PENN TWP — In farming, a person’s fortunes literally can change with the weather, no matter how much work has been invested.

But for David Rath, 46, of Penn Township, the draw to farming is in his blood.

“The farm was sort of a side interest of my father’s. Having grown up here, I was always fond of it and just grew into it,” said Rath, the owner and operator of Rath Farms.

“You rely on a lot of help from Mother Nature and the Good Lord. You can do everything right, but if it doesn’t rain when that crop needs it, there’s not a whole lot you can do about it.”

David’s father, Frank Rath Sr., served as a chairman for Spang and Co., the farm’s previous owner, and bought the land outright in 1963.

David Rath attended Shady Side Academy and then the University of Pittsburgh, pursuing a degree in business before going to work for Spang and Co.’s corporate office.

“I had always kept my interest in agriculture and, in one way or another, had my hand in it no matter where I was working,” he said.

Following his father’s death in 1997, Rath took over operation of the farm, which at that time produced mainly corn and hay on its 300 farmable acres and 700 acres of pasture.

“Originally, at the changing of the guard, we had cattle. We then decided to sell off the livestock and go strictly into grain farming,” Rath said.

At the same time, Rath took over the farm from Spang and Co., turning it from a corporate farm into a personal one.

“It went from the corporation bearing the burden to a personal liability,” he said of the change.

“It wasn’t so much a shift in day-to-day operations as it was a shift in economics.”

Though the farm has expanded to 2,800 acres of crops, through leased land, and still has 700 acres of pasture, unusable for agriculture due to terrain, Rath Farms still employs just seven people.

“I manage it because I have very good people to work with. Everyone stays on the cutting edge of technology, and we try to stay ahead of the curve where the agriculture industry is,” Rath said.

Advances in technology used by Rath Farms include GPS databasing of all fields and technology to accurately measure crop yields and fertilizer use.

While each new technology might only save a few cents on the dollar, those pennies can be the difference between loss and profit.

“Not every farm gets the same amount of fertilizer. It depends what its specific needs are. It adds up,” he said.

“There is much more to agriculture, if you’re going to be successful, than the general public realizes.”

Rath Farms uses brokers to market its goods, which in 2010 was about 75,000 bushels of soybeans and about 200,000 bushels of corn.

Soybeans from Rath Farms have ended up with Archer Daniels Midland, while corn has found its way to cattle operations in Virginia or Dad’s dog food.

“It’s not difficult to find buyers. The real challenge is following the markets day to day,” Rath said.

The farm is helped by another technology in this respect: Internet phones. So even when Rath and his staff are not near a computer, they can track prices that, well, can change with the weather.

“It changes by the minute. Just like the stock market, you have ‘up’ days and ‘down’ days,” Rath said.

“It’s a lot like gambling. It’s riskier than the stock market, though, because losses incurred in that market can be regained the next day.”

Constant vigilance tracking stock and constant work around the farm leaves little time for pleasure away from work.

Winter months are a time for vehicle maintenance and buying materials like fertilizer and seed.

“As a rule, we’re pretty much here seven days a week. You never really lack for anything to do on the farm,” Rath said.

“I try to at least go out to dinner with my family every weekend to catch up, though.”

Rath is married and has three children, and he isn’t pushing them to join the family business.

“There are so many things out there in the world for them to explore,” he said.

“If they would decide they want to be here, I would welcome them, but there’s so much else out there.”

David Rath

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Age: 46

Address: Penn Township

Family: Wife and three children

Employment: Owner/operator of Rath Farms in Penn Township

Education: Shady Side Academy graduate, 1983, and a bachelor's degree in business from University of Pittsburgh, late 1980s

Interests: Spending time with his family'You rely on a lot of help from Mother Nature and the Good Lord. You can do everything right, but if it doesn't rain when that crop needs it, there's not a whole lot you can do about it.'