About Our
Farm


When Matthew Balliet’s Great, Great, Grandfather William Saam settled on a small farm in the Eastern part of the Butler Valley in March of 1880, he could have never imagined the land would not be roamed by his team of horses, but instead by over 300 horsepower diesel tractors and combines that stand as tall as the old barn. Now, 5 generations later, Matthew lives on that same farm that has been handed down between fathers and sons and nephews for well over 140 years.
In 1998 an additional farm was purchased some 20 miles west of the family homestead in the beautiful Long Hollow of Beaver Township, Columbia County. At that farm is where 20 year old Jacob Balliet, the 6th generation now resides. It is where Matthew and Jacob farm full time – the first members of the family to do so since Matthew’s Great Uncle, Conrad Saam in the 1940’s.
Through the turn of the century, and early 2000’s, Matthew primarily grew feed grains and hay on over 800 acres of rented and owned land but began raising a handful of beef cattle for friends and relatives.
In 2011 the decision was made to realign the structure of the farm, transforming it from a grain, and custom combining operation to concentrating heavily on high quality, naturally raised, beef cattle production and the Long Hollow Cattle Company was created. After a handful of years, pigs were added at the encouragement of the growing customer base.
With demand drastically increasing, and a desire to process cattle and pigs with consistent quality, Long Hollow Cattle Co purchased a multi generational butchering facility near Bloomsburg, PA in late 2022. That facility had been owned and operated by Gensemer Farms Meats. John Gensemer has stayed active in training another generation of meat cutting professionals in tradition and quality.
2023 saw the original homestead farm in Drums join the farm in Long Hollow on the list of farms preserved from development by the PA Agricultural Land Preservation Program.
To accommodate this 6th generation and set the stage for future generations, the farm has expanded again to include over 1500 additional acres of leased ground throughout Luzerne and Columbia Counties for feed and grain production, while the cattle numbers have tripled over the previous year.
While the name is relatively new, the over 140 years of history remains unbroken.
PA Beef Assurance
The purpose of the Beef Quality Assurance Program is to protect consumer confidence in beef safety and quality. Most of our cattle will enter the human food supply at some point, and the BQA program hopes to make sure all eating experiences are good ones. Remember, we are not just cattle producers, we are food producers!