jeffrey, are the sixth generation to own the farm, and they’re raising the seventh generation, which includes their children, Beckett, 8; Rozlynn, 6, and Jarreth, 3.
They work with five full-time employees and a high school student. The dairy manages a 170-head, mostly Holstein, herd, Jeffrey Orr said. The dairy is working on registering the herd. The total herd includes 25% crossbreeds, including Jersey, Fleckvieh and Montbéliarde.
The milking parlor is a double-8 parallel. Housing is freestall with pasture. On DHIA, the herd registers 24,754 pounds, 1,019 fat and 814 protein.
Many years ago, the multigenerational farm operated near Pittsburgh at the South Hills Village. One day, when Jeffrey’s grandfather, W. Robert Orr, was driving through two stoplights with his tractor, “he decided it was time to move the farm,” according to the Harmony Acres website. The farm was moved to its current location in Belle Vernon — barns, cows, family and all. The farm’s three barns were moved piece by piece.
“Every beam was disassembled and reassembled in the new location as that was the most cost-effective way to do it at the time,” Jennifer said. “Most of the roofs and some floors got an upgrade when they moved and over the years, but the frame and sides are all original. They moved them on 1-ton flatbed trucks to get everything set up in their new location.
Jeffrey maintains the more than 800 acres, which includes leased ground, of wheat, corn and soybeans, as well as the pasture on which the cattle graze.
They rotationally graze the herd in paddocks around the farm as much as possible, depending on the season and the weather. Keeping the cows on pasture is a “key element in raising happy, healthy cows.” Cows are also fed a total mixed ration that is mixed at the farm.
Bottling dreams
The Orrs had dreamed of bottling their own milk, but it wasn’t feasible with the co-op they belonged to at the time. That opportunity came sooner than they expected when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in early 2020 and supply chains broke down. They became a Schneider’s dairy producer at the beginning of 2020, which provided Harmony Acres the opportunity to bottle some of its milk.
“Once COVID-19 hit and our neighbors began asking questions about why we needed to dump milk, we knew there were some faults in the local food chain and wanted to become a solution,” Orr said. “We purchased the pasteurizer and began building with the goal to serve our local community.”
The family built everything from the ground up to suit the needs of their starter pasteurizer. The on-farm storefront officially opened in May 2021.
Harmony Acres aims to include local farmers’ goods to offer a unique agricultural market to the surrounding area in a one-stop shop. It includes meats and produce as well as artisan crafts. The Orrs also manage a small sheep and chicken flock, diversifying their local offerings for the Mon Valley community.
“Our lambs are processed in the spring for freezer meat,” Jennifer said. “They are mainly Texel-Dorset crosses. And the chickens we have are egg layers. We partner with other local farmers to raise our meat chickens, turkeys and pork. We raise our own beef for the freezer as well.”
Growth
They ship about 90% of their farm’s milk to Schneider’s and use about 10% to bottle or process for products they sell under the Harmony Acres brand. For cheese products, including curd, sharp cheddar, quark and others, milk is shipped to Pleasant Lane Farms, near Latrobe.
Bottled milk production will soon expand as the farm moves some of its processing to the bottling plant at Jackson Farms, which announced last fall that it would be halting the processing, bottling and retail sales of its own milk after 65 years.
The Orrs are renting space in the larger Jackson Farms facility in New Salem, Pennsylvania, to increase bottled milk production under the Harmony Acres label. Jennifer said they plan to keep the processing room open at their home farm for smaller batches and to explore new product lines.
“I’m excited to try out a few new dairy products we haven’t had time in the past to work on, like yogurt, soft cheeses, flavored butters and more,”she said.
With the move to Jackson Farms, they hope to use about 25% of the farm’s milk for their private label.
A2
The farm is also moving towards producing wholly A2A2 milk. Right now their dairy’s production is about 70% A2A2 milk.
Some people experience gastric discomfort after consuming dairy products, which leads many to believe they have lactose intolerance. However, published research suggests that the discomfort may be due to an inflammatory response created by the A1 protein found in milk.
Most dairy cows have both the A1 and A2 beta-casein protein genes. Some people may avoid this stomach discomfort by switching to drinking milk with only the A2 protein.
To get their herd to 100% A2A2 genetics, the Orrs are genomically testing their calves and breeding for the gene. Orr learned about specific allergies three years ago when she served on the Northeast Beef Promotion Initiative working with the Pennsylvania Beef Council. The allergies issue struck a note and led them to find ways to increase A2A2 production.
Special events
Orr noted the farm continues to expand slowly and wants to be seen as an agritourism destination also. In addition to the farmers’ market and bottling operation, Harmony Acres hosts a kids’ club and encourages agricultural education and ag literacy in the classroom. They also have holiday events for Easter and Christmas, including a live nativity in mid-December.
In addition to increasing their bottling capacity and production, they’re also working on plans for a new dairy facility at the home farm. This would include barns, a new milking parlor and manure storage.
One day they’d also like to be able to hold farm tours for the public, but all in good time. Getting the cows settled in a new place is their top priority as the well-being of the herd is the lifeblood of the operation.
“Jeff and I are both in this for the long haul and hope to see the impact we can make locally, before one more dairy farm closes,” Jennifer said. “Now more than ever we need to link arms with our neighbors to keep the local farms local, before there aren’t any of us left.”
