Kar-Dale-Acres.com History

Every Story Has a Beginning...

Dale Hoffman was born in 1947, and raised on a farm near Mt. Pleasant Mills in Snyder County, PA. Dale started in the dairy business at 10 years old, milking cows for his parents’ dairy farm. He graduated from Middleburg High School in 1965 and began hauling milk for his father’s milk hauling business. Dale met Carol Hayes on a local church hay ride, and on August 24, 1968, they were married. Sons Keith and Brad followed soon after, born in 1969 and 1970, respectively.

In 1972, Dale and Carol decided to rent a farm and start milking their own herd of cows. So, they then borrowed $15,000, bought a herd of 16 cows, a tractor and a manure spreader. Along with his responsibilities on their new farm, Dale also continued working for his father's business, driving a milk truck everyday. In 1973, Dale decided to stop hauling milk and then started producing milk full time.

In 1976 their daughter, Tricia was born. By this time, because of their family's growth, a decision had to be made whether or not to continue farming. Their leased farm was too small for Dale and Carol's business to continue thriving. They began searching for a farm to buy, but land prices were a bit too expensive in their current location.

However, Dale and Carol soon discovered that land was much cheaper in northern Pennsylvania - particularly Potter County. (Dale also found that there was good big game hunting there as well!)

So, the family purchased and moved to a 400 acre farm near Shinglehouse in Potter County, PA. The move also included all of the machinery they owned, approximately 40 milk cows, and additional heifers and calves. The relocation was successful, and their new farm continued to grow and prosper. Later, in 1978, another son, Josh was born.

Cow numbers increased gradually and barn additions were added so that by November of 1996, they were milking 150 cows 3 times a day. By this time, Keith and Brad were involved full time on the farm, Tricia had expressed a desire to return to the family business, and Josh would be entering college shortly. Labor for the current setup (150 cow stanchion) was too costly and facilities were crowded, so change was inevitable. The extended family was also growing and there was a need and a desire for expansion.

Thus, expansion plans began as a result. Trench and feed bunker silos and a feed commodity feed shed were added and excavation began in the fall of 1997. In April of 1998, the Hoffman’s embarked on a major dairy expansion and built a 400 cow free stall barn with a double 12 parallel parlor. Full-scale operation of the brand new dairy facility became a reality on September 15, 1998. More feed bunker space and a dry cow barn were added in the years following.

The Hoffmans currently operate Kar-Dale-Acres dairy farm with over 680 cows and 580 young stock. The farm maintains a rolling herd average of 27,000 pounds of milk. The newest additions to the farm are a 200 cow capacity extension to the existing free stall barn and a new calf barn which were both completed in 2005.