THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
Bringing it to the
The annual Fall Farm special section, which publishes in both The Star Press in Muncie and The Palladium-Item in Richmond, spotlights area farmers as well as industry news and trends.
Bringing it to the Table
PAGE 2 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
Bringing it to the
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM SUNDAY, SEPT. 22, 2013
Couple fills a niche with deer farm. Page 4 Conserving soil a family tradition. Page 10 Cover crops shield soil during the winter. Page 15 Meet the 12 hub farmers. Page 16 A photographic look at silos. Page 17 Addressing fertilizer concerns with technology. Page 18 Homeowners play role in eco-friendly fertilizer use. Page 18 Antique tractors helped plow the Midwest. Page 20 Scientists help farmers create greener dairies. Page 22 Don’t throw it out: Use it in the garden. Page 24 News & Notes from around the U.S. Page 26
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Bringing it to the Table
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 • PAGE 3
1 FUN FARM IS OPEN SEPTEMBER 21 TO OCTOBER 31 HOURS OF OPERATION: Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday Closed
N
ow in its twelfth season, 1 Fun Farm in Farmland offers a wide variety of fall attractions. Owners Darren Coulter and Mo Jester are excited for visitors to learn about all the farm has to offer, including the newest attraction – the Zip Line. This activity is sure to please all ages. “We are very excited this year,” said Jester. “1 Fun Farm is an outstanding way to allow people to come out and enjoy some good farmin’ fun.” Coulter and Jester strive to make sure that every visitor leaves with a special memory of great fall fun in Indiana. And with so many activities to choose from, folks of all ages are bound to leave with a special memory.
THE CORN MAZE
One of the largest attractions at 1 Fun Farm is the Corn Maze. “We actually choose the design each year, and The MAiZE company designs the picture for us,” said Coulter. The 2013 maze includes a zip line rider, some of our favorite animals, and of course, our popular pumpkins. Navigating the maze is certainly not a breeze. The maze is designed to challenge the wits of those attempting to find the one and only exit from
HAUNTED MAZE
If you enjoy a spooky twist to the corn field to get your adrenaline flowing then visit 1 Fun Farms haunted maze. The “Trail of Thrills” is known as one of the best in the area. The Haunted Maze opens at dark, usually between 8 and 8:30 p.m. The Haunted Maze is open from September 27th through October 31st. “The Haunted Maze is perfect for those prepared to be scared,” Coulter said. “Not knowing what you will find lurking in a cornfield, you might pay to get in – but you’ll pray to get out!”
ZIP LINE
For the adventurous at heart we have added a zip line. Nothing gets your blood pumping more than stepping off of a 40 foot tower to enjoy a brisk zing to the other end. “A few rules apply for zip line riders,” said Jester. “One is a signed waiver by every rider and secondly, there is a weight restriction.” A downloadable waiver and all the specifics can be obtained from the website.
PLAY AREAS
more than 2 miles of twists and turns. The maze can be navigated during the day or night, and Coulter estimates most visitors spend about an hour finding their way out.
Along with the two mazes, 1 Fun Farm also offers a variety of other attractions. The Hoppin’ Hooves Play Area is a huge hit, offering fun for all ages. Hoppers of all ages are split up according to size for safety. “Hoppin’ Hooves Play Area is a giant inflate that is built into the ground and is safer than one that sits on the ground,” said Coulter. The farm also includes the Kiddie Corral, which is an agriculture play land featuring a Farm Animal Zoo, Goat Walk, Giant Jungle Gym, Duck Races, Cow Train, Pumpkin Tetherball, Giant Cornball, Corn Box and the Spider Web. New additions for 2013 are the Barnyard Ball Zone and Giant Checkers. While both the Hoppin’ Hooves and the Kiddie
Thursday: 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday: 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday: 10 a.m. to Midnight Sunday: 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. Last ticket sold at listed closing time PRICING: Corn Maze Kids 5 and under: Free Kids 6-12: $7 Adults 13+: $9 HAUNTED MAZE Kids 5 and under: Free Kids 6-12: $10 Adults 13+: $12
Corral have their own prices, visitors can purchase a $5 combo play pass that offers unlimited play in both areas.
OTHER ATTRACTIONS
The Pumpkin Patch, which is one of the largest in the area, is another popular attraction at 1 Fun Farm. “It’s a great place to grab a wagon and hunt for the perfect jack-olantern,” Coulter said. Free pig races feature specially trained pigs racing down the track at blinding speeds. “Pick your favorite pig to win and cheer him/her on” he said. For more subdued fun, the farm also offers a complete selection of home-grown décor items such as straw, gourds, mini pumpkins, mums and more. And food isn’t to be forgotten either. The concession stand at 1 Fun Farm sells a variety of tasty treats.
VISITING THE FARM
“At our customer’s request, all activities are priced separately. You only pay for the activities you choose to do,” said Jester. 1 Fun Farm has special rates available for groups of more than 20, including church groups and Scouts. Field trips are also available. Information on pricing and online reservation forms are available at 1funfarm.com Obtain a coupon OR bring a nonperishable food item and receive $2 off the Corn Maze admission. The donations will go to area families in need. 1 Fun Farm is well worth the short, easy drive from Muncie and surrounding areas. The farm is open through October 31st.
For more details about 1 Fun Farm, including driving directions, visit 1funfarm.com or call (866) 468-4303. 0000153208
Bringing it to the Table
PAGE 4 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
Couple attempts to fill a niche with
DEER FARM By Pam Tharp for The Palladium-Item
M
Right: Deer roam inside a pen at Jonathan Ferris’ (above) River’s Edge Whitetails farm in Milton on Aug. 28. (JOSHUA SMITH / PALLADIUM-ITEM)
any people enjoy eating venison, but not everyone wants to go to the woods to get their dinner. Wayne County residents Jonathan and Pasha Ferris are hoping to fill that niche with their deer farm, River’s Edge Whitetails, a four-year effort that’s now expanding to include agri-tourism events. Venison is a favorite meat among body builders because it’s low in fat and high in protein, Jon said. Venison has less fat than a skinless chicken breast, he said. “The health-conscious people love it,” said Jon, who is also a Wayne County Extension educator. “Jungle Jim’s (in Fairfield, Ohio) sells it. Ground venison can bring $7 a pound.” Cooking skills are important when it comes to preparing venison. Some people reject the meat because they say it has a “gamey” taste, Jon said. “You must remove all of the fat. That’s where the gamey taste comes from. It must be correctly processed,” he said. “Since it’s so lean, it goes from done to overdone very quickly.” Keeping deer, which generally are considered wildlife, requires inspections by both the Department of Natural Resources and the Indiana Board of Health, Jon said. The farm has a game breeder’s license which allows it to keep deer, Pasha said. The family is still exploring ways to market their venison, which may include the Hoosier Harvest Market, an online farmers’ market through which customers place orders and suppliers ship their products. River’s Edge Whitetails has yet to sell its first deer, but the Ferris family expects to have 10 or 11 ready to sell to a meat processor this fall. The farm is now home to 34 deer, including 18 fawns born this year. Jon and Pasha, son Hunter, 14, and daughter Morgan, 11, have learned raising wild deer is far different than managing domesticated livestock. Deer can’t be herded, a fact Jon said he Continued on page 6
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PAGE 6 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
“They are such funny creatures. A tumbling feed sack can make them crazy. You have to play mind games with them.”
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
Continued from page 4
learned the hard way. The animals, though, are extremely curious, so doing something inside the barn to attract their interest will soon cause them to wander inside on their own, he said. “They are such funny creatures. A tumbling feed sack can make them crazy,” Jon said. “You have to play mind games with them.” The excitable critters are at risk even when predators can’t reach them. Two years ago, dogs chased the flock from outside the fence on a day when the family was away, a frolic that resulted in the death of five deer that day and eventually a sixth, which had a broken leg that never healed, Jon said. The family bought five pregnant does from another Hoosier deer producer to make up for the loss. “The deer panicked and slammed into the fence,” Jon said. “The dog
— JONATHAN FERRIS Jonathan and Pasha Ferris own River’s Edge Whitetails farm in Milton. (JOSHUA SMITH / PALLADIUM-ITEM)
owner got a $25 ticket. (Wayne County) Sheriff Jeff Cappa has worked with us. He actually came out here to the farm to talk with us. We saw the animal control officer every day for a while.” Dog difficulties weren’t their only problem. Their very first fawn got an infection and died. The farm’s two bucks also fought through the wire fence that separated them. “It’s not enough to separate them by pens,” Jon said. “You either have to physically separate them or take the horns off of all of the bucks except one and he becomes the ‘boss buck’.” Just building the 8-foot stretchedwire deer enclosure was an experience, Jon said. “We worked on it every night after work. In six weeks of fence building, I lost 20 pounds,” Jon said. The Ferris family first learned of deer farms through Jon’s mother, Marry Ferris, who met a deer
Continued on page 8
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THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
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PAGE 8 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
Continued from page 6
farmer at a Farm Bureau Inc. convention. His mother thought it sounded like a great idea, Jon said. “We all went to a farm in northern Indiana and heard the spiel. They made it sound so wonderful,” Pasha said. “We never would have guessed we’d have all these problems.” Indiana has a number of deer farms, with many of the state’s northern Indiana Amish farmers raising deer for market, Jon said. The Indiana Deer and Elk Farmers Association is an active group that has auctions where live deer and deer semen are sold, he said. “I’d had the experience of raising livestock growing up. We had beef cattle and a hog operation. I wanted my kids to have that experience of farm life,” Jon said.”We probably didn’t research it as much as we should have. Raising them is very different than hogs and sheep. How you move matters.” “The tiniest thing can freak them out,” Pasha said. Even so, the family says their deer adventure has been positive. “We love the animals. Fawning time in the spring is just like Christmas,” Jon said. “I love finding the babies.” Hunter, who suffers from allergies, hasn’t been as involved with the deer, but Morgan loves bottle-feeding the fawns, Jon said. “She’s our ‘deer whisperer,’” he said. A field trip to the farm for students from Western Wayne Elementary School, where Pasha is a classroom aide, is planned for late September, she said. A venison snack is part of the excursion. The field trip is to feature some local history about the Whitewater Canal, which once flowed through their farm. Remnants of the historical structure still are visible, Jon said. By the time the canal route was constructed in the 1840s, Indiana’s native deer population was almost gone, Jon said. The Indiana Department of Natural Resources reintroduced deer to Indiana in 1934, placing about 400 deer in the state that were trapped and transferred from Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. “The farm visits will be both cultural and historical,” said Pasha, who has a degree in sociology and is working toward a teaching degree. “We can incorporate a number of elementary educational standards as part of the visit. We have a lot of Indian artifacts that were found here on the farm.” For generations, the Ferris family has accumulated Native American artifacts found on their land. In one of the deer pens, Jon said he recently found a hand-carved hide scraper with a shaped indentation for the thumb. “It shows us that people were hunting deer here hundreds of years ago,” Jon said.
Above: Jonathan Ferris feeds an apple to Itsy the deer at his River’s Edge Whitetails farm. Left: Chickens roam about at the Ferris’ farm in Milton. (JOSHUA SMITH / PALLADIUM-ITEM)
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FARM READY FARMER TRUSTED
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 • PAGE 9
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PAGE 10 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
Bringing it to the Table
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
Mike Shuter will mentor other farmers as part of a “hub farm” program By Ken Wickliffe for The Star Press Photos by Kyle Evens
Conserving soil a
FAMILY TRADITION
M
ike Shuter of Shuter Sunset Farms near Frankton, Ind., sees soil conservation in both personal and global terms. Founded in 1950, his four-generation family farm produces corn, beans, cattle and pork. Shuter and his wife, Susan, operate the farm with their two sons, Brian and Patrick, and their sons’ families. “My goal is to preserve the soil for future generations – both of my own family and everyone’s family,” Mike said. “If we don’t maintain this soil, we’re not going to maintain this nation.
“If you look at past civilizations, they have fallen when agricultural productivity has been lost,” he added. Shuter just completed five years as president of the Indiana Corn Marketing Association, and he has served on the boards of directors of the Indiana Red Poll Association, the American Red Poll Association as well as the Indiana Beef Cattle Association and the Indiana Beef Evaluation Program. Locally, he has held several positions with the Frankton Lions Club and the Frankton United Methodist Church. Earlier this year Shuter Sunset Farms was named one
of 12 Indiana hub farms in the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative. This latest accomplishment allows Shuter to serve in a mentoring capacity to other farmers who want to institute soil conservation practices or further develop the techniques they have already begun. While being named a farmer mentor underscores Shuter’s accomplishments, his interest in innovative farm management goes back more than 40 years. In 1972, Shuter returned to his family’s farm to operate
Continued on page 12
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THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
“Becoming a hub farm will allow us to be a part of encouraging better soil health, better tillage practices and better water permeation so we can all leave healthier soil for the next generation.” — MIKE SHUTER OF SHUTER SUNSET FARMS
Continued from page 10
it alongside his father, Mervin, after completing a degree in agricultural economics at Purdue University. This allowed his dad to focus on the cattle while Mike spent much of his time perfecting cropping practices. “We’ve been using no-till for 30 years and this is our 11th year with strip-till,” he said. “The corn is strip-tilled, while the beans are no-tilled into the corn residue.” Strip-tilling involves tilling only a narrow strip of ground into which seeds are planted. Shuter explained that this technique is much healthier for the soil than tilling the entire field, as was once the nearly universal practice. Thinking in advance is one part of the management program that makes these farming advances possible. “Cover crops benefit us by feeding the soil organisms through the winter and breaking down residues that can build up in the soil,” Shuter said. “With our cover crops we plan two years ahead to make sure that the right cover crops go in ahead of the right cash crops.” Other practices employed at Shuter Sunset Farms include the use of Global Positioning System technology to enrich soil and increase yields. “Through the GPS system we are able to pinpoint our exact location on a specific parcel of ground,” the farm’s website says. “Soil samples are taken from each location to determine the different fertility characteristics of every section of each field. This information is then translated into maps showing the profile of each field. These maps are then used with computers in the field to apply the proper amount of fertilizer and seed to achieve the greatest possible yield for each field.” In 2010, Shuter and his sons began development of a high-clearance seeding machine to enable them to plant cover crops in standing corn and soybeans, getting these crops started earlier. This piece of equipment – the Miller Nitro High-Clearance Sprayer – has allowed them to begin seeding all of their fields with cover crops. The machine was on display at the farm’s “field day” on September 4, an event that allowed other farmers to collect information on soil conservation strategies.
Mike Shuter operates the overseeder on the family farm, Shuter Sunset Farms, in Frankton. Shuter has a personal goal of helping to preserve soil for future generations. (KYLE EVENS / FOR THE STAR PRESS)
While soil conservation has always made sense to Shuter and his family, he acknowledges that personal and other factors may prevent others from adopting these practices. This is an area he hopes to address as a farmer mentor. “In any area of life, many people have a natural tendency to resist change,” he said. “If you’re five or ten years from retirement, you might think that what you do doesn’t make much difference because it’s not going to affect you personally.” But a longer-range view does matter to Mike Shuter, and he knows it does to others as well when they give the issue of soil conservation some thought. He sees in these
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practices the possibility of passing the family farm down to his children and grandchildren in even better condition than it is now. Currently Mike and Susan have four grandchildren: Their son Brian and his wife, Sarah, have two children, Jacob, six years old, and Carly, three. Patrick and his wife, Sara, are the parents of Michael, nine years old, and Corbin, who was born just last month. “Becoming a hub farm will allow us to be a part of encouraging better soil health, better tillage practices and better water permeation so we can all leave healthier soil for the next generation,” Mike said.
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“The shorter growing season in the north requires different cover crops and different management strategies. One concern is that we need to get something growing before winter sets in; the more growth we can get in the fall, the more beneficial the cover crop will be.” — MICHAEL O’DONNELL
COVER CROPS
SHIELD SOIL DURING WINTER
Increased use of winter plantings is beginning to eliminate the “brown gap” By Ken Wickliffe for The Star Press
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esidents of agricultural states such as Indiana expect barren, brown fields to be part of the winter landscape, but soil conservation advocates are hoping to make this unplanted ground less common. “Many people refer to the time of year when fields are often unplanted as ‘the brown gap,’” said Michael O’Donnell, extension educator, agriculture and natural resources, at Delaware County’s Purdue Extension. “There’s no root in the ground to keep Meet the 12 hub the soil biology active and minimize farmers | Page 16 erosion.” Repeated tilling and planting of soil, combined with the loss of topsoil that occurs through wind and water erosion, results in poorer growing conditions for cash crops, he said. Increasing the use of cover crops and other soilconservation practices is one objective of the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts’ Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative (CCSI). “The Indiana Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative promotes a systematic approach to production agriculture focusing on no-till production, integrating cover crops, precision farming, and nutrient & pest management,” the IASWCD says on its website. “This will result in improved soil quality, water quality and profitability on Indiana cropland.” Some cover crops stay alive all winter while others die with the first hard freeze, O’Donnell explained. Either way, these crops eliminate the brown gap and the soil degradation that goes with it. Crops that live through the winter protect the soil with a living root. Those killed by frost leave behind valuable residue. Commonly used cover crops include rye grass, tillage radishes, crimson clover and cereal rye, with the specific choice depending on location and degree of compatibility with the farmer’s cash crop. Notable differences exist, for example, roughly north and south of Interstate 70 in terms of which crops work best. And, while many farmers start with a single cover crop, they often modify this as they gain more experience and see how different plantings
Cereal Rye impact their operations. While cover crops bring many advantages, there are technical and personal challenges producers need to address. “The shorter growing season in the north requires different cover crops and different management strategies,” O’Donnell said. “One concern is that we need to get something growing before winter sets in; the more growth we can get in the fall, the more beneficial the cover crop will be.” To this end, some farmers contract with pilots to have planting done from the air, with seeds broadcast from a plane. This can be one way to get a cover crop seeded before the cash crop comes out, O’Donnell said. Other
strategies include seeding right after combining and using high-clearance equipment to seed cover crops between rows of standing crops. Management of the cover crop is also necessary in the spring, when it needs to be terminated to make way for the regular crops. Other soil conservation practices that complement cover crops include no-till and strip-till techniques. One measurable benefit of these practices is helping crops withstand dry spells, O’Donnell said. “On average, each pass with a tillage tool causes the soil to lose one-half inch of moisture,” he said. “Some view this as an advantage in the typically-wetter spring months, because the soil dries more quickly, but that moisture you give up may be crucial if the summer turns unusually dry later, as it did in 2012.” In addition, O’Donnell said, tilling causes a large amount of oxygen to be infused into the soil, burning up beneficial organic matter. Some consider this an advantage of tilling, he noted, as it provides short-term benefits by releasing nutrients to the plants. Over the long term, however, the loss of organic matter is detrimental. To assist farmers in adopting conservation cropping practices, the IASWCD has designated 12 “hub farms” around the state. The farmers that operate these hub farms can mentor other farmers in the adoption of the newest soil conservation practices. According to a news release from Lisa Holscher, CCSI soil health program manager, “The 12 farmers will host demonstration sites on their farms in conjunction with the regional hubs, comparing their current conservation systems with programs that introduce new practices. The impacts of the new practices on soil health and an array of other variables will be measured and documented, and comparisons made within fields on the same or nearby farms. They also will serve as mentors to producers interested in adopting new conservation tactics.” More information on soil conservation practices is available. Contact Michael O’Donnell at (765) 7477732, or by email at modonnel@purdue.edu, or visit the Conservation Cropping Systems Initiative website at http:// iaswcd.org/CCSI/ccsi.html.
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THE 12 HUB FARMERS
• Marshall Alford, Dearborn County, is a lifelong farmer who started no-tilling in 1985. He is a supervisor for the Dearborn County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). The soybean, corn and wheat farmer has used cover crops for over 20 years. He also utilizes grassed waterways, filter strips, grid soil sampling and nutrient and pest management into his conservation arsenal. This helps to control erosion and water runoff on all of his farms. Alford also hosts no-till and cover crops field days for the SWCD. Alford believes these field days are excellent resources for farmers to see firsthand the results of this conservation management tool. He also attends the National No-till Conference. Alford received the River Friendly Farmer award in 2007 for his conservation activities. • Mike Brocksmith, Knox County, raises corn, wheat, and soybeans with his wife, Susan, and their two daughters. The farm no-tilled corn for the first time in 1978, and has been 100 percent no-till since 1990. Brocksmith is a past member and chairman of the Knox County SWCD board. The farm has hosted numerous soil judging contests and conservation field days, as well as many other rural and urban events. He feels cover crops and soil health synergies are the missing link in protecting, rebuilding, and enhancing his soil resources. • Dan DeSutter, Fountain County, returned to his family farm after earning a degree and pursuing graduate studies in finance at Indiana University, then working as a financial analyst and commodity broker. He farms full-time, raising crops and grass-fed beef, and remains an active spokesman and advocate for conservation agriculture. For the past decade, he has also been a leader in cover cropping, planting 2,000 to 2,500 acres of cover crops annually as part of the approach he calls “bio-till” to emphasize his commitment to a healthy soil ecosystem. He has hosted a Conservation Technology Information Center (CTIC) Conservation In Action Tour on his 4,300-acre operation, much of which he has no-tilled for 20 years. • Larry Huffmeyer, Ripley County, started farming in 1974 after graduating from Purdue University. He purchased a no-till planter then and started with no-till double crop soybeans. He later rented no-till drills to expand soybean production. He also utilized cover crops in the early years. No-till corn has been more challenging due to wet soils. Early season burn down and some vertical tillage have improved results. The family has installed waterways since the 70′s. No-till and minimum till has allowed many of these practices to remain effective today. Larry, Charlene and their two children currently raise corn, soybeans and wheat on 1,300 acres. They have been using various cover crop mixes extensively for the last four years. • Cameron Mills, Cass County, has spent his entire life on the farm. When his father decided to move out of the farming business in 1998, Cameron took over and grew the business from 600 to the 3,500 acres they currently manage. He and his wife, Cara, and have been married for 12 years and have four children. They started no-tilling in 2000 because of the economics involved in an ever-expanding farm operation. After being introduced to cover crops at the No-Till Conference in 2005, they began implementing the practice and have expanded their acreage each year since then. • Rodney Rulon, Hamilton County, is a partner with his cousins, Ken and Roy in Rulon Enterprises. As a fourth-generation family farm in Arcadia, the Rulons have a strong focus on sustainability. Because of this, Rulon Enterprises has been recognized with numerous honors including the No-Till Innovator Award, regional and national Conservation Legacy Award, and they served as hosts for the CTIC Conservation in Action Tour in 2009. Rodney Rulon received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Purdue University in Agricultural Systems Management using the degree as the farm’s technology and resource manager. Rulon works very hard on their farm and as the chairman for the Hamilton County SWCD to promote the benefits and adoption of no-till and cover crops throughout Indiana.
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• Jamie Scott, Kosciusko County, has been a supervisor for the Kosciusko County SWCD for seven years and chairman for the last three. He currently serves the Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts (IASWCD) as secretary. Scott is part of a family farm operation consisting of about 2,000 acres. The family has implemented many conservation practices and earned recognition as the IASWCD Conservation Farmer of the Year and both regional and national Conservationist of the Year awards from the American Soybean Association. The operation was an early adopter of conservation tillage. Now all tillable acres are no-tilled or strip tilled. A spring workshop and field demonstration on cover crops has been held for the last three years. They have coordinated cover crop aerial seedings in an eight-county area for the last three years resulting in 16,000 planted acres. • Mike Shuter, Madison County, is a corn, soybean, beef cattle and hog producer. He and his sons, Patrick and Brian, have been no-tilling for 30 years, strip-tilling for 10 years and have been using variable rate technology as long as it has been available. For the last five years they have been researching cover crops and how to integrate them into their operation. In 2010 they started developing a high clearance seeding machine to seed cover crops in standing corn and soybeans to get these crops off to a faster, earlier start. All of their crop fields were seeded to cover crops starting in the fall of 2012. Shuter is a past president of the Indiana Corn Marketing Council. • Kurt Stahl, Vanderburgh County, is part of Stahl Farms, a fifth generation grain farm. Along with his father, Manfred, he works with his cousin, Brad and Brad’s father, Alan. They also have farms in Warrick and Spencer counties. They raise corn, soybeans and wheat and have been no-till farming since the 1960′s. Kurt is a graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business where he earned a degree in finance, and began working for Abbott Laboratories, a global healthcare company. In 1997, Kurt returned home to be involved in the farm part-time. In 2001, Kurt had the opportunity to begin farming full-time. Kurt and his wife, Chanca, have three children. • Don Villwock, Knox County, is a no-till farmer in southwest Indiana. His farming operation produces white corn, soybeans, seed soybeans and seed wheat. Villwock’s 4,000 acre farm is scattered over 40 miles. The former SWCD supervisor’s focus has been to protect his soil from erosion, improve water quality and soil health, reduce costs and increase yields. Villwock has served as president of Indiana Farm Bureau and Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance since January 2002. He is graduate of Purdue University with a degree in agricultural economics. He began by no-tilling double crop soybeans into wheat stubble in the late 1970s. He then no-tilled soybeans into corn stalks in the early ’80s, and started planting corn into soybean stubble in the mid-’80s. By 1990 he modified his corn planter and was planting corn into corn stalks. He has been 100 percent no-till ever since. Villwock has won or been a top three finisher in the National Corn Yield contest on several occasions in the no-till division. Even though he has been using wheat for a cover crop on his most erosive soils for over 20 years, he is now experimenting with a variety of cover crop options to sequester nutrients and to improve soil health. He and his wife, Joyce, have two daughters. • Roger Wenning, Decatur County, serves as secretary to the Decatur County SWCD board. He currently owns and operates 600 acres. Wenning feels that God gave us soil and we need to keep it where He put it. He has worked with area landowners encouraging conservation practices to benefit land, water and wildlife now and for the future. In 2006 he was recognized as Conservation Farmer of the Year in Decatur County. In 2007 he received the Indiana River Friendly Farmer award. Most recently Wenning was recognized as the 2011 IASWCD Indiana Supervisor of the Year, and one of the five state Conservation Farmer of Year award winners. He was honored with the American Soybean Association North-East Region Conservation Legacy Award in 2012. He also owns and operates Wenning Excavating and Drainage. He and his wife, Mary Beth, have four children and four grandchildren. • Mike Werling, Adams County, is a multi-generation farmer on his grain operation. The farm is located six miles northwest of Decatur. He uses a three-year rotation following corn with soybeans then wheat or oats. He practices no-till and uses cover crops because he doesn’t like soil erosion. It pays off because he was a 2012 winner of the River Friendly Farmer of the Year Award for his conservation efforts. The biggest benefit from his no-till / cover crop mix has been an increase in organic matter in the soil, and improvement in soil life and health. Mike says healthy soil has better water infiltration, less run off, and he uses less fertilizer, and sees better yields. Werling has plans for test plots to measure the value of no-till, conservation tillage and cover crops. The on-farm research is exciting because “that’s real life. These are practices that could be used on a larger scale.” Hub farm profiles courtesy of Indiana Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts
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farm scenes
Photographer Kyle Evens hit the county roads to capture the beauty of East Central Indiana and ended up with a photo series of silos - both the old, new and unqiue.
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Farmers address fertilizer concerns with technology, soil conservation
Reducing the amount of fertilizer that reaches the Gulf of Mexico can reduce hypoxia, which affects fish other sea life By Ken Wickliffe for The Star Press
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hen fertilizers and other nutrients from farms, lawns and other sources reach coastal waters such as those in the Gulf of Mexico they can contribute to hypoxia – or low oxygen in the water – causing aquatic creatures either to leave the affected area or die. While nearly everyone agrees that addressing hypoxia is important, there are unanswered questions that make doing so difficult, according to Joe Russell, a sixth-generation farmer with a degree in civil engineering from Purdue University. A past member of the Delaware County Council, Russell has long been interested in energy and environmental issues, and he worked as a design engineer on the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. “As with certain other problems of this type, you have to be educated on the issue just to be undecided,” he said. “There are experts on all sides, and while we know the general causes of hypoxia, it’s hard to know exactly where to point the finger.” The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency makes similar statements, naming suburban homeowners, golf courses and certain industries among the contributors to the problem of excessive nutrients that end up
in waterways. Natural processes play a role, too, causing hypoxia to get worse in the summer when warmer temperatures make for more layering of affected coastal waters. “The hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico forms every summer and is a result of excess nutrients from the Mississippi River and seasonal stratification (layering) of waters in the Gulf,” the EPA says on the Mississippi River Gulf of Mexico Watershed Nutrient Task Force website. “Nutrient-laden freshwater from the Mississippi River flows into the Gulf of Mexico. This freshwater is less dense and remains above the more dense saline Gulf water. In addition to the saline gradient caused where the freshwater and saline water meet, the freshwater is warmer than the deeper ocean water, further contributing to the stratification.” East-Central Indiana is part of the Mississippi River watershed, so fertilizers and other chemicals used here ultimately make their way to the Gulf of Mexico. The hypoxic zone there – one of 400 such areas identified in the world – forms each summer off of the coast of Louisiana and Texas. Some of the nutrients flowing into the Gulf via the Mississippi River come from Muncie’s White River, as it is among the Mississippi’s many tributaries.
Courtesy of Long Island Sound Study, longislandsoundstudy.net. Illustrator: Lucy Reading-Ikkanda Regulations and improved farm management practices have reduced the amount of farm fertilizer that gets into Indiana’s rivers and streams, Russell said. “In Indiana, farmers must now obtain a ‘private applicator license’ to apply fertilizer,” he said. “Obtaining this permit requires studying a manual, passing a test and attending periodic training sessions to renew the license.” Most lawn fertilizers contain the same three basic chemical elements as those used by farmers – N, P and K on the periodic table – or, nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium in the form of potash. As a result, commercial lawn-care
providers who apply fertilizer are covered by the same licensing laws as farmers, Russell said. This gives homeowners and others who use these services a degree of assurance that the chemicals are put on their lawns in a manner that’s safe both for the lawn and the environment. In addition to complying with these licensing regulations, farmers have reduced their use of fertilizers by applying it more precisely to areas where needed, and by making increased use of soil conservation strategies, he added. “If you were fertilizing for 300 bushels but only harvesting 150, that would be an example of over-
use of fertilizer,” Russell said. “Also, keeping the soil where it is makes a big difference because when nutrients leave, they usually leave with the soil, and cover crops and no-till help keep the soil from washing into rivers and streams.” While it’s important to do everything reasonably possible to mitigate the negative effects of fertilizers, Russell said, it’s also necessary to keep in mind the benefits fertilizers offer in terms of greater agricultural productivity. “We’re a well-fed nation, and a well-fed nation has many problems,” he said. “A hungry nation only has one problem.”
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 • PAGE 19
Homeowners play role in eco-friendly fertilizer use The EPA cites suburban landowners as a source of fertilizers that wind up in waterways By Ken Wickliffe for The Star Press
U
nlike farmers, homeowners don’t need a license to spread fertilizer. But yard fertilizers use the same three main elements as farm fertilizers – nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium – so individuals still have a responsibility not to misuse or overuse these chemicals, say three turfgrass experts from Purdue University. Agronomists Cale Bigelow, Jim Camberato and Aaron Patton offer several suggestions for safe and eco-friendly fertilizer use in their publication, “Fertilizing Established Cool-season Lawns: Maximizing Turf Health with Environmentally Responsible Programs.” First, the agronomists say, it’s helpful to test the soil. “Don’t guess the nutrient needs of your soil: you should test your soil to determine what nutrients it needs,” the Purdue agronomists write. “Turfgrass plants accumulate 13 essential nutrients from the soil. You will not need to fertilize for most of these nutrients because they are already present in the soil. Soil test results also indicate soil pH, which is the acidity or alkalinity of the soil. If the pH is too high or too low, it will limit nutrient availability and turf growth, and will reduce turf health. Poor soil pH must be corrected.” Homeowners who want to locate a soil testing laboratory can do by visiting this website: ag.purdue. edu/agry/extension/Pages/soil_testing.aspx. Calculating the exact amount of fertilizer needed and applying it only when the grass actually can use it are additional tips homeowners can follow to increase the effectiveness of fertilizers and avoid over-application. “The cool-season grasses (such as bluegrasses, fescues, and ryegrasses) will benefit most when you apply the majority of N (nitrogen) fertilizer from late summer through autumn,” the agronomists explain. “This promotes summer recovery, enhances shoot density, maximizes green color, and prepares the turf for winter, all without a growth surge.” Keeping grass clippings on the lawn rather than catching and bagging them is also advised as a way to reduce fertilizing requirements. “Returning clippings during mowing benefits the lawn because grass clippings contain valuable nutrients that can be recycled into the soil,” the Purdue publication advises. “If you must regularly remove clippings when you mow, you may need to increase the amount of nitrogen you apply each year by 25 to 50 percent to maintain growth and color.” For more information, the Purdue publication may be downloaded at www.extension.purdue.edu/ extmedia/AY/AY-22-W.pdf.
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Calculate your fertilizer needs
One way homeowners can protect both their lawns and the environment is to apply the right amount of fertilizer. To determine how much fertilizer you need to apply you need to know three important things:
• The size of the area you plan to treat • The target application rate you want to apply (normally between 0.5 and 1.0 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet) • The percentage of the nutrient in the fertilizer product you will use Let’s say you have a lawn that is 5,500 square feet, your target application rate is 0.5 pound of actual nitrogen per 1,000 square feet, and you are using an 18-0-10 fertilizer product. Here’s how you determine how much actual fertilizer product you will need to apply to your lawn. • Convert the percentage of the nutrient to a decimal. The 18-0-10 fertilizer product contains 18 percent N, so the decimal value is 0.18. • Divide the target application rate (0.5 pound) by the decimal value from step 1: 0.5 ÷ 0.18 = 2.78 This is how many pounds of actual fertilizer product you will need per 1,000 square feet. • Divide the actual area of your lawn (5,500 square feet) by 1,000: 5,500 ÷ 1,000 = 5.5 • Multiply the results from Steps 2 and 3 to determine how much actual fertilizer you will need to apply to your lawn at the desired rate: 2.78 x 5.5 = 15.29 • You will need to apply 15.29 pounds of 18-0-10 fertilizer product to your 5,500-square-foot lawn to achieve the target application rate of 0.5 pound of nitrogen per 1,000 square feet. If you want to skip the math, the Purdue Turf Fertilizer Calculator can perform these calculations for you. This online tool is available at www.agry.purdue.edu/turf/fertilizerCalculator/index.html. Source: Fertilizing Established Cool-season Lawns: Maximizing Turf Health with Environmentally Responsible Programs, Purdue University Extension, August 2013.
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PAGE 20 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
Breaking the sod and
TAMING THE MIDWEST
Two antique tractors recently displayed in Gaston show the early1900s move from steam to oil power Story and photos by Ken Wickliffe for The Star Press
A
Top and above: Adam Edgell’s Baker 21-75 steam engine. Center photos: Danny and Clint King’s Rumely Oil Pull Model S.
“It was steam traction engines pulling
plows and powering threshing machines that completed the taming of the Great Plains. Chuffing and clanking, they turned the buffalo’s pasture into America’s breadbasket, allowing people to put down roots on lands that, till then, were reckoned difficult, if not impossible, to farm.” — DIOTIMA BOORAEM
s Indiana nears its bicentennial in 2016, antique tractors illustrate the different ways sod has been broken throughout the history of one of America’s top agricultural states. Among the tractors displayed at the Gaston Lions Club Fair last month were two that showed the transition from steam to oil power that took place on farms a little less than a century ago. Both built in the 1920s, these two tractors are Adam Edgell’s Baker 21-75 steam engine, and Danny and Clint King’s Rumely Oil Pull Model S. Representing the older way of doing things, the Baker 21-75 can burn coal or wood, which was a major benefit of steam power: Fuel was cheap, or in some cases free if the farmer owned wooded areas that could be harvested. In a Smithsonian magazine article titled “Steaming into the Future,” writer Diotima Booraem describes the profound impact of these steam-powered machines. At the time they were often called “traction engines” instead of tractors - a term that came into greater use when oil-powered implements took over. “It was steam traction engines pulling plows and powering threshing machines that completed the taming of the Great Plains,” the Smithsonian article says. “Chuffing and clanking, they turned the buffalo’s pasture into America’s breadbasket, allowing people to put down roots on lands that, till then, were reckoned difficult, if not impossible, to farm.” Compared to plowing with horses or mules, steam power enabled farmers to do jobs in far less time, Edgell said, but operating a steam tractor in the fields took planning and skill. For instance, there was the need to fire up the engine and wait for steam pressure to build before beginning work. And, for safety’s sake, a farmer had to keep an eye on things like pressure readings and water levels. “It’s kind of hard to describe,” Edgell said. “It’s simple, but it’s also complicated. You’ve got to stay aware of what’s going on.”
Along with its historical significance, there’s a personal side to Edgell’s tractor: It was once owned by his grandfather, Chet Sterrett, who used it on his farm near Battleground, in western Indiana. The tractor had been sold decades ago but was located and brought back into the family in 1978. Restoring the tractor has involved replacing valves, installing new piping and keeping up with other maintenance needs, but the tractor still operates as it did when his grandfather used it in the early 20th century, Edgell said. The Rumely Oil Pull Model S is one of 21 antique tractors owned by Danny and Clint King, father and son. One of only about 50 similar tractors left in the world, the model they own was built in LaPorte, Ind., in 1926 and 1927. They have dedicated their tractor to the memory of Charley King, Danny’s father and Clint’s grandfather. Much like the engines in today’s cars, the Oil Pull offered the advantage of convenience, Danny King said, and that’s something most farmers at the time weren’t used to having. “You didn’t have to fire it up before working and then wait for it to cool down when you were finished,” he said. “You could start it up and begin working quickly or shut it down and just walk away.” Turning at a rated speed of 470 rpm, the tractor’s engine has giant cylinders with a 9-inch bore and 11inch stroke. The tractor listed for $4,200 when new. The Oil Pull can run on gasoline but could also burn other grades of fuel, King said, because not every area of the country had access to the same fuels. For example, the Oil Pull can burn kerosene or what was then called “distillate” – a fuel similar to today’s diesel. However, he said, because starting systems at the time weren’t as advanced as they are in today’s engines, people who used alternate fuels still had to start the tractor using gasoline. Then, they could change over to a different fuel once the engine was running.
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THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 • PAGE 21
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PAGE 22 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
Scientists help farmers create
GREENER DAIRIES
Story and photos by The Associated Press
C
ows stand patiently in a tent-like chamber at a research farm in western Wisconsin, waiting for their breath to be tested. Outside, corrals have been set up with equipment to measure gas wafting from the ground. A nearby corn field contains tools that allow researchers to assess the effects of manure spread as fertilizer. Scientists based at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have started a slew of studies to determine how dairy farms can reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. They will look at what animals eat, how their waste is handled and the effects on soil, water and air. Their work is part of a government-sponsored effort to help farmers adapt to more extreme weather and reduce their impact on climate change. The studies also will support a dairy industry effort to make farms more environmentally friendly, profitable and attractive to consumers. The Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy is developing a computer program that will allow farmers to compare water consumption, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions from their farms to the national average and learn how improving their practices could help their bottom line. “We like to say sustainability makes cents — c-e-n-t-s,” said Erin Fitzgerald, the center’s senior vice president for sustainability. Environmentally speaking, the big issue for dairy farms for decades was manure. Karl Klessig remembers state agents coming to his farm in 2002 and handcuffing him after an unexpected rain washed manure spread several days earlier into nearby Lake Michigan. Klessig was told that if his family didn’t immediately till the manure into the ground, tearing up the grass that feeds their cows, he’d soon be in jail. It was a big loss, but it “jump-started” their environmental awareness, Klessig said. The family welcomed researchers from UW-Madison and UW-Extension onto its property in Cleveland, about 70 miles north of Milwaukee, for tests that had some unexpected results. For example, the family had been leaving its pastures untilled for up to a decade to allow the grass to build up density, feeding the cows and reducing erosion. But scientists found that also allowed phosphorus to accumulate in the top layer of soil. Klessig said his family has been able to reduce phosphorus by tilling pastures more often and growing corn, which uses phosphorus to grow. They also learned the farm was losing hundreds of pounds of soil each year through its drainage system and wormholes were allowing manure to run into those pipes. It was nerve-racking to have researchers point out these problems, Klessig said. “Sometimes you feel like you’re on top of the table, and you only have underwear on,” he said.
But the scientists also offered solutions, which Klessig said, “made us better farmers.” Studies like the ones done at Klessig’s farm helped provide the basis for the computer program being developed by the Innovation Center. The tool will be bolstered by data from a $10 million project led by UW-Madison but including scientists, engineers and scholars from multiple universities. It is one of four projects funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to help farmers in specific regions adapt to climate change while reducing their environmental impact, said Ray Knighton, national program leader for soil and air quality at USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. The other projects involve the beef industry in the southern Great Plains and Southwest, wheat production in the Pacific Northwest and wood production in the Southeast. The five-year dairy project focuses on a strip of the northern U.S. from New York to Wisconsin. It is climatespecific in part because things like temperature affect the amount of milk cows produce. At the federally owned research farm in Prairie du Sac, scientists are looking at the impact made by relatively small changes. For example, as cows digest, they essentially burp out methane, a greenhouse gas. So, does changing the animal’s diet make its breath less toxic?
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Cows stand in a chamber where the air flow can be controlled and gases in the air measured at a barn at the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center in Prairie du Sac,Wis. Scientists are looking at whether changing cows’ diets can reduce the amount of methane they breathe out as they digest. Methane is a greenhouse gas. The information will be used to help farmers make their dairies more environmentally friendly.
They’re also exploring possibilities like whether there’s a relationship between the amount of milk a cow produces and how much methane it gives off. If so, it might be possible to one day tell farmers that cows with certain genes “will enhance your profits but also enhance the environment,” said Mark Powell, the USDA soil scientist leading the team of researchers. His and others’ work will eventually be combined into what’s called a life cycle assessment that tallies the environmental impact of the entire industry — from the corn grown to feed cows to trucks that deliver milk to grocers. Farmers and others in the dairy industry can then use that information to assess how their decisions add up. “Engaging the dairy producers is the most important thing on this project,” said lead researcher Matt Ruark, a UW-Madison assistant professor and extension soil scientist. “There is a public demand for milk. But cows don’t just produce milk, they also produce manure and methane.” Klessig, whose family owns a cheese-making business along with its dairy farm, said farmers are eager for such information because their success depends on making good choices that they can explain to customers. “We hear it from our customers at the creamery,” he said. “It’s not that we’re organic or we’re not organic. They actually want to understand what we’re doing.”
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THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 • PAGE 23
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PAGE 24 • SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
Don’t throw it out USE IT IN THE GARDEN Story and photos by The Associated Press
L
ooking for a cheaper way to fertilize flowers or keep pests at bay? A better tool for planting tiny seeds? The answers may lie in your home, where common household items like coffee grounds or old pie tins can become easy, eco-friendly tools to give your garden a boost without breaking the bank. Turn old boots or shoes into planters, or reuse packing peanuts by laying them at the bottom of large flower pots to aid in drainage and make for lighter lifting, suggests Stacy Tornio, editor of Birds & Blooms magazine. “You can take anything you have and upcycle it,” she says. Some simple, easy ways to repurpose household items for a bargain backyard:
CREATIVE CONTAINERS
It’s easy to spend a fortune on pots and vases. But one easy way to start “upcycling” in the garden is by planting herbs, flowers and houseplants in everything from worn boots to old teapots and even bathroom sinks. “They contribute a touch of whimsy and even a ‘settled’ look to a garden scene,” Tornio says. Cristin Frank, a 38-year-old author and gardening blogger from Williamsville, N.Y., uses yogurt cups and other recyclable plastic containers as small pots for her “starter” plants in the spring. Old take-out coffee cups serve as starter watering cans with their smaller, perforated plastic tops. Birdbaths can also be made from household items like an old glass light shade mounted on copper tubing. Justin Cave, an Atlanta-based landscaper and former host of HGTV’s “Ground Breakers,” recently turned old This undated publicity photo provided by Birdsandblooms.com shows shipping pallets into a vertical garden by covering the backs old hosiery that is soft and flexible and can be used to tie up floppy and sides with landscape fabric, stuffing them with dirt, and plants or anchor vines without causing damage as they grow. planting succulents and flowers in the slated openings. “It turned out awesome, and was very cost-effective,” he says.
Even something as innocuous as old nylons can be reused in the backyard to tie up TOOLS OF THE TRADE floppy plants or line the bottom of pots In need of some new garden tools? Save yourself a trip to the hardware store and check your kitchen drawers. so water can get through but dirt cannot. Table utensils like spoons, forks and knives are tough and Packing peanuts are also a good drainage sharp enough to do many gardening jobs without causing damage, according to Tornio. medium, and lighten the load when large Use them to separate flats, lift seedlings and tease apart pots need to be moved around. dense root balls. Knives can also make a slim path for tiny seeds to fall into.
Tornio says she’s also seen people repurpose utensils as garden markers and borders for flower beds. Even something as innocuous as old nylons can be reused in the backyard to tie up floppy plants or line the bottom of pots so water can get through but dirt cannot. Packing peanuts are also a good drainage medium, and lighten the load when large pots need to be moved around, Tornio says.
HOMEMADE REMEDIES
Old wives’ tales abound for solving all kinds of garden problems, from pesky deer to acidic soil, but many of them actually work. And much of what you need may be sitting in your kitchen and bathroom cabinets. Coffee grounds, for example, can be sprinkled at the bottom of any plant to improve drainage in clay soils, and especially plants that like rich, moist organic soils like azaleas and blueberries, Tornio says. Tornio says soap can keep deer from feasting on trees and plants. She suggests breaking a bar of soap into pieces and hanging them from strings or in old nylons or net bags on trees or other structures near prime deer feeding areas. The scent could also keep other pests away. Terry Grahl, founder and CEO of the Michigan-based nonprofit Enchanted Makeovers, uses the guts left over from her husband’s fishing trips as fertilizer for her gardens. Finely crushed egg shells can be used as compost or a way to add calcium to soils, while larger pieces keep snails and slugs at bay, according to Florida’s Manatee County Extension Service.
WHIMSICAL DECOR
Household items can also add a touch of whimsy to garden decor. Use an old musical instrument like a tuba to build a water fountain, or create a “bottle garden” by placing empty soda bottles over tree branches with your kids, says Sara Jenkins-Sutton, vice president of Chicago-based garden and floral design firm Topiarius Urban Garden. “When your cheese grater starts to turn rusty, turn it over, hang it on a deck and fill it with flowers, plants or outdoor chalk,” she suggests. Scatter vintage chairs or old farm equipment throughout your garden to add height and depth, and make a funky wind chime out of old wine bottles. Worried about your reused junk looking like, well, junk? Tornio suggests covering old containers with wallpaper or tying a ribbon around them to freshen them up and keep your front stoop looking good.
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013 • PAGE 25
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News &
THE STAR PRESS & THE PALLADIUM-ITEM
NOTES
Crop-damaging pest found in South Dakota
PIERRE, S.D. — A pest that feeds on fresh fruit has been found in South Dakota for the first time. South Dakota State University entomologist Buyung Hadi caught the spotted-wing drosophila in a trap in southeastern South Dakota late last month, the Capital Journal reported. The insect is about 3 millimeters long, yellowish brown in color with prominent red eyes. Males have dark spots on their wing tips. The pest native to Asia was first found in the U.S. in 2008 in California and has since spread to other parts of the country. It was first detected in Minnesota last summer and in North Dakota earlier this summer in cherries from the Carrington Research Extension Center. Unlike some other fruit flies that prefer rotted fruit, the spotted-wing drosophila feeds on fresh fruit such as strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and blueberries. The fly is a concern not only for commercial fruit growers but also for home gardeners, according to Hadi. “It won’t be as much of a big deal in South Dakota as it is in Minnesota and Michigan because of the amount of fruit production that we have,” he said. The bugs can be controlled by insecticides.
More Minnesota farms relying on irrigation ST. PAUL, Minn. — Alan Peterson is among a growing number of Minnesota farmers are relying on irrigation to ensure they can produce a crop when the weather turns dry. His 18 irrigators don’t reach all parts of his fields near Clear Lake in Sherburne County. So when he recently shucked an ear of corn from one of those dusty patches, it had only about a dozen kernels. That’s not surprising given that his last good rain fell July 9. “I’ve got 240 acres of irrigated corn and 100 acres of dry-land corn,” Peterson said. “If I had 340 acres of all dry land, I wouldn’t be combining hardly any corn this year.” So far this year, farmers have applied for 466 irrigation permits, Minnesota Public Radio reported. That’s more than twice the number in all of last year. There’s not enough data yet to show whether irrigation threatens groundwater supplies in some areas of Minnesota, said Jason Moeckel, who oversees the monitoring and analysis of water resources for the Department of Natural Resources. But he said he’s concerned about the cumulative impact because so many of the applications are coming from the same area.
SC’s largest solar farm planned near coast WALTERBORO, S.C. — South Carolina’s largest solar farm is being planned in Colleton County. The state-owned utility Santee Cooper said it is working with the Central Electric Power Cooperative and the state’s electric co-ops to construct the facility. The new solar farm is expected to generate 3,000 kilowatts of electricity. Ron Calcaterra with the Central Electric Power Cooperative says solar technology has come a long way in recent years. But Calcaterra says there are still some challenges, including that solar power is not on all the time because the sun is not always shining.
— From the Associated Press
According to a USDA rule scheduled to be published in the Federal Register, the shipments will help give shoppers an option to buy domestic avocados during winter months, when most grocery stores stock avocados from Mexico instead. Growers mostly on the Big Island and Maui produce roughly 1 million pounds of the fruit each year, but until now they have only been able to sell within the state, said Tom Benton, president of the Hawaii Avocado Association. Farmers sell 1 million pounds of avocados — about $700,000 worth — to stores and restaurants, said Benton, who runs a coffee and avocado farm on the Big Island that produces about 25,000 pounds of avocados per year. “It has the potential of becoming a very strong part of Hawaii agriculture,” Benton said. “I feel we could easily be on par with coffee or macadamia nuts or any other section of Hawaii agriculture.” Sharwil avocados are different from the Haas variety popular in many grocery stores. Sharwil avocados are larger, often rounder, and still hard to the touch when they’re ripe. But fans of the fruit in Hawaii tout them as superior to Haas in taste.
Cranberry grower concerns alter mosquito spraying GRANTS PASS, Ore. — Complaints from cranberry growers concerned about pesticides tainting their crops have prompted Coos County commissioners to adjust their plans for aerial spraying to control mosquitoes on the Southern Oregon coast. The commission voted to go ahead with plans to spray a granular pesticide on more than 300 acres of the Bandon Marsh National Wildlife Refuge to kill mosquito larvae. But Chairman John Sweet says cranberry growers raised concerns that contamination from pesticides would make it impossible to sell their crops, which are about to be harvested. So the county decided to cancel plans for spraying a different pesticide to kill adult mosquitoes on 10,000 acres outside the refuge. “Cranberry bogs are so prevalent in the area that it would take a large area out of the spray area,” Sweet said. “State Parks also came to us. (Bullards Beach State Park campground) is full. They don’t want spraying to take place over large portions of the park,” he said. “There also was a lot of pushback from people who have organic gardens and other reasons against spraying. We thought we should pay attention to those people as well.” Newly restored marshes on the refuge have been blamed for a massive infestation of mosquitoes around Bandon by creating large areas of stagnant water where mosquito larvae breed. Conservationists also objected to widespread spraying of pesticides that can kill crabs, shrimp, crawdads and fish.
Schools seen as big market for W.Va. farm products
FARMLAND LOCKER, INC.
KINGWOOD, W.Va. — West Virginia officials are promoting schools as a lucrative market for the state’s farmers. State agriculture and education officials plan to start a statewide Farm to School initiative at a luncheon at Preston High School. Cafeteria lunches will include “West Virginia Grown” hamburger, broccoli, potatoes and hamburger buns made from locally grown and ground wheat. The school plans to have West Virginia-grown items on the menu every day in the school year. Agriculture officials are working with local farmers to produce cold-weather crops and to ensure adequate meat production to meet school needs. Agriculture Commissioner Walt Helmick says farmers have an untapped market in county school systems. Those school systems spend about $100 million each year feeding students. Most of that is spent on goods produced outside West Virginia.
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USDA to let Hawaii ship avocados to mainland US HONOLULU — Guacamole connoisseurs around the U.S. will soon have a new domestic avocado to try — not from California or Florida, but Hawaii. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is changing its rules for Hawaii growers to allow them to ship Sharwil avocados to 32 mainland U.S. states and the District of Columbia between November and March.
Farming news from around the country
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Delaware County Fair Grounds
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Farmers Market at Minnetrista
Meet Indiana farmers and growers who provide fresh, quality food options for our community’s families. Discover flavorsome, healthy finds all year long in a fun and relaxing Market atmosphere. New this season! Purchase a Market Card to receive weekly Farmers Market vendor offers & discounts in The Orchard Shop at Minnetrista. Outdoors - May through October Saturdays, 8 a.m. to Noon Wednesdays, 3:30 to 6 p.m. Indoors - November 15, December 21 9 a.m. to Noon
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