Schiff Farms in Delaware: History, What It Raises, How It Makes Money and How to Contact It
Profile updated November 2026
Schiff Farms of Harrington, Delaware began in 1946 as a 300-acre grain farm with a few poultry houses and has grown into an operation that tills about 3,500 acres in Delaware, with farms and ranches in Maryland, Nebraska and Wyoming and a grain-buying facility. It won the Delaware Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture in 2015.
| Location | Harrington, Kent County, Delaware |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1946, by Walter and Gladys Schiff |
| Sectors | Grain, grain merchandising and storage, ranching |
| Scale | About 3,500 acres in Delaware; 2.5 million bushels of storage in Harrington, per Cape Gazette |
| Why it is elite | 2015 Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture; multi-state operation |
| Ownership | Schiff family; Jim and Carol Schiff with sons T.J. and Scott |
| Official website | Cape Gazette report on the Schiff Farms Secretary's Award |
History of Schiff Farms
Walter and Gladys Schiff started the farm in 1946 with 300 acres of grain and several poultry houses, a pairing that still defines Delmarva agriculture. Over the decades the family added land, a grain-buying facility and operations beyond Delaware, in Maryland, Nebraska and Wyoming, according to the Cape Gazette.
In January 2015 Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee presented the family with the Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture at the Delaware Agricultural Industry Dinner. Kee said the farm is noted for going above and beyond to help support farmers, and the Cape Gazette reported that it had helped other growers handle a record grain harvest.
What Schiff Farms Grows and Raises
The Delaware operation tills about 3,500 acres of grain, in a state where the 2022 Census of Agriculture counted nearly 188,000 acres of corn and about 176,000 acres of soybeans. Grain is the natural crop for a region whose poultry industry buys feed in volume.
The Harrington facility has storage for 2.5 million bushels, which lets the farm hold its own crop and buy from neighbors. Jim and Carol Schiff lead the business, and their sons T.J. and Scott manage parts of the Delaware and Nebraska operations. The Cape Gazette reported 40 full-time workers in Delaware and 25 in Nebraska.
How Schiff Farms Makes Money
Crop sales
Grain grown on the farm's Delaware acres is the foundation of the business. Storage lets the family choose when to sell rather than accepting harvest-time prices.
Grain buying and storage
The grain-buying facility in Harrington purchases from other growers and handles volume at harvest, a service the award announcement highlighted when it described help for farmers during a record crop.
Geographic diversification
Farms and ranches in Maryland, Nebraska and Wyoming spread weather, price and disease risk across regions, so one bad season in one state does not set the whole company back.
Farm Insight: What Other Operators Can Learn from Schiff Farms
Scale can be built from a service, not only from land. By adding storage and a buying facility, the Schiffs became a market outlet for neighbors as well as a producer, which creates a second revenue line and a reason for farmers to bring business to the gate.
Spreading production across states reduces exposure to local weather and disease. Retaining storage gives marketing flexibility, and leadership that includes the next generation in distinct regions, as described for Delaware and Nebraska, supports succession.
Few farms can say they began with grain and poultry houses in 1946 and now keep an eye on Delaware, Nebraska and Wyoming at once. Whatever the time zone, harvest week is rough, and farm.FM is there with farm satire, farm humor, ranch humor and farm jokes for the drive between bins. If you can keep 2.5 million bushels organized, you can probably handle a pun or two.
For context, farm.FM is the nation's first satirical farm site and the home of Tractor Tunes, country music for farmers. Its contributors each keep an archive, and this one is a good sampler of ranch humor and farm jokes.
How to Contact Schiff Farms
Website: https://www.capegazette.com/node/78191
No official farm homepage appeared in the sources reviewed, so the best verified public page is listed. Contact the company through local Harrington, Delaware business listings; details were not independently confirmed in November 2026.
Schiff Farms Sources and Agriculture Authority Links
- Cape Gazette on the 2015 award - Independent report with history, acreage and storage
- Delaware news: Secretary's Award - State page listing Schiff Farms among award recipients
- USDA NASS 2022 Delaware Census profile - Delaware corn, soybean and poultry statistics
- Delaware Department of Agriculture accomplishments - State programs for farmland preservation and nutrient management
- Delaware Business Now on a Kent County poultry and grain farm - Context on grain and poultry farming near Houston, Delaware
Schiff Farms FAQ
Where is Schiff Farms?
It is based in Harrington, Kent County, Delaware.
When did it start?
Walter and Gladys Schiff founded it in 1946 as a 300-acre grain farm with several poultry houses.
How large is it?
The Cape Gazette reported about 3,500 acres in Delaware plus farms and ranches in Maryland, Nebraska and Wyoming.
What honor has it received?
The 2015 Secretary's Award for Distinguished Service to Delaware Agriculture.
Schiff Farms shows how a Delaware grain farm can grow through storage, buying and multi-state land. To see how grain, poultry and produce fit together across the state, read the Delaware farms guide and the other operations profiled with it.