Bill Beam’s diversification was not a promise of easy profit. In a 2018 profile, the Elverson, Pennsylvania, farmer combined conventional grain crops with specialty-crop trials and a sawdust business, while accepting that experiments could fail and niche buyers could change their minds. His example shows both the potential and the financial exposure of building income beyond a farm’s main crops.
What did Bill Beam diversify into?
Jessie Scott’s 2018 Successful Farming profile described Beam growing soybeans, corn, and wheat while also pursuing non-GMO corn, high-oleic soybeans, barley, sorghum, and a newly licensed hemp trial. He had also bought and expanded a sawdust business. These are details from the profile’s reporting period, not a current account of Beam’s farm or ventures. Read the 2018 profile.
The mix included more than different crops. The sawdust operation served customers beyond the farm and made use of a separate supply-and-distribution business. Specialty crops, by contrast, were attempts to earn revenue from particular buyers and markets.
How did the sawdust business complement farming?
According to Scott’s profile, Beam borrowed $3,000 to buy a sawdust business and its customer list in 1980. The operation collected sawdust from mills and delivered it to end users, including furniture and cabinet makers, lumber companies, poultry and dairy farmers, and equine customers. Some customers used it to solidify liquid waste or as fuel.
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At the time of the 2018 article, the business reportedly moved 200,000 cubic yards of sawdust annually—an amount the article likened to 20,000 dump trucks—and its sales the prior year exceeded $1 million. Five of the farm’s eight full-time employees worked on collection, packaging, and distribution. The profile described custom-fit airtight trailers for transferring material with little dust. Those figures and staffing details describe the operation as reported in 2018; they do not establish its present scale.
What could a specialty-crop premium add—and what could go wrong?
A premium can make a crop more attractive, but the extra revenue may depend on meeting a buyer’s specifications and keeping the crop separate from other grain. Beam’s non-GMO corn experience showed how a small operational lapse could erase the premium on part of a harvest.
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Non-GMO corn: storage and contamination
The profile said Beam once lost the premium on the bottom 5,000 bushels of a non-GMO corn lot after residual dust below the floor of an older bin, previously used for wheat, contaminated the grain. The contamination was slightly above the buyer’s limit. He later built 50,000 bushels of dedicated storage for non-GMO corn and used separate seed tenders and selected fields to reduce contamination and cross-pollination risks.
Scott reported that Beam sold a portion of his non-GMO corn for $4.50 per bushel in 2017, while conventional corn was selling for $3 per bushel. Those are historical prices, not a current premium or forecast. The article also reported an average yield of 170 bushels per acre for his GMO corn; it did not establish a comparable non-GMO yield.
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Barley and sorghum: weather and changing demand
Beam tried growing barley for a microbrewery. One crop did not winter well, and a later buyer could not take the crop because of financial problems. Beam found another customer out of state, but chose not to continue growing barley.
Sorghum offered a different fit: some fields were better suited to it where deer damaged soybeans. Beam sold the grain to packaging companies that blended it into bird food. But the profile said demand among existing buyers had slowed by 2018. A crop can suit a field and still be exposed to a narrow or weakening market.
Hemp: a historical trial, not current guidance
The 2018 profile said Beam was growing 100 acres of hemp under Pennsylvania’s licensing regime for a Philadelphia buyer, with CBD oil extraction planned. That is a historical description only. It does not establish today’s hemp laws, Beam’s current production, or whether the buyer relationship continued.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What does Beam’s example say about financial risk?
Diversification can spread revenue sources, but a new line of business also requires money, labor, and a way to manage downside. Beam characterized his experimentation as possible because he could afford to fail: “I’m lucky to be financially stable enough to experiment and realize that sometimes we will fail,” he said in the profile. He also said, “Just because you fail once, doesn’t mean you have to quit.”
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Those remarks matter because the profile does not present every trial as successful or diversification as a guaranteed route to profit. Barley ended after weather and buyer problems; sorghum demand had slowed; and non-GMO corn required dedicated handling after contamination cost a premium. The sawdust business, meanwhile, was a substantial operation with its own customers, logistics, and employees—not simply another crop planted on available acres.
Why can niche markets leave growers exposed?
A specialty crop may have few buyers, which gives a grower limited options if a contract fails or demand changes. Beam put it plainly: “When you’re dealing with niche markets with one or two buyers, you are at their mercy,” he said. Finding an alternative customer for barley did not make that crop a lasting fit for his farm.
For a farmer considering a similar venture, the case points to practical questions rather than a universal formula:
- Does the new activity use existing assets or labor, or require substantial new investment?
- How many realistic buyers are there, and what happens if the expected buyer cannot take the product?
- What production, storage, or handling controls are necessary to meet buyer specifications?
- Can the operation absorb a failed crop, lost premium, or delayed sale without threatening its core business?
Beam summarized his motivation as more than financial: “We are always looking for opportunities, but it’s not always about the money,” he said. “It’s about the challenge and being able to make something new work. That, to me, is just as satisfying as making money.” When asked whether there was anything he would not try on the farm, he joked, “I won’t do anything illegal.”
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