Thompson Farms LLC: Turning market downturn into valuable product
BIG IDEA Spotlight: Thompson Farms LLC
Editor’s Note: Designed to shine a spotlight on the variety of rural innovation bubbling up across the Pennsylvania Wilds, this article is part of a series that features six innovators who were named as finalists in the 2024 PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contest.
What happens when the bottom falls out of the product that you have produced—with pride—for over 100 years? If you are Rob Thompson, you decide to innovate. Thompson Farms LLC is a century farm located in Potter County that is known for its dairy, meat, organic vegetables, and wool. Market prices for milk and meat have trended downward in the recent past, but suddenly rug-grade wool was not in demand. At all. “Some producers were getting a penny a pound,” Rob Thompson said. “Others weren’t getting buyers at all—they were just taking their wool to a local landfill.”
“People aren’t buying wool rugs anymore,” he added. “The demand just isn’t there.”
As the prices continued to plummet, a friend told Thompson about wool pellets, a process that turned wool into a nitrogen-rich, water-retaining fertilizer, and a lightbulb went off. “This idea really had something good behind it,” he said. “It was the opportunity to take a bioproduct and turn it into fertilizer and give something back to the soil. It’s perfect for home gardeners and patio pots because of wool’s natural properties to hold water.”
The concept of creating a wool pellet production company goes beyond just Thompson’s own farm. He says that it could create a solution for sheep farmers throughout the PA Wilds and beyond. “My concept is to provide this opportunity for other sheep farms, and even have the option for other farms to label their own wool pellets and sell them individually if they choose,” he said.
Thompson says that winning the Big Idea contest would propel the project forward. “We are looking at production machinery from Indiana that would be custom-built for operation,” he said. “The money will allow for the purchase of a wool shredder and pellet mill, and get the infrastructure built, so we will be able to move a lot of product.”
This isn’t the first time that Thompson has innovated solutions for agriculture in the PA Wilds. In 2001, he saw that resources were dwindling as the agriculture population went down. So he came up with a feeding business that created custom feeds depending on each farm’s needs, and delivered it.
Now, over 20 years later, he is still looking to solve problems in his local community—both the farmers selling wool, and gardeners looking for fertilizer. “We know that we can move a lot of product locally,” he said. “Many people are gardeners, and this product will really benefit them. And there are still a lot of sheep in this region, both within Pennsylvania and in southern New York. The wool pellet production will be very centrally located to a large population of sheep.”
Thompson Farms LLC is centrally located to more than just sheep. Thompson says that the local business ecosystem has come around his company as it develops, encouraging him to take next steps and pushing the company to grow. “Cynthia Nellis with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) told me about the Big Idea contest and encouraged me to join. The Potter County Creative Council has been very enthusiastic about my idea. Ben Franklin Technology Partners has been very easy to work with. They push you to think, and make it real, and not just an idea. They help you to think through: Is this going to fly? They ask the hard questions, nicely.”
You can follow Thompson Farms LLC’s journey to production at facebook.com/ThompsonFarmsLLC
About the PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contest Series: The PA Wilds BIG IDEA Contests were part of a three-year initiative funded by the Appalachian Regional Commission. Made possible by a collaboration between Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern PA, PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, the Pennsylvania Technical Assistance Program and Small Business Development Centers that serve the Pennsylvania Wilds, the contest took place annually, with each contest focusing on a different portion of the rural 13-county region and offering a chance to win up to $50,000. The 2022 contest included counties in the I-80 Frontier landscape, the 2023 contest included counties in the Allegheny National Forest & Surrounds and Elk Country landscapes, and the 2024 contest focused on counties in the Dark Skies and the Pine Creek Valley & PA Grand Canyon landscapes. After the three-year series concluded, more than $150,000 was invested in rural entrepreneurs, while participants who did not win cash prizes received invaluable technical assistance and business support. Additional details can be found at CNP.BenFranklin.org/BigIdea.
About Ben Franklin Technology Partners: The largest seed investor in our region, Ben Franklin Technology Partners (an initiative of the PA Department of Community & Economic Development and funded by the Ben Franklin Technology Development Authority) has been providing investment capital, business support services, and operational assistance to emerging tech-startups and small manufacturers for nearly 40 years. Since the start of the BIG IDEA contests, more than $3 million in cash prizes have been awarded throughout Ben Franklin’s 32-county footprint in central and northern Pennsylvania. The contest offers start-ups and entrepreneurs some much-needed seed funding, as well as business training, pitch experience, and industry contacts – often more valuable than the prize money itself. Learn more at www.CNP.BenFranklin.org. For more information, contact Karly Scala at karlyscala@cnp.benfranklin.org.
About the PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship: The PA Wilds Center for Entrepreneurship, Inc., is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose mission is to integrate conservation and economic development in a way that inspires the communities of the Pennsylvania Wilds. The Pennsylvania Wilds is a 13-county region that includes the counties of Cameron, Clarion, Clearfield, Clinton, Elk, Forest, Jefferson, Lycoming, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Warren, and northern Centre. The PA Wilds Center promotes the region and its 2+ million acres of public lands as a premier outdoor recreation destination as a way to diversify local economies, inspire stewardship, attract investment, retain population and improve quality of life. The PA Wilds Center’s core programs seek to help businesses leverage the PA Wilds brand and connect with new market opportunities, including: the Wilds Cooperative of PA, a network of more than 575 place-based businesses and organizations, and the PA Wilds Conservation Shop, a retail outlet primarily featuring products sourced from the WCO. For more information on the PA Wilds Center, visit www.PAWildsCenter.org. To learn more about the WCO, visit www.WildsCoPA.org. Explore the PA Wilds at www.PAWilds.com. Find regionally made products at www.ShopThePAWilds.com.
