Pisciotta Farms, located in Avondale, Colorado, is a family-run farm that spans three generations. Current farmers Joe Piciotta, Jr., and his father inherited the farm from Pisciotta patriarch, Pete- Joe Jr.’s grandfather. “One main thing that keeps farming alive,” says Joe, “is passing it along to family. We’re basically a dying breed.”
In fact, in 2002 the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) released it’s Census of Agriculture which notes that between 1974 and 2002, the number of corporate owned U.S. farms increased by more than 46 percent; and in 2007, a USDA NASS study showed that approximately 8,900 U.S. farms were lost between 2005 and 2006.
Despite what statistics show, however, Pisciotta Farms keeps going. “A farm is a good place to raise a family. You don’t learn a better work ethic than you do on a farm,” says Joe.