Tyrone Area High School Class of 2003 alum Ryan Clark and his wife, Jennifer, operate Windy Lane Jerseys in Sinking Valley and Warriors Mark. Their farm is home to over 550 cows, 280 of which are dairy cows. It has been in operation since 2007.
“I wanted to be a farmer after watching my grandfather and my father farm. It’s been in my family for years. I’ve known what I wanted to do since I was five years old,” Ryan Clark said.
Clark began his journey to become a full-time family farmer from scratch, with just 28 dairy cows.
“It took a lot of time to get just to get started,” Ryan Clark said. “Nothing has been easy because prices are never the same. It’s up and down, and some years you make money, some you don’t. You can’t grow and do things. You need to learn how to ration and make decisions.”
Today, the farm raises around 560-570 beef steers and dairy cattle. At any given time, they milk about 280 dairy cows.
Clark said that his workday usually begins around 5:30 am with paperwork, then he goes to the barn to check on his employees, and then he tends to the cows.
The Clarks met as students at Penn State University. Ryan was an animal science major, and his wife, Jennifer, who is from the Martinsburg area, was in the agricultural education program. Like Ryan, Jennifer also grew up on a family farm.
“She came from a background of her family milking 70 cows, whole season jersey, and they still milk cows today,” Ryan Clark said.
Windy Lane isn’t just a dairy farm; the Clarks also raise crops, planting corn, soybeans, hay, and wheat, to feed their animals and sell to local farmers.
Tyrone senior Austin Beamer is one of several employees at Windy Hill. Beamer also grew up on a farm and enjoys working with animals and running farm equipment.
Beamer currently works part time at Windy Lane but plans to work on full-time after graduation. One of his main responsibilities is hauling feed between the farm in Warriors Mark and the farm in Sinking Valley. Like Clark, Beamer hopes to make farming his career.
The Clarks also plan to pass their farm down to the next generation. Ryan and Jennifer have four children who are already learning the skills necessary to take over the operation.
Tyrone freshman Leanne Clark is the oldest of the four and is just beginning her journey into the family business.
“I envision expansion and growth of our family’s business. I plan to operate the farm with my three younger siblings,” Leanne said. “I’m super excited for the future of agriculture and the advancements of the dairy industry.”
Over the years of farming, the Clarks have earned many awards from local, state, and national farm organizations.
In 2024, they were selected as one of 10 finalists for the National Outstanding Young Farmer Award.
In 2013, they were honored with the National Dairy Shrine Graduate Dairy Production Award. In 2014, they won the American Jersey Cattle Association Young Breeder Award, and in 2015, they won the Pennsylvania Jersey Cattle Association Young Breeder Award
Their farm has also been recognized nationally for the protein content of their milk. In 2024, they were ranked eighth nationally for protein among all Jersey herds in the United States.
Ryan says that despite the struggles that many family farms face, he loves his career choice and looks forward to the future.
“I enjoy being tied to the land, I enjoy being with the cattle, I enjoy seeing how you can better animals from one generation to the next,” Clark said. “Same way with crops, I always try to do better. That’s kind of my passion, every year you want to do better than the year before.”
