March Issue Farm Indiana by HNE Media Magazines

March 2013 | Section A

Bottles of maple syrup are ready to be sold during the upcoming Maple Syrup festival. BELOW: Tim Burton and his wife, Angie.

FAMILY FARMS

Tim Burton and his wife, Angie, celebrate Indiana’s oldest agricultural crop story By sherri dugger | photos by josh marshall

f you hear Tim Burton tell it, tapping trees to make maple syrup goes back in his wife’s family history almost 200 years. But it was coincidence that he and his wife, Angie, got into the syrup trade. Now the owners of Burton’s Maplewood Farm, Tim and Angie once operated a systems integration business called CCI. It was around February of 2003 that one of their technicians repeatedly asked to leave work early, Tim says, until — finally — one day Tim asked why. “‘I’m helping to collect maple sap,’” Tim says his technician reported. “He told me I should go with him.” And so Tim joined a group collecting sap one afternoon, and as he

was watching it boil, “I got it,” he says. “I got the whole excitement.” It was the lost social aspect of the sap collection process “that intrigued me the most,” he explains. “It was once common for friends and neighbors and families to come together to share in the bounty. They would all collectively get their maple syrup or sugar for the year.” Tim wanted to bring more of that communal spirit into his own life. Around the same time, “things were changing within the business world,” Tim says. “We started feeling the effects of the down economy.” So Tim and Angie decided to reinvent themselves. They already owned 28 acres in

Medora, and the couple decided to make their land work for them. They built a sugar house in 2006 and, for the first year, simply collected the sap from their trees, selling it to a local maple syrup producer. In 2007, they began making their own syrup. Thanks to Indiana’s climate and geographic location, maple syrup season begins in southern Indiana earlier than anywhere else in the world — as soon as the third or fourth week in January, Tim says. The perfect temperatures for “the sugar season,” as it’s also called, are below freezing at night and above freezing by day. Attaching taps to the 700-plus trees on their farm, the Burtons utilize the same methods Angie’s ancestors once used. The taps go about an inch and a half into each tree, in the cambium layer, between

the bark and the hardwood. The Burtons collect their syrup with hood-covered buckets — an antiquated undertaking considering the modern methods that now exist. The buckets are attached to the tap to allow the tree to deposit sap into them one drop at a time. Each bucket collects approximately 10 gallons of sap each season. As they pursued their new venture, Tim and Angie kept their systems integration business going until they were comfortable that the syrup business was a viable trade. Eventually, in 2010, they closed the doors to CCI for good. By then, they had begun selling their products at farmers markets, traveling as far as Chicago to spread the word about their syrup. “Angie and I were driving up to Chicago twice a week for about two months; it’s a five-hour trip each

See burton on A2

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

Tim Burton stokes the fire that warms barrels of syrup that are being aged and flavored.

“Indiana is where the sap flows first ... where maple syrup flows first in the world.” —tim burton

burton // cont. from a1 way,” Tim says. “We’d leave at 2:30 in the morning. It would last from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Then we’d pack up and go home. It was grueling.” The pair soon found a Chicago local to manage their booth each week, but the trips they had already made were soon to pay off. Tim had met renowned chefs in the city at the markets, and those meetings eventually led to the creation of custom-made syrups for several Chicago upscale restaurants. The foray into the customized syrup

business has since led to his bourbon-, brandy- and rum-infused maple syrup specialties, products that are gaining attention all over the Midwest. By then, the pair had also begun hosting the only National Maple Syrup Festival in the United States, a twoweekend affair that takes place at their Medora farm every March. And if you ask Tim, Indiana is the perfect place to hold such an event. “Indiana is where the sap flows first,” he says, “where maple syrup flows first in the world.” *FI (Back row, from left) Tim Burton, Mallery Burton Underwood, Angie Burton, Greg Burton and Jessica Burton. (Front) Brynn Burton, Audrey Alexander, and Maddie Alexander.

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

EDITOR'S NOTE

A Serving of Gratitude If there’s one thing I know for certain (and, trust me, there really may only be this one thing), it’s this: We’ll never run out of stories for Farm Indiana. It’s just not possible. There’s just too much information out there. There’s too much going on in the world of agriculture. There are too many things changing every day. In every way. Since I took over editing this publication, I’ve been inundated with information and story ideas. I’ve had meetings with farmers and farming organization leaders. I’ve subscribed to other farming publications and spent a good deal of time reading. I’ve attended annual dinners and monthly breakfasts. I’ve subscribed to local farming blogs, and I attended the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville. Whew! Readers, I ask you this: How do you keep up? I mean, really. How do you do it? The much-discussed Dodge Ram commercial about farmers that aired during this year’s Super Bowl summed things up pretty well, I figure. There may not be enough time in the day, but when you’re a farmer, you make time anyway. And so in the same spirit, I have done my best to make time, too. I have a lot to learn here, after all, and little time to do it. In mid-February, I made my way — and got lost several times en route — through the 1.2-million-square-foot Kentucky Exposition Center for the National Farm Machinery Show. While there, I saw everything from mega-corporations selling mammoth machines that cost several times the price of my home (and anything else I might own) to small-time business owners marketing their spices, wheels and wares. There were fertilizers, belt buckles, perfumes, toys, row cleaners, loaders, hybrids, handlers, roll tarps, sprayers, excavators, planters, stompers, analyzers and tires for sale everywhere. And there were crafts, clothes and even wind catchers and windmills. And that’s not all. Really. There was more. My head, along with those miniature windmills, was spinning. Technology is changing every day, as evi

March 2013 Farm Indiana

denced by shows like these. The science of farming is changing. The politics behind growing food is changing. And the faces of the people sowing the seeds are changing. There’s a lot to keep up with — what with all that change. Winter months, I’ve realized, are as busy as summer months for the growers and caretakers of our land. There is machine maintenance, field upkeep and office work to be completed. There are meetings (and breakfasts and lunches and dinners) and conventions to attend. And there is always research and reading to be done. And still, many of you have somehow found the time to say hello. Over the past month, I have received several phone calls and notes — some handwritten and mailed, others sent electronically — filled with support and praise for our publication, as well as offering us story and profile suggestions. Others of you have taken hours out of your days to allow us onto your farms and into your homes and lives so that we may be able to tell your stories for this and future issues of Farm Indiana. All this is to say: It means a great deal to me to know the schedules that you keep, to understand — if only vicariously — the daily demands on your time and business, and to still receive words of encouragement and kindnesses so regularly. For this I can only say — in my small and humbled way — thank you.

A1 A6

Burton’s Maplewood Farm Hickoryworks syrup

A5 A8

The effects of drought on trees Larry Nolting’s trees

A10 A12 A14 A15

The Pence administration Jacobi Sales Inc. Ken Stalkeld retires Farm briefs

B1 B5 B8 B10 B12 B14 B15

Stout’s Melody Acres Shoemaker Farm Good Nature Farm Lewis Creek Boer Goats News on food Gardening tips Event photos and calendar

Comments, story ideas and suggestions should be sent to Sherri Lynn Dugger, The Republic, 333 Second St., Columbus, IN 47201, call (812) 379-5608 or email farmindiana@hnenewspapers.com. For advertising information, call (812) 379-5690.

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

The National Maple Syrup Festival

Tim Burton uses an old hand drill to tap a maple tree.

Maple syrup is the oldest agricultural crop in Indiana, and family histories date back hundreds of years to ancestors inserting taps to retrieve the sweet, sticky offerings of the beloved sugar maple tree. Fitting, then, that the National Maple Syrup Festival, now in its fifth year, is held each March in Medora. The two-weekend event, hosted by Burton’s Maplewood Farm, got its start when Tim and Angie Burton decided they wanted their farm’s offerings to help benefit the Heads Up Foundation, which helps children born with craniofacial anomalies. Tim, born with a cleft lip, has a niece, Katelyn Turner, who was born with a cleft lip and palate. Her parents, Kenny and Kelly Turner, started the foundation. Tim and his wife approached Kelly and Kenny with the idea to create a syrup festival “to raise revenue for the foundation,” Tim says. Eventually, they decided all net proceeds from the event would benefit Riley Hospital for Children’s Camp About Face, a week-long camp for kids born with craniofacial anomalies and hosted at Bradford Woods in Martinsville. That idea has morphed into the only event of its kind in the country, and it offers guests a wealth of entertainment and syrup-sweetened treats to eat during the

first and second weekends of March each year. This year’s events will take place on March 2 and 3 and March 9 and 10. Guests can park at the local high school, Tim says, where the Heads Up Foundation has rented space to entertain. At the school, guests will get a chance to meet local artisans, hear live bluegrass music and meet the holder of the Guinness Book of World Records for the highest pancake flipping in the world: John Young from a company called Chris Cakes, Tim says. “It’s really entertaining. He’ll flip pancakes to you from 20 feet.” The King Arthur Sweet Victory Challenge — a baking competition using maple syrup, of course — will take place at the school, and guests of the festival can taste the competitors’ creations. A shuttle bus ($8 for adults; $6 for kids and seniors; the rest of the festival is free) takes guests from the school to the Burtons’ farm. There’s more history to be learned on the farm, where re-enactments take place throughout the festival to show guests how maple syrup is extracted from trees and how maple sugar is made. Guests will have plenty to eat: From maple pork chops, maple baked beans, red potatoes, rolls and drinks … to, of course, pancakes drenched in maple syrup. *FI

For more about Burton’s Maplewood Farm or the National Maple Syrup Festival, go to Burtons MapleWoodFarm.com.

Jill Davenport

601 North Ewing Street Seymour, IN 47274-2305 812-523-1062

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

High & Dry

Experts say the drought of 2012 will affect Indiana’s trees for years to come story By richard isenhour

undreds of thousands of trees in the state died during the historic drought of 2012, and experts believe many more will surrender during the years to come. “All trees — in both urban areas and rural forests — will continue to be under stress from the drought,” warns Phillip T. Marshall of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources. “Although recent reports indicate soils across Indiana have recovered the moisture lost during the drought, trees will continue to decline and die for at least the next five years.”

Marshall, forest health specialist for the DNR’s Division of Entomology and Plant Pathology, believes the impact of this past summer’s drought could be worse than the previous drought in 1987-88. “The previous drought caused tree decline and death through to 1994,” Marshall notes. “This most recent drought was of shorter duration than the drought of 1987-1988, but it also was much hotter. Another difference is the early spring that started ‘leaf-out’ in March and then was followed by a frost and freeze in April. The 2012 growing season was one month earlier than normal, which put the trees at full leaf earlier, only to be followed by three months of drought.” Based on the drought maps, trees in south central and southwestern Indiana, extending north into west central and mid-central Indiana, bore most of the brunt of the recent drought, Marshall says. “I didn’t survey all of the forests in August, but did look at the state forests and parks in Brown and Monroe counties, Marshall says. “At that time, forest trees were declining and dying from the drought. Also, tulip tree scale was at epidemic levels in south- and west-central Indiana and was severely stressing yellow poplar trees (tulip trees). Between the drought and scale, forest and yard trees are dying — and will continue to do so into 2013. Other trees severely affected by the drought, Marshall says, include the oaks (black, red and white), hickory and maple trees, and coni-

fers, notably spruce and white pine. Similar situations exist in other parts of south-central Indiana. “I have noticed quite a bit of drought damage to trees in our area,” notes Rob McGriff, the DNR’s district forester for Bartholomew, Decatur and Jennings counties. “Tulip trees seem to be showing the most drought stress and mortality in this area. I have also seen some oaks that have died, and I attribute that to the drought. “The worse sites seem to be the flat wet woods,” he adds. “The tulip tree is often found on these sites, and the typically wet soils do not allow root development deep into the soil. So when these sites do dry out, the trees do not have deep root systems to find water.” McGriff, who assists landowners in managing their forests, believes we’ll be seeing the effects of the drought of 2012 for several years. “Even with the normal rain and snowfall this winter, I believe we will continue to see trees die for the next couple of years,” he says. “Trees are tough and have a tremendous energy reserve. So they may be able to leaf out for a year or two before they die from the effects of this past summer’s drought. “I am optimistic, however, that we will still have plenty of trees,” he says. “Most trees are capable of living for 100-plus years and have survived many droughts over time. I think a wellmanaged woods is better able to withstand natural stresses because the trees were well-spaced, healthy and vigorously growing before the drought.” Mike Ferree, former Purdue Extension educator in Bartholomew

County, agrees. “The recent drought has been pretty devastating to area trees,” he notes. “Shallow-rooted trees, such as beech trees, are among the species of trees hurt the worst by the drought. Weakened trees from previous dry spells will die or have already died, although recent rains have helped those that have been stressed this year, and they should benefit from the moisture.” “In my own opinion, and just from observation, I believe the drought has had an obvious hit on trees in Decatur County,” says Mike Hughes, U.S. Department of Agriculture district conservationist. “Poplars are hurting, as well as some spruce species. As far as the others, only time will tell. I am always optimistic and hope that we do not have another drought for the sake of all natural resources.” Hughes stresses it’s important to practice forest stewardship all the time, but especially during times of drought. “Follow a plan,” he suggests, “and if you need assistance, contact your local forester, conservationist or extension agent for help.” Marshall notes that it’s not necessarily a tree’s species that determines to what extent it will be damaged by drought. Rather, it’s the tree’s growing position. “Trees on north- and eastfacing slopes in southern Indiana will suffer more decline and death than trees on south- and west-facing slopes,” Marshall explains. “This is because the north- and east-facing slopes are cooler sites and have more moisture, which makes it easier for trees to grow during normal times. The trees don’t have to struggle to get moisture. Then when a drought occurs, these trees don’t have the root system in the right place to find moisture and don’t know where to get it. They struggle and start to decline and die. “South- and west-facing slopes are normally hot and dry,” he adds. “Trees there know how to tolerate lack of moisture, but they will also decline and die because of the intensity of the drought.”

Snowfall and rains in January have replenished the state’s water table and eased fears about another drought, Marshall says. He adds, however, he is still concerned about the hardships the state’s trees may face in the coming months. “Yes, the rains, actually starting in August through today, have restored topsoil and subsoil moisture levels, so water is available for the trees,” Marshall says. “Now the question is, ‘Did the trees retain or regenerate the fine feeder roots needed to supply moisture to the tree?’ I think they have, but the next question is what the rest of the winter will bring. “So far, for southern Indiana, the soils have not suddenly frozen or frozen to a deep depth which, when this happens, kills feeder roots,” he explains. “If a sudden hard freeze of the soil does not occur in February through March, the feeder roots will survive and more will develop, helping the trees to recover from the drought.” You can tell if a tree is still suffering from the drought if it is leaning to one side, there are splits and

cracks in the trunk at the base of limbs, nearby trees are dead or have fallen, and there are dead or dangling branches. Other factors in tree survival are insects and diseases, Marshall adds. “Dead and dying roots are home for a root rot, called shoestring root rot,” Marshall explains. “This fungus is present in all soils and becomes aggressive when trees are under stress. The root rot aids in the decline and death of the trees.” Canker fungus, present in bark, and pests such as the two-lined chestnut borer also pose a threat to the health of trees, particularly in times of drought. Marshall urges tree farmers to work with their consulting forester or DNR representative to determine if such measures as timber harvest or forest stand improvement work is needed. “Forest stands that are overstocked and have large diameter trees are more likely to have decline and mortality impacts,” Marshall says. “These stands may need a regeneration harvest to restore health of the forest. Forests that are scheduled to be harvested in the next two to three years may need to move up the harvest to 2013 to capture timber value before mortality occurs.” Lenny Farlee, extension forester for Purdue University’s Department of Forestry and Natural Resources, echoes the advice. “Well-planned and executed forest management practices like thinning, invasive plant control, grapevine control and carefully applied tree harvesting can increase tree health through decreased competition between trees,” he explains. “This is most effective when done well before a drought or other stress strikes, but can help the forest recover as well.” Farlee says landowners with woodlands should inspect their properties this spring or early summer for recently dead trees or trees showing signs of stress — dead or dying upper branches; thin, small or discolored leaves in most of the crown; or patches of bark dying on main stems and branches. He, too, suggests contacting a forester to look at woodlands and help determine a course of action based on its condition. *FI

Farm Indiana // march 2013

FAMILY FARMS

All Bark

No Bite

Husband-and-wife team cooks up successful syrup business at Hickoryworks

Gordon Jones and Sherrie Yarling stand in front of their production facility.

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

(Clockwise from top left) A bottle is filled with syrup. An assortment of syrups is available at Hickoryworks website. Jones and Yarling display filled bottles. Shagbark is first washed in a drum, before being placed into an industrial coffee maker that draws out the flavor of the bark.

story By Ashley petry | photos by josh marshall

lance at any high-end restaurant menu in central Indiana, and you’re likely to see a dish containing Hickoryworks shagbark hickory syrup. It’s an ingredient in the addictive shagbark oatmeal cookies at H20 Sushi, a dipping sauce at Brugge Brasserie, a vinaigrette at Brad Gates Catering and even a limited-edition beer at Sun King Brewing Co. Each year, husband-and-wife team Gordon Jones and Sherrie Yarling produce about 2,000 gallons of syrup on their 58-acre property south of Trafalgar. Unlike maple syrup, which is made with tree sap, shagbark hickory syrup is made by extracting flavor from the bark. The result: a smoky, nutty flavor that is unlike anything else. Hickoryworks is one of only a handful of shagbark hickory syrup producers nationwide. “It’s not the normal syrup that you’d see on the kitchen table,” said Blair Kriner, a buyer for Piazza Produce, which distributes Hickoryworks products to restaurants across the Midwest. “Really, there’s nothing like Hickoryworks.” The success comes as something of a surprise to Jones and Yarling, who had no agricultural background when they moved from Florida to the Trafalgar property in 1987. Jones had held a string of corporate and sales positions, and Yarling had been a paralegal for 17 years. But they had grown tired of the corporate rat race and Florida’s lack of distinct seasons.

“We had no idea what we were going to do up here,” Jones said. “This property has been in Sherrie’s family since the ’50s, and we decided we were going to try to grow shiitake mushrooms.” The venture was initially successful, but it stalled when Jones had a car accident. After a lengthy recovery, he realized that 1,500 of the logs they had been using to grow the mushrooms had “gone back to nature,” he said. Starting from scratch was an overwhelming prospect. Around the same time, an old man visited the farm to ask about buying wood. As it was being loaded into his truck, the man pulled a piece of bark off a nearby hickory tree and mentioned to Jones that his great-great-grandmother had used the bark to make syrup. “I played with it, and it tasted like hell,” Jones said. When the man returned a few months later for more wood, Jones struck a deal — he’d give him the wood if the man would share his family’s syrup recipe. This time, the taste was vastly improved. By 1991, Jones and Yarling were passing around samples to the chefs to whom they’d previously sold mushrooms. “One chef told another, told another, told another, and it just took off,” Jones said. Since then, Hickoryworks has often been featured on the Food Network and in culinary publications like Gourmet magazine. And the product has garnered the attention of chefs nationwide, including the legendary Julia Child, who used the syrup in a marinade for ribs. Despite Hickoryworks’ success, Jones and Yarling still make the syrup in small batches in a production facility attached to their home. The process starts when local foragers deliver batches of hickory bark. Unlike maple sap, which can be tapped only at certain times of year, the bark is available year-round. “The bark comes off the tree without harming it, because it just sheds it when it’s 7 years old,” Yarling said. Jones starts by cleaning the bark in a tumbling machine, which is similar to a rock polisher. The

bark then goes into an enormous 1979 commercial coffeemaker, which extracts the flavor. From there, the syrup goes into a second cooker, runs through several filters, and finally winds up in the evaporator, where Jones monitors the sugar content. When it reaches 67 percent, the syrup is ready for bottling. Jones lets the syrup age in between each step, so the entire process takes about four weeks. Jones assembled the production facility by hand — often coming up with ingenious solutions to make production more efficient. He used parts from a vacuum cleaner to vent steam out of the building, and he used pieces from Yarling’s sewing machine to make a device that screwed caps onto bottles. He repurposed a beauty shop’s industrial hair dryers to dry the syrup bottles after they’ve been washed. “It’s a little Rube Goldberg, but it works,” Yarling said. “I told him if he touched my heated rollers or my hair dryer, he was done.” In recent years, Hickoryworks has expanded its product line. The company now offers shagbark hickory syrup aged in Jack Daniels whiskey barrels, syrup infused with lavender and syrup made from poplar bark. The company also produces a Worcestershire sauce called Bestcestershire. Used bark goes into a smoker, where it seasons Hickoryworks’ gourmet smoked sea salt. To avoid waste, the used bark is then packaged as smoking chips for grilling and barbecuing. Jones is 71, and Yarling is 64, but the couple said they have no plans to retire. “That’s stupid,” Jones said. “If I retired, I’d go nuts. I have to be doing something. Life’s too short to be bored.” At the same time, they don't plan to expand production much beyond the current level — even if that leaves some customers in the lurch. “If we did anymore, we’d probably fall over,” Yarling said. *FI

For more information, go to HickoryWorks.com.

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

FAMILY FARMS

A Growing Investment One Bartholomew County landowner can see his daughtersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; futures through the trees story By jeff tryon photos by josh marshall

Larry Nolting with daughters, Carissa Murphy, left, and Charity Keffaber.

Farm Indiana // march 2013

bout 20 years ago, Larry Nolting made a little side investment with the hope that, when it matured, his young daughters would reap the profits. There is no way of knowing exactly how much the investment will pay off, but Nolting knows that it is growing. That’s because it is growing out in a field on his Bartholomew County farm. The “investment” is a stand of black walnut trees planted on an awkward corner, and they’re slowly growing into valuable walnut logs. “It was kind of a little half-acre hill field that, equipment was getting bigger, and I couldn’t even turn a 30-foot disc around on the end rows,” Nolting said recently. “So I thought, ‘I’m sure this land will support a forest; it was forested a hundred years ago.’ I just decided to turn some of it back into forest.” Nolting started with a slightly faster-growing strain of walnut saplings he got through Purdue University, which should reach maturity in 50 years. “I planted the first bunch on a 10-foot grid, and I planted maybe 50 of those, and they are the ones that are the tallest, because they’ve had more competition,” Nolting said. “Then I guess I got a little cheap,

TOP: Nolting walks with his daughters among the black walnut trees he planted nearly 20 years ago. MIDDLE: Larry Nolting with (from left) Matthew Murphy, Carissa Murphy, Maggie Wagner, Connie Nolting, Kreigh Keffaber and Charity Keffaber.

and I thought, ‘Gosh it’s going to cost too much to plant this whole grid.’ So I spaced them out to a 15-foot grid, and they are not growing nearly as fast because they don’t have the competition to force them to grow up.” Of an initial planting of 200 trees, about 150 have survived and are now 20 to 30 feet tall. “The first three or four rows that were planted on the 10-foot grid, those are the 30-foot trees,” he says. In the intervening 20 years, dry summers have diminished the numbers of original trees, and at one point, a utility company forced him to cut about 18 of them, because the trees were growing too close to a pipeline. Nolting tends the walnut grove about twice a year, trimming the lower limbs so the trunks will be straight and free of knots in the grain. “If you trim the limbs off when they’re young and they’re just little three-quarterinch limbs, you’ll never know it when they go to veneer it out,” he said.

The hope of the investment is that the grown trees will eventually go to the veneer mill. That’s when his efforts will pay off. “Maybe my daughters, who are 32 and 34 right now, maybe about the time they reach retirement age,” Nolting said. “If wood is still worth anything, I figure they can harvest them and make some money.” Figuring out what such an investment might actually be worth is not necessarily easy. According to William L. Hoover, Purdue professor of forest economics, information gathered by forest scientists over 30 years has led to great interest in black walnut trees because the walnut is “one of the fastest-growing and highest-valued hardwood species,” he wrote in a Purdue Cooperative Extension Forestry and Natural Resources report. “But the long time periods required for hardwood trees to mature limit potential financial returns.” Evaluation of black walnut plantations “depends on tree growth rates, log quality and costs incurred, as well as the expected price for logs when the trees are big enough to sell,” Hoover wrote. The quality of veneer also varies significantly with the diameter of the log. Prices for prime veneer from logs of different diameters range from $2.39 per board foot for a log of 12 to 13 inches to $9.50 per board foot for a log greater than 28 inches in diameter. A veneer tree that is 18 inches in diameter should produce a log that will be worth around $700. But Larry Nolting doesn’t seem that concerned with the economics. He just likes having the burgeoning walnut grove out there. “It’s nice shade, and it’s just nice to see some trees out there again, along with the farmland,” he said. “I’m a farmer, but it’s nice to put some things back the way they were.” *FI

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PHOto by joe harpring Mike Pence, surrounded by his wife, Karen Pence, left, Randy Fry, Jim Lucas and Luke Messer, speaks from the back of his Big Red Truck during a campaign stop at Lee's Ready Mix and Trucking in North Vernon in 2012.

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High Hopes Since Gov. Mike Pence took a seat in his new office, farmers across the state are optimistic that the new administration will help them sustain their strong role in Indiana’s economic vitality story By barney quick

he Hoosier state ranks eighth among the nation’s agricultural exporters, a position it has held for years. Maintaining this status requires an awareness of trends not only within the state, but nationally and internationally as well, and the new administration under Gov. Mike Pence has set a clear intent to maintain and build the state’s status and influence. The agricultural section of the governor’s roadmap for Indiana outlines “attracting new investment in Indiana, with emphasis on manufacturing, agriculture, life sciences and logistics.” The major areas of focus will be the opening of new markets for the state’s agricultural products, creation of an agricultural innovation corridor, making Indiana’s agricultural tax structure more competitive, and the development of an agricultural curriculum in the state’s schools. Implementation begins with the appointment of Gina Sheets as Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s new director. Sheets, a Clinton County farmer, brings to her position a strong economic development background; she most recently served as director of economic development and international trade for the ISDA. Her experience in that capacity familiarized her with the many partners in the educational and business realms on whom she’ll be relying as implementation plans take shape.

The push to open new markets builds on the state’s already established international presence. “We’re very global,” says Sheets. She cites the department’s relationship with the Food Export Association of the Midwest USA, as well as its exhibits at several recent international trade shows as proof of its strong presence outside the state and country. The ISDA sponsored a 20-by-30-foot booth with six kiosks at the world’s largest produce show, the Produce Marketing Association’s Fresh Summit, held last October in Anaheim, Calif. “Not every state was there,” Sheets says of the show. ISDA also participated in two other trade shows, and the Pence administration intends to further cultivate national and regional relationships through these shows, as well as fostering international trade. The department has had an open program manager position devoted to international trade that Sheets plans to fill. The idea for an agricultural innovation corridor, a network of university and commercial researchers, is still in the planning stages, and the department is gathering input as to the shape it will take. “I feel really good about being able to work with communities individually and look at how they can come together for Indiana’s betterment,” says Sheets, regarding ISDA’s role in the corridor’s creation. The Pence administration also intends to find a permanent solution to the way farmland’s soil productivity affects its value and hence its property tax assessment. The latest formula for calculating soil productivity factors that the U.S. Department of Agriculture has provided could raise farmland property taxes as much as 18.5 percent this year, as estimated by the Legislative Services Agency. In 2012, the Indiana General Assembly postponed the new formula’s implementation to avoid this tax increase. Still, no reliable, longterm means of establishing the relationship between soil produc-

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tivity and the agricultural property tax rate exists. The Pence roadmap makes clear that finding a workable formula is a priority. Regarding the development of an agricultural curriculum, Sheets says that the Indiana Education Roundtable, a group consisting of teachers and administrators, business and civic leaders, and state legislators, is “looking at how to take FFA involvement to the next level.”

“I feel really good about being able to work with communities individually and look at how they can come together." —gina sheets, director, Indiana department of agriculture

Another recently created set of bodies, the Indiana Works Councils, will be a key element in the curriculum effort. The councils will be regional entities composed of employers and educators tasked with evaluating and, where it is warranted, developing educational programs suited to the economic activity of particular areas around the state. The governor’s plan calls for agricultural representation on these councils. All in all, Sheets is confident about the role and direction of the new administration. “We have good people out in the field, as well as good partners,” she says. *FI

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

Sales manager Mark Bartman

Larger farms and changing technologies keep Jacobi Sales Inc. doing big business

Story and photos by Doug Showalter At Jacobi Sales Inc., customers can purchase products ranging from a toy tractor small enough to fit in their pockets to a combine the size of a dinosaur. The company was founded 83 years ago by Henry Jacobi in the Harrison County town of Palmyra. Today, Jacobi Sales also has stores in Seymour, Franklin and Sellersburg, plus three Kentucky locations in Louisville, Elizabethtown and Shelbyville. The Jacobi family still owns 50 percent of the company, with the other half split between the Uhl and Book families. Mark Bartman, sales manager at the Seymour location, joined the company in 1995. “Our main focus is on agriculture … large farmers, with a secondary emphasis on what I call sundown farmers, the person who buys lawn equipment,” he says. According to Bartman, Jacobi was the No. 1 Cub Cadet dealer in the United States for many years before being overtaken recently by a chain out West that has 40 stores. Other brands sold and serviced by Jacobi include Case IH, Kubota, Kawasaki, Kinze and more. Farming has changed a lot since Henry Jacobi started his company. In fact, it’s changed quite a bit in the 18 years since the company opened its Seymour store. One of the biggest changes has been a matter of size. “Our smallest combine today was our largest combine in 1995,” Bartman says.

The trend toward larger farms has driven the farm implement industry to evolve to meet the needs, he says. And larger equipment means larger price tags. Bartman says a tractor that sold for roughly $80,000 in 1995 would sell for about $250,000 today. “The farmers we are selling new equipment to are the guys who are progressively getting larger all the time,” Bartman says. And while the equipment keeps getting larger, it also gets easier to operate. This is important to farmers working ever-larger tracts of land. “We’re selling more and more tractors that drive themselves across the field,” Bartman says. “There’s less fatigue.” And that’s not the only thing that’s automated. “The biggest change in the last 10 years in farming is what we are doing with auto controls,” Bartman explains. “It’s really coming on strong here now. We’ve got planters that when you come to the end of a row they shut themselves off so you don’t overlap.” With the price of seed today, eliminating waste is important. So how much of today’s technology is necessary for a farmer to survive and how much of it falls into the “nice to have” category? Pat Uhl, who manages two Jacobi locations, says one essential is having a Global Positioning System. Jacobi has

eight satellite stations sending signals to farm equipment. “If you don’t have the GPS, you’re going to be losing money because you’re wasting seed, wasting fertilizer, et cetera,” Uhl explains. While all this new technology means more sophisticated farm equipment, it also means farmers must keep learning, and so must the people who sell and service the combines and tractors. “We have guys who just specialize in all this computer stuff,” Bartman says. “We

jacobi sales inc. locations 550 Earlywood Drive, Franklin (317) 738-4440 500 Hamburg Way, Sellersburg (812) 246-6304 415 Stevens Way, Seymour (812) 523-5050 425 Main St. NE, P.O. Box 67, Palmyra (812) 364-6141 JacobiSales.com

Farm Indiana // march 2013

have three guys who sell the ‘iron’ and four guys who sell the technology stuff. They do a lot of their own installations, too, and they’re also teaching the customers how to use the equipment. And the stuff is changing daily.” Jacobi technicians attend training programs conducted by the various manufacturers to keep up to speed on the latest developments so that their customers can take full advantage of the technologies available. “We’re selling equipment, but we’re also trying to make farmers more money,” Bartman says. Jacobi sells more than large farm implements. The Seymour showroom is full of utility vehicles, ATVs and even push lawnmowers. “The utility vehicle market has been very hot,” Bartman says. Meanwhile the ATV market has been shrinking. “My theory is that we baby boomers have gotten old,” Bartman says. “We don’t want to throw our leg over something. We want to slide into the seat and drive all over the farm.” *FI

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

Ken Salkeld retires as a Purdue Extension educator

educational program. He also planned and developed volunteer opportunities and helped local farmers in their growing endeavors. The highlights of his career, Salkeld says, involved “helping people. It does my heart good to help someone who Story by sherri dugger needs information on a certain topic.” As an educator, Salkeld worked closely The end of February marked the last with the Master Gardeners in Jennings days of Ken Salkeld’s 22-year career with County. Master Gardener Ralph Cooley got the Purdue Extension, eight of which have to know Salkeld approximately five years been spent working as the agricultural ago during a class. “I really have to credit and natural resources extension educator him (Salkeld) for one thing,” Cooley says. in Jennings County. “He was the one who got us started on Born in Seymour, Salkeld was raised on community beautification. In Vernon and a corn and soybean farm in eastern Jackson downtown North Vernon, we have done County. He was many projects, involved with mostly plantings Future Farmers and maintenance. of America durI have really reing high school spected him for and college, and his focus on beauhe received a tification.” bachelor’s and A couple of master’s degree in more-memorable agriculture educamoments of —ken salkeld tion from Purdue Salkeld’s career University. included the The father of “anonymous pertwo children, son who wanted Lora and Chris, and husband to Carolyn, to know the soil nutritional requirements Salkeld describes himself simply: “I’m just for marijuana,” he says, or “the guy who a cows, plows and sows person,” he says. called me and said that he was being a His hobbies include planting flowers, good neighbor and sprayed the weeds gardening, raising cattle and sheep farming. around his neighbor’s blue spruce trees. Studying “genealogy is my passion,” he says, The weeds died, as well as the trees.” “but I haven’t had time to pursue it for several Overall, Salkeld says he has had “the years. Maybe I will have time in the future.” privilege to watch Jennings County 4-H’ers In his position with the Purdue Extengrow up and start families of their own. sion, Salkeld coordinated local projects The future of Jennings County agriculture through the Purdue Extension county is in good hands.” *FI

“I’m just a cows, plows and sows person.”

THE REPUBLIC FILE PHOTOS

ABOVE: Ken Salkeld talks with students about the importance of water quality in 2008. AT TOP: From 2007, Salkeld discusses the many aspects of popcorn, while Ryan Huff holds Indian corn for demonstration during a Forestry Field Day event.

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Got Cash? Three grants are available through the Bartholomew County Soil & Water Conservation District. Applicants can apply for the Mississippi River Basin Initiative grant for Bartholomew, Decatur and Jennings counties; the Clean Water Indiana grant, which serves the Sandcreek Watershed; and the Flatrock-Haw Creek Watershed Project. Up to $150,000 is still available “to help install practices in the critical area of the watershed,” says Heather Shireman, with the Bartholomew County Soil & Water Conservation District. For more information, call (812) 378-1280, ext. 3.

An Extension Addition Sarah Speedy, new Purdue Extension agricultural natural resources educator for Johnson County, took her post on Feb. 1. She brings to the position Sarah Speedy a master’s degree in animals and public policy from Tufts University, Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine and a bachelor’s degree in animal science from Purdue University. She has worked with the United States Department of Agriculture National Agricultural Statistics Service. In her new job, Speedy will run the master gardener programming, Agriculture Days program with local schools, the pesticide applicators recertification program and will help with other extension programming.

Atta Boy The American Soybean Association (ASA) announced the regional winners of the 2013 Conservation Legacy Awards program this past January, and one of those winners is a Hoosier. The Northeast Region winner, Roger Wenning of Greensburg, was honored as a soybean farmer who distinguishes himself through outstanding environmental and conservation practices, while continuing to farm profitably. Wenning is one of three regional winners named — one of whom will be awarded the National Conservation Legacy Award, to be announced on March 1 at the annual ASA Awards Banquet during Commodity Classic in Kissimmee, Fla. According to the American Soybean Association release, Wenning’s conservation efforts on his Indiana farm include a commitment to soil health and no-till farming. He continually experiments, the release states, with cover crops and evaluates for best results. Wenning’s farm once had gully and erosion problems, which he has worked to fix by installing grassed waterways and using cover crops. To see videos that highlight the practices of each regional winner, go to www.soygrowers.com/clap.

Where's the Beef? According to Purdue Extension agricultural economist Chris Hurt, U.S. cattle numbers have dropped to their lowest level since 1952. Last year’s drought forced ranchers to reduce their herds rather than compete for expensive feed and land, he says. In Indiana, a U.S. Department of Agriculture report shows beef herds have dropped by 18 percent since 2007. In 2012, the state lost 2 percent of the herd, or about 4,000 beef cows.

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

March 2013 | Section B

In order to help their business grow, the Stouts have learned to change with the times

An Indiana sunset frames Linda, Joey, Rance, and Randy Stout on their Franklin farm.

Linda Stout plants seeds in the basement of her Franklin home, which is used as a small nursery until the weather is warm enough to move plants into the greenhouse.

(In front, from left) Rance and Joey Stout. (In back, from left) Arthur Bailey, Rachel Bailey, Janet Bailey, Linda Stout, Randy Stout and Lydia Stout.

FAMILY FARMS story By ryan trares photos by josh marshall

he fields surrounding Stout’s Melody Acres in Johnson County are frozen and barren during cold Indiana winters. But even with frigid temperatures outside, the beginnings of a new season’s crops take hold inside. In the heated basement of their rural Franklin home, Randy and Linda Stout have thousands of seeds sprouting in tiny trays under grow lights. The first stems of lemongrass, mint, parsley and tarragon poke through the black dirt. Geraniums and tomato plants already have their leaves. What used to be a traditional farm operation of corn and soybeans has blossomed into a growing source of local produce. In order to survive as a small farm, the Stouts have had to diversify their operation over the years. Instead of focusing on row crops on their 220 acres, the family has expanded to include a cornucopia of fruits, vegetables and herbs to sell, as well as unique offerings such as heirloom tomatoes, Italian eggplant and delicata squash. The diversity has been “in demand out here, especially

with the local food movement,” Randy says. “Our business has evolved from red tomatoes to green bell peppers to yellow tomatoes, all kinds of hot peppers. People are willing to try different things.” The Stouts sell 30 kinds of sweet peppers, 30 varieties of hot peppers and five kinds of watermelons. “One thing we’ve found out—it doesn’t matter if you’re selling sweet corn or pumpkins or mums, but people want a choice. They don’t want to have to choose from one or two types, but from two dozen,” he says. Randy is the fourth generation of his family to run Melody Acres. His great-grandfather bought the farm in 1918, growing corn, oats and wheat. The family also milked short-horn cattle and raised a few pigs and chickens. All of the work was done with horse-drawn plows, and the farm was self-sustaining, he says. By the time Randy and his wife, Linda, took it over, the family had transitioned to a monoculture operation, focusing on a single crop, either corn, wheat or soybeans. In order to enhance their income at first, the couple planted six acres of sweet corn and 25 tomato plants to sell produce at a roadside stand. “We picked sweet corn and tomatoes for about six weeks during the summer and made a little money,” Randy says. “The next year, we thought we’d do a little more. It’s just exploded from there.” On Melody Acres, the Stouts now plant 40 acres of sweet corn, their most popular product. But they also have 35,000 tomato plants and 18 acres of pumpkins, and raise 12,000 mums each year. The Stouts have seen consumers’ tastes change over the years. A decade ago, the only reason people would buy squash were for fall decorations, Randy says. But more people these days are picking up varying kinds to use in soups, breads and other dishes. “People are more adventuresome and informed about their eating than they were 10 years ago,” he says. “It makes it more fun to do this.”

See stout's on b3

Farm Indiana // march 2013

Linda Stout carries Better Boy tomatos.

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stout's // cont. from b1 The variety of crops the couple has planted is driven by their customers from the previous year, Randy explains. Throughout the summer at farm stands, or at farmers markets in Indianapolis and Bloomington, if the Stouts have consumers continually asking for produce they don’t have, they will try to answer those demands in the next season’s plantings. The recommendations don’t always work out, however. One year, people were regularly requesting okra, and so the Stouts added it to their crop rotation. After calculating their costs the next year, however, they found that they were barely breaking even raising it. “Okra needs to be picked every other day, and we found that we were throwing a lot of it out,” he says. “When we added our labor expenses into it, it wasn’t worth it to keep growing it.” Linda has begun making pasta sauce, pepper relish, tomato soup and pickled zucchini from the produce they grow on the farm. “Randy always wanted to do it, but never had the time. So I just did it,” she says. In addition to the 120 acres of produce, the Stouts still raise 50 acres of corn and soybeans each. The row crops are reaped by a fellow farmer whom the Stouts hire to take care of the harvest each year. Randy admits that they would likely be better off getting rid of the land where the corn and beans grow. “But someplace deep inside of me, I don’t want anyone else farming it,” he says. “For 95 years, it’s only been farmed by my family. I can’t say why, but there’s something ingrained in a farmer that makes him want to farm.” Already, the next generation of Stouts is making its mark on the farm. Joe, 12, and 10-year-old Rance have become an integral part of the operation. The two boys use tweezers and their fingers to drop seeds in the trays that start in early February. When the weather turns, they help carry the trays out to the greenhouse. Every week they make the up-anddown trip to transplant all of the growing plants. Inside the greenhouse, they water the sprouts. The boys have turned into the farm’s most important customer service representatives. When people come looking for a particular variety of vegetable, the boys are quick to give their opinions on the best. “They’re great salesmen,” Randy says. “They’ve paid attention, and for years, they’ve been helping with that. Their favorites carry more weight than ours.” At farmers markets, the boys help by loading the tables and interacting with customers. Rance has gotten a reputation for his goofiness; he often wears half-heads of cabbage as hats in an effort to draw attention to their stand. “One time, I got seven pictures with people,” Rance says. “They’d come up and say they liked my hat.” Raising such a variety of crops requires constant vigilance. In addition to tending and watering the plants, the produce has to be harvested and cleaned, packages prepared for the farmers markets, and deliveries made to the farm stands the family operates. From spring on, it’s not

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“For 95 years, it’s only been farmed by my family. I can’t say why, but there’s something ingrained in a farmer that makes him want to farm.” —randy stout

Stout’s Melody Acres Family: Randy and Linda Stout, and their children Joe, 12, and Rance, 10. Location: 1169 N. State Road 135, Franklin Founded: 1918 Acreage: 220 total; 120 for produce, 50 for corn and 50 for soybeans Crops: Sweet corn, hot and sweet peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, pumpkins, mums, bedding plants, cabbage, herbs. Randy Stout walks through a produce field. BELOW: Rance Stout transplants plants into larger flats.

stout's // cont. from b3 uncommon for Randy and Linda to work 18-hour days. “We don’t spend a whole lot of time together from May to September,” Linda says. “Just in passing.” Around September, life slows down at Melody Acres. Days are shorter, which means the work day is shaved down to 12 hours. And the autumn season represents a light at the end of the tunnel after a long summer. “You don’t sell very many pumpkins on Nov. 1,” Randy explains. “You know it has really slowed down by then.” December and January tend to be very slow, but right around the middle of January, it’s time to plant the herbs and flowers in their basement hothouse. Even with the constant work, the Stouts are always looking to diversify their offerings in order to get a leg up on the competition. Randy has experimented recently with a strain of sweet corn that is noted for its extremely sweet flavor and extra sugar. They’ve also used social media to get ideas from customers and to help market themselves. Each season brings an opportunity to reach a new segment of the population and tap into a new market. But doing so requires that they shift with food trends and current tastes. “A friend of mine says that he gets tired of reinventing himself. I told him, ‘You’ll go out of business if you don’t,’” Randy says. “We would still be at eight acres of sweet corn and 100 tomato plants if we didn’t evolve and adapt to what people want.” *FI

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Eugene Shoemaker was just 11 when he got his start in agriculture. It was then that he landed a job with Morgan Packing Co., which had fields of cabbages and tomato plants not too far from where his family lives, south of Vallonia in Jackson County. “I pulled weeds and pulled plants,” he says. “I made 50 cents an hour.”

Eugene saved his money until he had The cattle, purchased in the fall and enough to buy two calves, which he sold in the spring, are a winter project. kept in an old, unused chicken house. The animals are turned out in the fields And he set a goal for himself: to double where corn and soybeans are grown; the herd every year. some of those crops are used for cattle “And that was the start of the cattle feed each year. business,” the 73-year-old now says. “That way we get double use of our “I’ve had cattle ever since.” ground,” Barbara explains. Eugene sits at the kitchen table in Barbara says Eugene likes to purthe neat, tidy home he shares with his wife, Barbara, a retired home economics teacher. His son, Don Shoemaker, who farms with his father, and Don’s wife, Jennifer, are there as well. The home where the Shoemakers live was built in 1958. Outside, there are 450 cattle Family: Eugene and Barbara Shoemaker, in the fields that surround Don and Jennifer Shoemaker the residence, but Eugene Location: 3543 S. Road 300 W., Vallonia has had as many as 1,000 head previously. Acreage: 1,300 acres of corn, soybeans Eugene and his 31-year-old and wheat, 450 head of cattle son divide the chores. Eugene focuses on the cattle end of the business, while Don deals primarily with the crops that the family grows. “We help each other, but we have our own specialties,” Eugene says. “Cattle are his passion,” Barbara says of her husband. “The seeds and the roots are his (Don’s).”

chase “country cattle” that come directly from a farm, rather than stockyards. The family also purchases through tally auctions over the phone, first reviewing a CD with information about the various groups of animals up for sale. Many in the herd they now have are Holsteins, a breed better known for its milk production. Don, a 2003 Purdue University graduate, interned at several agriculture-related businesses before settling down to farm with his father. In 1995, Don got his start farming by renting 10 acres from his parents; now the Shoemakers’ operation encompasses about 1,300 acres — land that they both own and rent. Don likes dealing with crops, he says, because of the technology he gets to use and because he likes being on the move. “Don is always trying something new; he does test plots every year,” his wife says. Raised on a hog farm, Jennifer, who teaches math at Salem High School, helps out on the farm when she isn’t in the classroom. “She planted all the cover

crops this fall,” her husband says.

Family Ties

The Shoemaker family has been farming in southern Jackson County for generations, at least five, Eugene figures. His great-grandfather was a charter member of Trinity Lutheran Church. The Shoemakers were one of seven families who organized the church in 1874. Eugene, Barbara, Don and Jennifer all grew up attending the church. The Shoemakers keep their property neat and trim, even the acres that they rent. They implement conservation practices intended to preserve top soil and reduce erosion. “That’s one of the things we try hard to do, (to) be good stewards of the land,” Barbara explains. “We want to pass it down to the next generation.” “We try to leave it better than when we got ahold of it,” Eugene adds. The Shoemakers are helping the next generation in other ways as well. They participated in a work-study program offered by Brownstown Central Community School Corp. by employing

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

LEFT: Eugene Shoemaker didn't have a tractor when he started his cattle business at age 11. BELOW: Holstein cattle at the Shoemaker farm.

a neighbor, Eli Martin, who plans to attend Purdue University after finishing high school. Jennifer and Don are involved with Young Farmers, a program of the Farm Service Agency, and Eugene wrapped up two terms as committee member for the agency. Don and Jennifer are looking to the future, considering ways to diversify the operation. Most farmers grow corn, soybeans and wheat. She’s considering adding raspberries to the mix. Don agrees with trying new things. “There are a lot of different things to look at, to see if they have potential around here,” he explains. Don and Jennifer have their eyes on the future, while Eugene enjoys looking back over his life on the farm. Working with cattle today is just as satisfying as it was when he started, he says, and while he’s old enough to retire now, he isn’t considering it. “I’m going to keep farming until it’s not fun anymore,” he says. *FI

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FAMILY FARMS

Good Nature Farm has become part of the Brown County growing community

story & photos By marcia walker

Mitzie Salem likes to tell people she traded in a tutu for a trowel. Before she met her husband, Mike, with whom she eventually developed her green thumb, Mitzie was a dance teacher living in Connecticut. The two met in Massachusetts. At that time, Mike was running a large greenhouse business there. Mitzie began helping Mike with the business, and eventually “it became what we did together,” she says. Mitzie and Mike married in 1981 and later decided to move to Brown County, where her family owned land. The farm, which they have coined Good Nature Farm, sits just off State Road 135, near its intersection with Becks Grove Road in southern Brown County. Mitzie grew up in Bartholomew County, but her roots are strongly anchored in Brown County. “My great-grandparents, grandparents and parents were all born in Brown County,” she explains.

Her family is only the second to own the farm where she and Mike now live. The Salems own 140 acres, 35 of which are devoted to hay, which they grow and sell. The land sits in a neighborhood that locals refer to as Spurgeon’s Corner, a reference to the earlier family that owned the property. Growing up, Mitzie often visited the farm, with its rolling terrain and scattered patches of woods, on weekends. Back then, family members grazed cattle on the property, which also held an orchard. “As a child I always loved this property,” Mitzie says. “It’s a childhood dream to be back here.” Mike says the couple faced a steep learning curve after they sold their business in Massachusetts and moved back to Indiana. There were different soils, temperatures, insects and weather patterns to contend with, but they adjusted and eventually opened another greenhouse operation in 1999. They have done much to improve Mike and Mitzie Salem on the porch of their home that has been in Mitzie's family for several generations.

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“As a child I always loved this property. It’s a childhood dream to be back here.” —mitzie salem the property, building the greenhouses — three heated and one unheated — on their property, as well as adding to the barn, getting the fields in shape and “reconditioning” the house where they now live. The house dates to 1864 and, using photos provided by members of the original Spurgeon family who lived there, the front looks much as it originally did. “We brought it (the house) to life again,” Mike says. “We made it a destination. It’s our home now.” Both Mike and Mitzie say they enjoy being part of the community that surrounds them. Mitzie says one customer told her that Good Nature Farm is the “best kept secret in Brown County.” “It’s a neighborhood feel,” she says.

“You develop a relationship with your customers and the community.” Neighbor Roger Sullivan often visits, sitting at their kitchen table and sipping coffee. “They’re good people,” he says. Good Nature Farm is a smaller operation than what the couple had in Massachusetts; it’s a home-based business that Mitzie describes as a “mom and pop shop.” “It’s very low-tech,” Mike says, “which helps keep the overhead down and our price competitive.” The couple sell annuals, perennials, herbs and vegetables, including 20 varieties of tomatoes, 20 variations of peppers and 20 kinds of herbs. They also offer mixed pots, patio pots and herb pots. Beyond their retail customers, they have a few wholesale accounts, including Brown Hill Nursery in Bartholomew County. “We love growing; we try to do as much from seed as possible,” Mitzie says. Both talk of the transformation that takes place in their greenhouses each spring. There, they sow seeds and then watch as seedlings emerge and develop into full-size plants. “It’s great,” Mitzie says, “working

good nature farm Family: Mike and Mitzie Salem Location: 8419 Bob Allen Road, Freetown, (812) 988-7053 Acreage: 140 acres; 35 acres of hay; annuals, perennials, vegetable plants, herbs with plants, nurturing them.” Mike is always amazed by how quickly things change in the greenhouse. One day all he sees is dirt in the plant containers. A day or two later, the dirt is covered with budding plants. “It (the greenhouse) is one of my favorite places in the spring,” he says. Although Good Nature Farm is only open seasonally, work continues year-round. Plants need to be ordered, and there is always maintenance to be done. On the to-do list at the time of this interview, a greenhouse needed to be repaired after high winds had torn off its back walls. Mitzie and Mike enjoy the farm, but they admit it takes a lot of work. “You have to like hard work, and you

have to like people,” Mitzie says. “I enjoy meeting people and getting to know our customers, finding out their favorite plants.” Outside the farm, Mike is a registered soil scientist, doing wetland evaluations and site evaluations for septic systems. And Mitzie hasn’t put away that tutu altogether. She helps backstage with Dancers Studio’s annual production of “The Nutcracker” in Columbus and also helps with Fairy Tale Theater in Nashville. Good Nature Farm is open from mid-April through the end of June, but Mike can be found at the Bloomington Farmers Market on Saturdays through October. “We do it because we love it,” Mitzie says. “It affords us a simple life.” *FI

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

THE GO(AT)-TO GUY Greg Patterson knows a thing or two about raising prize-winning Boer goats

FAMILY FARMS Story by Jenni L. Muncie-Sujan photos by josh marshall Greg Patterson. RIGHT: Morgan Meier, 13, Abby Meier, 11, Peyton Meier, 8, and Tienica Dits, 3, hold newborn goats.

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eventeen years ago, Greg Patterson started raising goats, he says, because he “didn’t want to mow my five acres.” His wife, Thecla, gives her own version of why he started. Raising goats is “easier than cows,” she explains, “and he’s allergic to horses.” Whatever the official reason, Patterson has been raising, selling and showing goats — often with award-winning results — for nearly 20 years. It’s an activity he shared with his children — daughter, Kara,

and son, Jordan. The younger Pattersons have moved away from the farm to attend college, and Greg and Thecla now share their hobby — and the chores — of raising the animals with three young sisters who live across the street.

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The Pattersons purchased their first Boer goat in 1995, beginning a long-term association that has resulted in Greg’s goatbreeding expertise. His business, which he named Lewis Creek

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Boer Goats, focuses on raising wethers that he shows at county and state fairs and open shows. He markets the animals through sales; each Boer goat ranges in price from $500 to $3,000. “I enjoy the breeding aspect — intentionally breeding different crosses to see what makes a winner,” he says. Over the years of showing the animals, Greg has had five national champions and numerous state champions, as well as North American International Expo winners. One of his goats, Lewis

For more information about Lewis Creek Boer Goats, visit LewisCreekBoerGoats.com.

Creek Trump, won first reserve national champion, attracting a purchase offer for $20,000. The Pattersons bought the property where they now live from the Meier family in Elizabethtown about six years ago. Their 20-acre plot is still surrounded by extended Meier relatives. Sisters Morgan, Abby and Peyton Meier, daughters of Mark and Stacey Meier, live across the street and board their own goats on the Patterson farm. Each of the girls shows goats and pigs through 4-H. Morgan is in her fifth year. Abby is in her third, and 2013 will be Peyton’s first year. Through a mutually beneficial agreement, the three sisters work on the Patterson farm to pay for their goats’ keep. Of the agreement, Morgan says to Greg matter-offactly: “You call us and make us clean out the barn.” During the week, the three do their goat-related chores after their school sports and projects are complete, and they also help on many Saturdays. During the summer, the trio works every morning and evening. Each sister begins to list off her tasks individually. There’s cleaning, dehorning, feeding, tagging and castrating the animals to be done. Morgan is quick to point out that she has given shots to the animals entirely on her own. “And they are very good at taming babies,” Greg adds.

A Day’s Work Peyton Meier tends to a goat.

Sometimes, Greg refers to raising goats as a hobby. Other times, he

calls it a business. He tries to reconcile the terms. “I like making them,” he says. “It’s just enough (the number of goats) that I enjoy them, but not too many that it’s actually work.” “It’s work you enjoy,” Thecla clarifies. A full-time district sales manager for Stewart Seeds, Greg insists that keeping the goats is a low-maintenance addition to his daily routine. With automatic watering systems and big bale feeders on the property, he says his morning chores take about five minutes of “walking out and checking on everybody.” In the evenings he feeds the animals grain. Many Saturdays are filled with chores, such as cleaning the barn, giving the goats medicine and trimming their hooves. And the pace increases twice each year when the goats give birth around December and March. The Pattersons take the goats to two sales during the year, holding out one as an annual donation to Trinity Lutheran High School for a fundraiser. As he glances over the property, 13 acres of which are filled with hay, Greg assesses what makes Lewis Creek Boer Goats farm work smoothly. “Three things I can’t be without,” he says, “my border collie Dex, my skid steer and my four-wheeler.” And at the end of the day, “I like coming out here in the evening and just watching them,” Greg says. “It is very peaceful.” *FI

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

Food Tips and Trends Compiled by Caroline Mosey

Stone’s Family Restaurant

In Decatur County, fried chicken is just a stone’s throw away photos by andrew laker Joe and Donna Johannigman have a few time-tested tricks up their sleeves when it comes to making fried chicken. At Stone’s Family Restaurant in Millhousen, the couple are famous for it, which comes as no surprise. The restaurant has been dishing out home cooking since 1934, and it serves fried chicken buffet-style to hungry customers every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday evening. Joe grew up helping in the family kitchen, learning cooking basics from his mother at a very young age. “I come from a big family with lots of brothers and sisters, and I was one of the younger ones,” he explains. “When there are 10 kids in a family, you learn to cook.” He found himself working at Stone’s in his teens, putting his cooking background to use. “I was there as a freshman and worked just about every job there is,” he says. “I washed dishes, did food prep, waited tables, and when I was old enough, I started bartending. My wife, Donna, worked there, too.” In August 2003, the Johannigmans bought the restaurant from the original Stone family, preserving most of the charm, hospitality and menu that made it so popular among locals. “A lot of the original recipes were handed down to us,” Joe says, “although we’ve added a few of our own items into the menu over time, like our sauerkraut balls.” The most popular recipe — the famous fried chicken — remained untouched, however, and it still graces the buffet three nights a week and is a fixture on the entrée menu. “We deep fry it in vegetable oil and add lots of TLC,” Joe says. Other than chicken, a taco bar helps to sate hungry guests on Thursday nights, and customers who want to order off the menu can choose from hamburgers, breaded tenderloins, grilled salmon, ribeye steaks and even frog legs. A variety of beers and cocktails is available from the bar, which stays open late.

Joe’s sister is in charge of making the restaurant’s wide variety of pies, which changes daily and seasonally. The list of offerings runs the gamut from chocolate to fruit pies to the ever-popular Hoosier staple, sugar cream, “and our homegrown blackberry is one of our very best pies in the warmer months,” Joe says. Stone’s draws most of its loyal customers from Millhousen and throughout Greensburg, but the dining room sees its fair share of faces from those traveling through the area. “We get lots of new customers going between Cincinnati and Indianapolis,” Joe says, “and we draw from Columbus quite a bit, too.” For Joe, owning the restaurant that contains so much of his history and fabric has plenty of perks. But the best part of all? “Being able to please customers and provide people with a good meal,” he answers. “It’s not necessarily the great food, but the friendly hospitality of it. That’s what I enjoy.” *FI

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

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PHOTOS COURTESY OF STORIES RESTAURANT Rhubarb Pie, below, and Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie, far right, prepared by Stories Restaurant.

Hoosier Sugar Cream Pie Rhubarb Pie Ingredients for 9-inch, two-crust pie shell: 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup lard or shortening ¼ cup water Mix flour and salt in a bowl. Cut in lard with pastry blender until small pea size particles are obtained. Do not overmix. Sprinkle with water a little at a time. Mix with fork until flour is moist. Press into a ball and turn out onto a floured board. To make a two-crust pie, divide in half. Roll out with rolling pin. Use extra flour sparingly because it makes the crust tough. Roll out to desired size, about 1 inch bigger around than the tin. Fold pastry in half and move up to pan. Unfold and put pastry into pan. Try not to stretch the pastry because this causes shrinking in baking. Sprinkle the top crust with a little sugar to evenly brown.

Jane Storie arrives at work before dawn to begin the careful, refined art of pie-making. And with good reason. Her Stories Restaurant is well-known in Greensburg for its heavenly slices of pie. Here, we’ve rounded up two of her most beloved recipes. Compiled by Caroline Mosey

We’re looking for We will profile 4-H and FFA members in Farm Indiana. If you know a member who lives in Bartholomew, Brown, Decatur, Jackson, Jennings or Johnson County whom you think we should feature, visit our Farm Indiana page on Facebook, download the questionnaire and follow the directions at the bottom to enter.

Ingredients for rhubarb filling: 4 cups fresh rhubarb, cut into pieces 1½ cups sugar 1 teaspoon salt 1/3 cup flour Gently combine all ingredients in a bowl. Pour into pie pan lined with crust. Top with 1 tablespoon butter or margarine. Top with remaining pie crust [cut slits to vent] and seal edges. Bake in 350 degree oven for 40 to 45 minutes or until golden brown.

9-inch deep-dish pie shell, baked ½ cup butter or margarine 2 cups milk 1 cup sugar ¼ cup cornstarch ¼ cup milk Pinch of salt Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat together the butter, sugar, 2 cups of milk and salt in a saucepan over low heat until hot and butter is melted. Stir the cornstarch and ¼ cup of milk until smooth and add to mixture, stirring constantly. Cook over low heat until smooth and bubbly. Pour into baked, deep-dish pie shell and sprinkle with nutmeg on top. Bake 10 minutes.

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Farm Indiana // march 2013

Homesteading

DIG IN!

Green thumbs, rejoice! The first hints of spring are emerging this month, and that means it’s (finally) time to start planning your garden space. We caught up with Corey and Michelle Flick, owners of Grumpy Grizzly Farms in Nashville, for their best tips to get your garden started. Here’s what they had to say. Compiled by Caroline Mosey photos courtesy of grumpy grizzly farms

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• Make sure your garden plan is complete and on paper.

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• Take an inventory of seeds you have on hand and make any additional purchases. • Be sure to have a new journal or notebook on hand and record notes as often as possible. These notes will be invaluable as you plan for future gardens. • Inventory supplies, such as garden tools, plant tags, gloves, pest control products, fertilizers and more. Planning ahead will allow you to spread out the cost of these items and will allow you to be focused on planting as April rolls in. • Give all your seed trays, buckets and tools a bath. A diluted bleach solution will do the trick. Cleaning tools and supplies on a regular basis will allow them to last longer, function more efficiently, and

prevent the spread of disease, weed seed and insect eggs.

soil that is too dry may cause the plants to dry and die. Soil that is too wet may cause the plants to rot in their spot.

• If you have an indoor light system in place, you can begin sowing vegetables, such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, head lettuce and spinach, indoors. Mid-month you can start tomatoes and peppers indoors.

• Onions can be planted as soon as the ground can be worked. Plant peas and seed potatoes around mid-month. Remember that peas will need a support system, such as a trellis.

• As the daylight returns and the temperatures rise, resist the temptation to work the ground too soon. If the soil is worked while it is too wet, damage can occur to the soil structure. Pay careful attention to the soil as you move through the garden. Garden

• Take some time to thank your gardening mentors and teachers. • Have fun. Always remember, as Janet Kilburn Phillips said, “There are no gardening mistakes, only experiments.” *FI

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National farm machinery show

Feb. 13-16 // Kentucky Exposition Center // Louisville, Ky. 1

2 3 1. An attendee exits the interior of a Case IH 9230 Combine. 2. Nick Obermeyer of Obermeyer Agri Group answers questions from potential customers. 3. A John Deere S690 Combine. 4. Jack Wagster from Topland Crop Insurance listens to a show attendee. 5. Kendell Ross of Schafstall Inc. talks to a group of farmers at the show. 6. An inside look at a Sukup grain bin. 7. A John Deere representative and an attendee talk about a new Draper Head. PHOtos by Kevin wynne

FARM INDIANA March 1-2 The Indiana Small Farm Conference provides small farmers with opportunities to learn and interact with other farmers, producers, extension educators, researchers and students. There will be sessions about crop production, hoop houses, livestock production, processing and marketing produce and goods, energy and small farm management. Location: Hendricks County Fairgrounds, Danville. Information: (888) 398-4636, www.ag.purdue. edu/smallfarms. March 5 Jennings County Soil & Water Conservation District 62nd Annual Meeting will be held at 6 p.m. at the Rolling Hills Shrine Club. Tickets are available

Calendar of Events from the Jennings County SWCD for $10 per person, which includes a meal catered by Rolling Pin Catering. Location: 3815 Indiana 7, North Vernon. Information: (812) 3463411, ext. 3. March 9 A training session to become a Hoosier Riverwatch Monitor will be held by the Flatrock-Haw Creek Watershed Project from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Water quality monitors will be testing local waters for pH, turbidity, temperature, dissolved oxygen and more. Information: (812) 343-1280, ext. 3. March 12, 14, 21 Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative’s advanced soil health workshops focus on no-

till management. Three workshops are scheduled around the state for Indiana Conservation Partnership staff and Purdue Extension educators. The March 12 and March 14 workshops cover no-till management, including nutrient and pest management and how to advise farmers on details like planter clinics. The March 21 cover crop training will provide students with knowledge to advise farmers on selecting cover crops that work best with their current system. All workshops take place from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Checkin begins at 8:30 a.m. Locations: March 12: Vincennes University Jasper Campus, Jasper; March 14: Southeast Purdue Ag Center, Butlerville; March 21: Diagnostic Training

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Center, Purdue Agronomy Center, West Lafayette. Information: (812) 890-3631. March 13-14; 26-28 The Indiana State Department of Agriculture is hosting a series of producer workshops across the state as part of the Certified Livestock Producer Program (CLPP), a voluntary program that recognizes farmers for their commitment to innovative and top industry standards. Each workshop is free of charge and will include industry experts in the areas of focus for the CLPP program: commitment to the environment, animal well-being, food safety, emergency planning, biosecurity and being a good neighbor in their community. Time: 5 to 8 p.m. Location: March

13-14: Miami County Extension Office, 1029 W. Road 200N, Peru. March 26-28: Dearborn County Extension Office, Aurora City Hall, 229 Main St., Aurora. Information: (317) 232-8770. March 18-19 Cameron Mills, a Cass County farmer, will speak on “Profitability of Cover Crops,” as part of the Soil & Water Conservation District’s shop meetings. Time: 9:30 a.m. Location: March 18: Eddie Maschino farm, near Hayden. March 19: Nelson Ponsler farm in Columbia Township. Information: (812) 346-3411, ext. 3. March 23 The Ohio River Valley Woodland & Wildlife Workshop takes place

at the Clifty Inn at Clifty Falls State Park near Madison. This one-day workshop provides general information about a variety of forestry and wildlife management topics for private landowners. Location: Clifty Inn, 1501 Green Road, Madison. Information: (812) 662-4999 or rnchapman @purdue.edu.

SEND US YOUR UPCOMING AGRICULTURE EVENTS: Be sure to include a contact, the date, location and other important information. Email info to: farmindiana@ hnenewspapers.com.

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