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Hope Acres Dairy Farm closesJan 11, 2009 (York Daily Record - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- The Hope Acres Dairy Farm used to attract thousands of visitors each year who came to see its revolutionary robotic milking equipment. Now, Jeff Heindel, the son of its founder, Horace Heindel, and the general manager of Heindel Family Farms, is seeking to sell the farm, its animals and the building that used to house the Brown Cow Restaurant, he said. The restaurant and dairy processing equipment -- everything from pans to butter churns to a 40,000 gallon silo -- are scheduled to go on the auction block Thursday. "We're in shutdown mode," Heindel said Friday. A family dispute has caused the 2,100-acre Chanceford Township farm to close, Heindel said. The farm's land, animals and the dairy farming equipment will likely be sold later in the year, Heindel said. Doug Kilgore, who was a dairy farmer before he became a county commissioner and a president of the York County Farm Bureau, said many people probably saw how a farm works at Hope Acres. "Anytime the public can get on a farm and see where their food comes from, it's good for agriculture," Kilgore said. "It's definitely a loss." Forty-one people, including Heindel family members, filed a lawsuit in York County Common Pleas Court against Jeff Heindel in July. In the suit, they disagreed with Jeff Heindel's business practices and wanted them to stop. Jeff Heindel disputed their claims Friday. The plaintiffs' attorney could not be reached for comment. Judge Stephen P. Linebaugh ruled last month that the two sides must settle their case before an arbitrator. The Brown Cow Restaurant closed for good in October after eight years in business. The store served as a retail outlet for Hope Acres products and a restaurant and tour center for visitors to the Heindel family's dairy operation. The store struggled to turn a profit because of its remote location and the souring economy. Thursday's auction, administered by Harry Davis & Co. auctioneers, will include more than 400 items, according to the auctioneer's Web site. "They were the innovators and leaders in some manner in dairy in York County," Wood said. "It's an old farm, but they really were a new operation." By modern standards, Kilgore said, the dairy's 2,100 acres is massive for York County. According to the latest USDA statistics, the average farm in York County is 111 acres. Those 2,100 acres cover 3.3 square miles of land. By comparison, the City of York occupies 5 square miles. In the end, Kilgore believes Hope Acres will remain a working farm of some kind. But, he said, selling will likely be difficult in this climate. Wood is concerned. Not many people are looking to grow farms right now. "It's all very precipitous and quick and sad," Wood said. "I would have thought they could have worked it out and continued." York Daily Record/Sunday News staff writer Jeff Frantz contributed to this report. To see more of the York Daily Record, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ydr.com. Copyright (c) 2009, York Daily Record, Pa. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email [email protected], call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA. |