Farm tour discusses issues facing state’s ag industry
- State Rep. Abigail Salisbury, D-Allegheny, warms up her Morgan horse, Zen, before giving a jumping demonstration during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour on Friday at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
- Hattie Henderson Bailey gives a riding demonstration with 8-year-old pony Mr. Pickles on Friday during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
- State Rep. Abigail Salisbury, D-Allegheny, (right) Hattie Henderson Bailey (center), Cambria County Farm Bureau President Marty Yahner (left) and CCFB member Bob Davis (far left) discuss farming issues and the state’s horse industry during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour on Friday at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
- Attendees of the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour meet and greet some Nigerian Dwarf goats at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
- State Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., R-Cambria, speaks during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour while CCFB President Marty Yahner (right) and CCFB member Bob Davis, listen. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor

State Rep. Abigail Salisbury, D-Allegheny, warms up her Morgan horse, Zen, before giving a jumping demonstration during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour on Friday at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
EBENSBURG — Broadband, dairy production, solar energy and wildlife crop damage were topics of discussion during the annual Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative Farm Tour on Friday morning.
Dozens of Farm Bureau members, elected officials and candidates for office gathered at Tyler Bailey and Hattie Henderson Bailey’s Bailey Hill Farm to go over issues facing farmers in Pennsylvania and what solutions the Farm Bureau recommends.
“I think this packet is as thick as it’s ever been with stuff, particularly with the federal issues,” Cambria County Farm Bureau President Marty Yahner said. “The whole purpose of the tours are for the farmers to tell the whole story of how issues affect them.”
Technology and protections needed
High-speed connections are vital for precision agriculture, health care, government services and educational and business opportunities that farmers throughout Pennsylvania depend on, Pennsylvania Farm Bureau Government Affairs Manager Justin Clapper wrote in its issues packet.

Hattie Henderson Bailey gives a riding demonstration with 8-year-old pony Mr. Pickles on Friday during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
“People want to support local farms, so it’s very important to have broadband in rural areas,” Vale Wood Farms Director of Business Promotions Carissa Itle Westrick said during the tour.
The bureau asserts that broadband should be considered a public utility regulated by the Public Utility Commission so that fiber optic cables can be placed on poles belonging to other utilities.
The group also says Pennsylvania needs to update its definition of broadband to match the federal government’s.
“We’re hopefully moving toward getting better broadband coverage for rural areas where it’s still lacking,” Yahner said.
Solar development could also bring more opportunities to farmers, but strong protections are needed to protect farmland before, during and after solar installation, Clapper wrote.

State Rep. Abigail Salisbury, D-Allegheny, (right) Hattie Henderson Bailey (center), Cambria County Farm Bureau President Marty Yahner (left) and CCFB member Bob Davis (far left) discuss farming issues and the state’s horse industry during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour on Friday at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
“The solar companies are coming in, and all of a sudden they’re not talking about anything but farming,” Cambria County Conservation District Board Farm Director Marty Westrick said. “They’re saying about the money they’re going to pay out and everything, and farmers don’t realize that solar panels have a life expectancy. When that life expectancy ends, the solar panel is made out of toxic materials that have to be taken away and disposed of properly.”
The bureau wants companies that lease land for solar and wind energy projects to be required to pay decommissioned bonds that cover the disposal costs for equipment once it is no longer useful or operational, Clapper wrote. It also wants solar projects to be built on marginal or non-prime farmland by providing economic and tax incentives to developers and landowners.
“Renewable energy is something of the future,” Westrick said. “We need to look at this.”
Dairy and crop woes
The largest sector of Pennsylvania’s agricultural economy is dairy, which generates $14.7 billion in economic impact, Clapper wrote. Despite this, Pennsylvania has lost more than 1,500 farms since 2016.

Attendees of the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour meet and greet some Nigerian Dwarf goats at Bailey Hill Farm near Ebensburg. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
Factors such as volatile markets, declining milk prices, increased milk production worldwide, trade impacts, weather challenges and reduced consumption have led to incredibly challenging times for state dairy producers, Clapper wrote.
“Last year at Pennsylvania Farm Bureau meetings, dairy prices were at a historic high,” Itle Westrick said. “This year, milk prices are back down. Farmers are making $10 per 100 pounds of milk less than they were last year.”
The bureau recommends that all milk in Pennsylvania schools and prisons be 2% or whole milk, including flavored milk.
“The idea is that (skim or low-fat) is not our best product to market to young children,” Itle Westrick said. “We’re trying to develop dairy consumers for life, and I can tell you that we stopped making skim flavored milk during the summer. All of the research that showed that dairy fat was bad for us was flawed.”
The bureau also thinks that tax and other incentives should be made available for milk and milk-product plant construction and expansion in the state, Clapper wrote.

State Sen. Wayne Langerholc Jr., R-Cambria, speaks during the Cambria County Farm Bureau Legislative farm tour while CCFB President Marty Yahner (right) and CCFB member Bob Davis, listen. Mirror photo by Rachel Foor
In addition to the decline in dairy farms, crop damage caused by wildlife is a problem that farmers can’t afford to ignore, Clapper wrote.
“According to the most recent survey on wildlife crop damage conducted by the USDA, crop and livestock losses from wildlife in the United States totaled $944 million during 2001,” Clapper wrote. “Taking into consideration the growing wildlife populations and lesser harvests, it’s safe to say crop damage costs have likely skyrocketed in the last two decades.”
The bureau suggests that the Game Commission “be authorized to fund cost sharing for wildlife crop damage control methods other than fencing,” “not restrict the current use of rifles, shot guns, bows, crossbows, for the killing of wildlife for crop damage” and “support landowners’ private property rights by creating stricter penalties for trespassers,” Clapper wrote.
Yahner said that he can’t grow corn or soybeans in some areas on his farm due to deer populations eating the crops; he has to instead plant hay, wheat or rice.
“Many farmers like me would say that wildlife damage is as bad or worse than ever in some parts,” Yahner said.
Bailey Hill Farm
Following the discussion of various issues facing farmers, Henderson Bailey told the gathered crowd about her and her husband’s farm before taking them on a tour of the property.
“We’ve been here about three years,” Henderson Bailey said. “The place was pretty much completely abandoned.”
In addition to having to gut and fix up the buildings on the property, the Baileys had to deal with a brush fire, flooding and a roof collapse.
Now up and running, Bailey Hill Farm is a working horse farm where Henderson Bailey boards horses, gives riding lessons and trains horses.
“Everything we do here is English,” Henderson Bailey said, referring to the horse riding style.
The Baileys also lease more than 100 acres of hay fields and put on horse shows.
“Inflation has slowed numbers down, unfortunately,” Henderson Bailey said.
The Baileys’ 14 horses aren’t the only animals on the farm. They also have Nigerian dwarf goats, ducks, chickens, cats, a border collie named Phantom and a pony named Mr. Pickles. With Henderson Bailey’s past experiences in agriculture, it’s no wonder that she chose farming and horse training as her professions.
“I started riding at about 8 years old,” Henderson Bailey said. “I rode English, did some barrel racing, started breeding goats and showing animals as well. Then I took a job milking cows at a dairy farm when I was 17.”
Mirror Staff Writer Rachel Foor is at 814-946-7458.