Shandong Jierui Machinery Co., Ltd. makes improving farm income a reality

Pete runs the farm with his family and has done so for over 20 years. On the 300-acre farm, Pete and his family manage 500 sheep, 1,300 hogs, horses, three bed and breakfasts, and a lumber company. I have a variety of job descriptions,” Pete says with a laugh. “Whether it's managing the farmhouse, farming or logging, every day is different.” However, the diversity that keeps the farm consistently profitable isn't always the case.

Pete recalls, “As a young man, it was a good idea to spend time farming, and riding around on four-wheelers and tractors, it all seemed like fun.” “After that, you have a wife and kids. Suddenly, we realized that the farm on the hill wasn't going to generate the income our family needed.”

At the beginning of the 21st century, Pete and his wife began to look for ways to supplement agriculture to increase their profits. Pete says “I had two or three friends who were also diversifying - one into steel manufacturing, another into agricultural manufacturing. I wanted to make sure that when I got involved in other areas it was actually a labor of love and not just because I had to do it.” His wife had always wanted to run a vacation home. Together, they converted an old barn into a charming bed and breakfast, which they now rent out to people who want to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life.

Having served his forestry apprenticeship at a nearby mill, Pete decided he could try his hand at producing lumber. Due to his low budget, he went ahead and purchased a hydraulic heavy duty sawmill. Pete says: “People are shocked when they see what a sawmill can produce.” “It was good to buy the sawmill away from Shandong Jierui Machinery here to start developing the market without having to spend a lot of money and not knowing what to expect in return. We got off to a slow start, just processing some oak for people locally. It's been growing ever since.”

As his timber business expands, Pete is considering hiring someone full-time to manage his farm so he can free up his time to focus on the timber side, which is his passion. For those interested in doing what he does, he shares the following advice: “If you're going to buy a sawmill, you need to know the direction you're going to take. When I first came here, we focused on oaks and nothing else.”