My name is Scott Murphy, and I’m the fifth generation to work the land at Murphy Farms here in Kunkletown, Pennsylvania.
When I look across the fields today—barley, oats, rye, corn, wheat—I’m looking at a landscape that has been shaped and reshaped by my family for over 175 years. The farm didn’t even start as a farm. Back around 1847, this land was part of a working sawmill operation. As the region changed, so did we. The sawmill gradually gave way to agriculture, and generation after generation kept adapting to whatever the land and the local economy demanded.
That adaptability is part of my inheritance. Over the decades, my family grew potatoes, later shifted into other crops, and eventually into the grain cycle we run today. Something always changed in the market, the weather, or the community, and the farm had to evolve. What never changed was our sense of responsibility to the land and our commitment to making a living here in Pennsylvania.
Today, a big part of the farm is malting grains—especially barley and oats, along with rye, corn, and winter wheat. Those grains, particularly the barley and oats, are what tie us directly into Pennsylvania’s craft brewing industry and the hard-working people of our region.
Why Malting Grains Matter to Me
For a long time, grain farming meant selling into commodity markets. You loaded a truck, it disappeared into the system, and you rarely knew where it ended up. There was no connection to the final product—no sense of where your grain went or what it became. It was just numbers, yield, and price.
But when we started supplying barley and oats to Double Eagle Malt and other malt houses, something changed for me. For the first time, the grain leaving my farm had a direct line to a glass of beer poured in a taproom. That feeling—walking into a brewery, seeing people enjoying themselves, and knowing the grain in that beer came from my fields—is hard to put into words.
I’ll say this: it makes the grind of farm life feel worth it.
Winter barley is an especially good crop for Pennsylvania. I plant it in late September, it overwinters well, and I harvest it by early July. The straw is valuable too. Then the same field can be immediately double-cropped with soybeans. That efficiency matters when you’re trying to run hundreds of acres. When the barley goes to a malt house instead of the feed market it has a direct connection to the local economy. Winter barely starts here and generates jobs throughout the state. But the crop I keep coming back to, the one I think could define Murphy Farms in the future, is oats.
Oats: The Grain I Believe In
Oats are easy to grow on our soil. Yields are strong, consistent, and reliable. And modern brewing—especially hazy IPAs and fuller-bodied ales—uses a ton of oats. I’ve shipped truckloads of oats, 40,000 pounds at a time, to big malt houses in Asheville, NC and others in Virginia and the Carolinas. Over the last few years, we’ve moved an enormous amount of oats into the brewing world.
For me, oats represent a grain where I can control quality, scale production, and build relationships with maltsters and breweries who need large volumes consistently. If I had to pick one crop that could define our future, oats would be the one.
That said, every malting grain helps build a stronger local economy here in Pennsylvania.
Why Local Grain Strengthens Pennsylvania
One thing I’ve learned through all of this is how tightly connected agriculture and brewing really are. When barley or oats leave my farm and travel only an hour or two to a Pennsylvania malt house, that keeps money circulating locally. The malt house uses local labor, the brewery buys local malt, and the taproom serves local beer. Every link in that chain supports someone in this state—farmers, maltsters, truck drivers, warehouse workers, brewers, and hospitality staff.
That’s what I love about this work. It doesn’t disappear into a global supply chain. It stays here. It builds here.
Pennsylvania’s brewing scene is massive—one of the biggest in the country—and the more local grain it uses, the stronger the regional economy becomes. If Double Eagle Malt can move more product, I can grow more barley and oats. If I grow more grain, they have a supply for more breweries. And the breweries can add “Made with Pennsylvania grain” to their taproom menus.
It’s a cycle that keeps adding value.
A Farm with Deep Roots and New Purpose
When I look at Murphy Farms today, I see a place with history behind it and opportunity ahead of it. Five generations have worked this land. We’ve adjusted to new markets, weathered good years and bad years, and never stopped trying to build something sustainable for the future.
Right now, that future is tied to malting grains—to the brewers and maltsters who want to work with local ingredients and to the Pennsylvanians who care about supporting local agriculture.
When someone raises a pint made with Pennsylvania grain—grain grown in my fields—that means something. It means our work matters. It means these rolling hills of Kunkletown are part of the story. And it means the future of farming here isn’t just about surviving; it’s about contributing to a stronger, more connected Pennsylvania.
That’s what keeps me going. That’s what keeps Murphy Farms moving forward.