Kreher Family Farms location. Photo provided
By Eric Jenks, Special to NEAFA
Kreher Family Farms, which sells a wide variety of products including eggs, grain, composted manure, fertilizer, produce, and flowers, is based out of Clarence, NY, and is entering its 99th year of business in 2023. Started by Henry and Wilhelmina Kreher in 1924, the farm is currently in the middle of transitioning between the third and fourth generations. “We have nine family member owners in the business right now,” said Brian Kreher. “Two are retiring at the end of this year, and two have already retired as well. Making a transition like this is a complicated process, and we are fortunate to have the right people helping us through it. It will be quite some time that the 3rd generation is involved along side the 4th generation. My youngest uncle for example is closer in age to my generation than he is to his oldest sibling.”
Having a business with such a long history to it also means that Kreher Family Farms has had the chance to diversify the portfolio of products it can offer. “Each of the family owners has their own responsibilities on the farm,” said Kreher. “My brother Mike focuses on growing crops, and I focus on eggs for example. We’ve got egg farms in Clarence, Basom, and Wolcott, which means that we can supply anything from conventional white eggs to pasture raised organic. We’re the Eggland’s Best franchise for upstate NY. We also have a conventional grain operation based out of our Wolcott farm, and we have organic crop farms for our animal feed needs throughout Western NY - Brockport, Clarence, Basom, for example. We also recently partnered with W. D. Henry and Son’s in Eden, NY for their vegetable, flower, and greenhouse operation, so that we can offer those products as well.
While Kreher, took time away from the family business, the plan was always in place if he wanted to return. “Farming has been in my dna since I was a kid,” said Kreher. “The bus dropped me off at the farm after school, and I worked here on the weekends. I’ve been caring for chickens since I was old enough to do so. The farm has always been something that I’ve thought of as home. Part of the succession planning for the family business meant that I had to get off the farm for a while and do my own thing,” said Kreher. I graduated with my Bachelor’s from Cornell in 2004, where I majored in food industry management. After that, I was very fortunate to work for Daymon Worldwide for a decade, before returning to the farm in 2015. That year was the perfect opportunity for me. I felt like I needed to change, and the farm was at spot in its business cycle where there was a spot for me. It has been a tremendous experience working with, for, and for the benefit of the family. That feeling isn’t something that I got working elsewhere, as great as those businesses are. I have to thank Daymon Worldwide though for the experience that they gave me. That job gave me the opportunity to work with a variety of different super market chains; Winn Dixie, Safeway, and Wegman’s primarily. It gave me the experience to know what they’re looking for in their suppliers, which is huge for the farm, to know what they need. My cousin Natalie has a similar background. The egg industry is very different from some other agricultural businesses. We don’t sell to a co-operative or a consortium; we deal directly with supermarket chains to get our products out to consumers.”
For Kreher, the largest industry concern currently is continued vigilance with bio-security. “We’ve always been forward thinking with bio security and protecting our hens from avian diseases,” said Kreher. “The entire industry is very concerned about avian influenza. The shortage of eggs that the outbreak has put on the country is hard on everyone involved. We would all prefer the price of eggs to be where it is because consumers are eating more eggs, and not because we’re dealing with a challenge in the industry. While feed prices have gone up dramatically, price increases are really due to the worldwide shortage of eggs. It’s also made things more complicated with getting the next generation involved. It’s not like when I was a kid, because of safety and bio-security measures. They all enjoy their time on the farm though, and we get them out and involved as much as possible.”
Looking towards the future, Kreher is working towards converting more of their production to cage free, to better match consumer’s needs. “Our organic farms and pasture eggs are already cage free obviously, but within the next year the plan is to convert a significant portion of our conventional production to cage free as well,” said Kreher. “That is exciting for our family and we’re looking forward to that conversion as that expansion occurs. The good thing about it is our family already has experience with cage free. There are animal welfare changes in how you manage the birds, which is not going to be difficult for our business to do, since we’ve done it for 10 years with our organic farm.”
Kreher also values NEAFA’s impact on agriculture. “The efforts that NEAFA has put in to working on behalf of the ag community is very much appreciated by our family. The educational aspects of NEAFA has directly enriched our family’s business through the newsletter and their outreach. We’re proud to be long time members of such a great organization.”
For more information on Kreher Family Farms, https://www.krehereggs.com/