Who We Are

Sunrise Club Calves, a cow/calf operation in Shippenville, Pa., has been in Paul and Beth Wingard’s family since 1942, when it was operated by Paul’s parents. The Wingards primarily produce club calves that are sold to FFA and 4-H members as project animals.

Once they purchased the operation in 1978, the Wingards began to implement innovative conservation practices. The farm dedicates about 125 acres to grazing and has 200 leased acres for hay production and 25 acres of woodlots. The farm has four ponds and is crossed by several small streams. Seventy cow/calf pairs and about 10 yearlings graze on the 125 acres, which are intensively managed with a small heard of boer goats utilized for weed control.

The Wingards are currently participating in a Pennsylvania Growing Greener program that provides funding to stabilize areas with portable troughs by installing geotextile and crushed limestone. The Wingards’ ongoing work with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) allows them to seek technical assistance planning and implementing water resources for both cattle and wildlife, including erosion reduction, pasture forage preservation, woodland improvement and animal waste management.

The Wingards are actively involved in numerous associations and governing boards that assist in implementing sound environmental and conservation practices including the Pennsylvania Project Grass, Clarion County Graziers, Western Pennsylvania Conservancy and local 4-H clubs.

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