While they grew up working for their 1978 Master Farmer fathers, Abram Sr. and John Barley, the “Barley boys” — Abe, Rob and Tom — grew Star Rock Farms into a teeming agribusiness with dairy, beef finishing, hog and broiler enterprises fed by crops from more than 11,500 acres of owned and rented land.

Abe, Abram’s son, leads the cropping and maintenance aspects of the overall business. John’s sons, Rob and Tom, oversee livestock operations. Rob manages the finances and marketing plus the poultry, beef and pork enterprises of Star Rock. Tom focuses on their 1,450-cow dairy enterprise.

With Tom’s graduation, the three began farming together in 1993, partnering in a small dairy on a rented farm. Today, their multifaceted business has 50 employees with cropping operations in four counties. Now, they, too, are looking to begin transitioning their businesses to the next generation.

Structured for success
With rental ground plus a beef finishing operation and 250 dairy cows, the three formed Star Rock Farms in 2003 and built the first phase of their dairy for 800 cows. They split their enterprises into separate companies — real estate, Star Rock Dairy and Star Rock LLC for equipment, hogs and beef — to strengthen enterprise accounting and analysis.

BUSINESS DRIVERS: (Left to right) Tom, Abe and Rob Barley split enterprise management responsibilities under Star Rock Farms.

Star Rock and Green Valley hog enterprises market close to 94,000 hogs a year with the help of about 15 different farm-partners. The custom feedlot finishes 2,400-head of beef cattle annually. The Barleys also produce 100,000 organic broilers for Perdue.

Enterprise cost analysis helps keep them cost-competitive, even with Midwest-sized operations, notes Rob. For instance, their milking herd averages 92 pounds of milk per day using corn silage plus ryelage and hay instead of alfalfa. Food processing byproducts are extensively used in hog and cattle finishing rations.

“You have to be able to adjust to be competitive,” explains Tom. “The competition in any enterprise gets stronger, and more get weeded out.”

This trio is constantly exploring new ways to further diversify into ag-support businesses. “You can’t do that without a strong team of employees with excellent benefits, training and team focus,” points out Abe. Even their family employment policy requires an interview, just like any other employee.

“We’ve progressed from a ‘work hard and it’ll happen’ attitude to a ‘let’s see what the numbers say’ mindset,” adds Rob. “This is the only way we’ll be able to compete in the future.”

Barleys bring on 3x expertise and family

Location: Conestoga, Lancaster County, Pa.

Families: Abe and wife Jennifer have three children: Abigail, Ellie and Jack. Rob and wife Shelly have five children: Amelia (Lewgood), Michael, Ethan, Michaela and Laurel. Tom and wife Elizabeth have four children: Emma, Jonah, Ivy and Colt. Most of their next-generation work full time or part time at Star Rock.

Education: Diesel mechanic skills learned in the Marines served Abe well after returning to the farm. Rob graduated with a bachelor’s degree in animal science with a business option from Penn State University before returning home. Tom received his bachelor’s degree in business from Millersville University.

Leadership roles: All three are involved off the farm, including Farm Bureau. Abe has served on the Lancaster/Lebanon Farm Service Agency county committee. Tom has been a board member of the Lancaster Holstein Association. Rob has served as president of the state’s Dairy Policy Action Coalition, and board member of Lancaster County Ag Council and township planning commission.

Notable: These cousins have already built Star Rock into one of the largest multifaceted crop and livestock farms on the East Coast.