In 1992, a Pennsylvania farmer named Gerald Jones was looking for something to do beyond raising livestock on his land. He and his wife Marjorie decided to buy a small USDA-inspected country meat business known as Cabin Hollow Butcher Shop.

Having six sons, the couple found a ready-to-work crew who knew plenty about livestock and what a full day’s labor meant. In 2006, they purchased another meat processing plant named Warrington Farm Meats. The shop, which had been operating since 1973, was known for a varied product line of value-added meats and its great rapport with area farmers who supported them in their custom processing operation. Now the Jones family had a way to market the animals they raised.

Their oldest son Darryl, 48, is now the president of that original company that has since expanded and now goes by the name of Warrington Farm Meats. It is in the rural community of Dillsburg, a town about halfway between Gettysburg and the state capital of Harrisburg. Darryl, who is also an auctioneer, talks rapidly as he beams about the growth of the business and how it is different from others in the region. The Jones family consolidated its meat business with an expansion in 2017 that allowed construction of a new kill floor and processing facility adjacent to the retail store. That brought the operation’s size to 12,000 square feet.

“Let’s just say we have the ability to gear up and fulfill the needs of any of our wholesale customers in perhaps a day,” Daryl said. “That is flexibility and maybe one of the reasons that we have over 70 of those larger accounts and the ability to deliver from the New Jersey shore, through Maryland, Virginia and throughout our own state. We partner with the farming community in so many ways.

“We serve our mom-and-pop farmers who may have five cattle that they raise a year and want to market under their own private label. They have been loyal to us, and we are loyal to them.

“We have an unbelievably great crew of 25. They know what is expected and do their jobs the way the customers expect.”

Darryl is also proud of the products Warrington Farm Meats offers its retail customers.

“We have our own line of products and finished meats,” he said. “Some of the recipes are from the original shop and others we have developed in house.”

Warrington Farm Meats sources beef from its own herd, which includes grain-finished and grass-finished cattle. (Source: Warrington Farm Meats)

 

The array includes more than 50 varieties of sausages, snack sticks, jerky, cheeses, hot dogs, breakfast links (in seven flavors) and four different flavors of bacon, including a bourbon black pepper version. The firm likes to use hickory smoke in their production.

The retail shop offers six styles of salads, along with great selections in ring bologna, regular bologna, dips and ready-to-go barbecue items. Warrington Farm Meats utilizes its own beef herd to stock farm-fresh beef, both grain finished, and grass finished to appeal to the preference of their customers. They also use the slaughter facility to fill cases with pork cuts of virtually any type and offer fresh chicken as well as breaded chicken tenders and stuffed chicken breasts. The variety of products runs the gamut, including soups, hog maw, seafood, ground meats, even dog treats, and you’ll find it in the specialty farm meats retail area.

Darryl said the company, which recently celebrated its 50th year in meat processing, also recently announced and introduced a new marketing program called Pennsylvania Pastures. This venture is aimed at wholesale accounts and a bevy of restaurants that want to offer high quality Pennsylvania-grown beef and he feels this approach will deliver what customers are seeking.

“This is an exciting new step for us,” Darryl explained. “We want to do it right and it is another way we can support our local agricultural community.”

His brothers Keith, Wayne, Joshua, Jerry and Travis also live by their family motto “From our farm, to your freezer-we have you covered!”

Darryl noted that his dad, who’s always looking for something to do, still enjoys picking up and delivering beef and other livestock to the plant. The family runs a cow herd that numbers about 1,000 animals, a cow/calf operation, and feed finishing program. His mom Marjorie remains active in handling the bookkeeping and account management activities.

The family behind Warrington Farms Meat includes (from left) : Margie, Gerald, Josh, Wayne, Darryl, Travis, Keith and Jerry. (Source: Warrington Farm Meats)

 

Warrington Farm Meats was the recipient of a recent grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture which has allowed the business to add some new equipment, including a new grinding system. The grant was announced at the plant and heavily covered by local news sources when a top official of the department made the presentation at the store.

The company website, warringtonfarmmeats.com, is a major revenue stream for the family business and Darryl said they heavily promote the company on Facebook. They also utilize a billboard along busy highway Route 15, not far from the meat shop to catch the eye of commuters and other travelers.

In 2020, after the business was expanded, the limitations posed by COVID-19 put a halt to processing wild game, a turn of events that Darryl said “turned out to be a blessing in disguise. We were just too busy.”

Warrington Farm Meats also offers a fundraising program for area groups. It is unique in that they let the group choose which products they would like to offer for sale and go out of their way to accommodate them.

The diversified meat operation is just a piece of the Jones family’s portfolio, which includes two farms, a thriving meat business, a trucking company, auction services, tending crops and harvesting them, mixes and prepared feeds, is proud of its “no hormones in our beef” pledge to customers, and believes strongly that replenishing the farmland they own and lease with nutrients and good management practices is the right thing to do. That’s a full plate.