Susan Spadaro wasn’t expecting to get emotional about auctioning off 100 of her family’s Brown Swiss and 25 Ayrshire cows on Thursday.
“We’ve just always had a passion and love for these animals and the dairy industry,” said Spadaro, the fifth generation of the Miller and Love families, which have owned and operated the same farm on Scottdale-Smithton Road in East Huntingdon since 1902.
“I have a lot of great memories from 4-H,” Spadaro said as her voice trembled slightly. “As a kid we made tons of friends going to the fairs, and I’ve had a chance to watch my kids experience some of that as well.”
Spadaro’s father, Richard Love, is going into semi-retirement.
“He’s 75 years old, and it’s just getting to be a little much for him at that age,” she said.
The family is keeping a handful of cattle, but most of their herd went up for auction Thursday morning. Folks like Esther Primel of Johnstown and her husband were among the roughly 50 to 60 bidders.
“We have a small herd, and we’ve always had Brown Swiss, but we don’t have a lot right now,” Primel said. “Their temperament is really good — a little bit aloof but not mean. Even the bulls we have aren’t too aggressive.”
Love Haven Farm was purchased at the turn of the 20th century by Love’s great-grandfather John Miller. It was inherited by his grandparents Martin and Nanny Love, and then went to their only son, Olen.
“As a child I can remember my dad always loving the ‘Big Brown Cow,’ ” Love writes in a history of the farm sent out in auction catalogs. “I clearly remember there was always a Brown Swiss cow on the farm.”
When his father was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, and died in the mid-1960s, a teenage Love took over the family business during his senior year of high school.
When he and Sharon were married in 1971, they officially established the Love Haven Farm name. Spadaro and her brother Richard both spent years showing Brown Swiss and Ayrshire cattle and brought home plenty of fair ribbons.
Ohio auctioneer Rudy Kiko said he got a good deal of interest in the auction.
“In addition to western and central Pennsylvania, I’ve gotten calls from where I’m at in Northeast Ohio, and we sent catalogs to eastern Pa., Maryland, Ohio and even talked to some folks in New York,” Kiko said.
Part of the interest is because of the breeds, he said.
“Most dairy farms are Holstein or Jersey breeds,” Kiko said. “You don’t usually find this many Brown Swiss cows in one location.”
There are about 5,000 dairy farms in Pennsylvania, according to the nonprofit Center for Dairy Excellence. That figure is down from previous years, but the state’s farms still represent more than 17% of the U.S. dairy industry. In 2021, Pennsylvania cows produced 10.1 billion pounds of milk, down 1.6% from 2020.
Over a longer period, farmland acreage in Pennsylvania is becoming more scarce.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the total number of farms in Pennsylvania decreased by about 15%, or 10,000 farms, between 2007 and 2017 — from about 63,000 to 53,000. The USDA estimated the state had about 52,700 farms in 2021. Milk from Westmoreland County dairy farms generates more than $13 million in annual sales, according to the USDA’s 2017 Census of Agriculture.
Buyers at Love Haven Farm on Thursday were definitely interested in growing their herds. The first cow auctioned, a Brown Swiss, sold for $1,600, with the first Ayrshire topping $2,000.
Dairy farmer Jeff Kennedy of Butler had his eye on some of the Brown Swiss cows to add to his fifth-generation farm.
“They’re a big, docile cow that provides milk with a lot of protein and a lot of butterfat,” Kennedy said.
According to the American Dairy Association, about 94% of America’s more than 29,000 dairy farms are family-owned. Most dairy cows are milked two to three times per day and on average will produce 6-10 gallons of milk daily.
Spadaro said her family has always enjoyed the cows.
“The Brown Swiss especially just have a different personality to them,” she said. “I think they’re more lovable. They love being touched and scratched, and they’re interested in what you’re doing. But sometimes they’re also stubborn as can be.”
