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Burch Farms History Facts
- In 1986, the farm was signed over to Douglas from
his father, James. Douglas and Timothy joined in partnership running
the farm business.
- Burch Farms is one of the largest trellis growing
farms in the area and delivers apples to the tri-state region.
- Back when the farm was started, in 1779, it had 25
acres. Now we have over 250 acres, and over half of the land
consists of apples.
- According to the records of June 7 & 8, 1880, John
Burch had 100 acres; 80 were tilled and 20 were in meadow or orchards.
The value of the farm was $5,000, $300 in farming machinery, and $500 in
animals. He had 4 horses, 23 cows, 24 sheep, and 100 chickens.
In 1879 they made 450 pounds of butter, produced 160 bushels of barley, 750
bushels of Indian Corn, 225 bushels of wheat, and produced 300 bushels of
potatoes. They also had 3 acres of apples with 80 bearing apple trees,
which produced 200 bushels of apples.
- In 1928, Herbert decided to leave the dairy
business and expand the fruit farm. Herbert and his son James built a
shop in which he could repair equipment. He missed the livestock, but
didn't miss the labor that was involved. So he built two barns, one
that was three stories high and another that was four stories high for
poultry production. Both barns could hold approximately 60,000
chickens. In 1939, Herbert and his son, James, joined a partnership
and continued on the same operation for several years. Herbert gave
the farm a name, because it never had a written one before this. He
called it Northern View Farms H.C. Burch and Son.
- James Burch expanded the farm to 200 acres and was
reduced down to primarily the production of grapes, apples, peaches, and
cherries. he also expanded the chicken business. He built yards
with three feet high fences around the barns, which allowed the chickens to
go outside. This allowed more room for chickens inside and now 80,000
birds were being raised.
- When James took over the business, he purchased
the first "apple truck" that was needed to haul everything to the markets.
- Doug Burch expanded the farm property to 250
acres. he also stopped producing chickens in 1971 and maily produced
quality apples, grapes, and peaches, which is the reason the farms name was
changed to Burch Farms quality Fruit Growers. The use of animals
ceased in 1969 and the machinery did all the work. The grapes were
contracted to Keystone Foods, which Douglas was president of for five years.
Keystone went bankrupt in 1988, and most of the grapes were contracted to
Welch Foods.
- Tim Burch is the current owner of the Burch Farms
Industry. Tim graduated from high school and went to Penn State
University, but after the first semester, he decided college life was not
for him and he returned home to work on the farm.
- Tim Burch is the sixth Generation to work on the
farm.
- In 2000 Burch Farms pressed cider for the first
time.
- The new Burch Farms Country Market - a 5,000
square foot market - was opened in 2005.
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