Farm Indiana | January 2016 by AIM Media Indiana

JANUARY 2016

Rural Living & Local Food

Smart Harvests Matt and Lisa Burke take a studied approach to farming

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Lush Leaf Farm Growing Places Indy Michaela Farm

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A monthly publication of AIM Media Indiana, Farm Indiana offers the local news and views of Indiana’s farming world, including features about local families and their farms, agriculture businesses, equipment and technological advances, educational outreach programs and more. Farm Indiana promotes and celebrates Indiana’s rich history and tradition in farming; serves as a conduit of information among growers, producers, farmers, retailers, farming organizations and local food consumers; educates readers about the nutritional, social and financial importance of local food support and consumption; and highlights Indiana local foods and agritourism.

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PUBLISHER Chuck Wells EDITOR Sherri Lynn Dugger CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nate Brownlee, Katherine Coplen, Katie Glick, Cheryl Carter Jones, Jim Mayfield, Jeffrey Meitrodt, Jon Shoulders, Ryan Trares, Twinkle VanWinkle, Catherine Whittier, CJ Woodring COPY EDITOR Katharine Smith SENIOR GRAPHIC ARTIST Margo Wininger ADVERTISING ART DIRECTOR Amanda Waltz ADVERTISING DESIGN

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Comments, story ideas, events and suggestions should be sent to Sherri Lynn Dugger, The Republic, 333 Second St., Columbus, IN 47201, call (812) 379-5608 or email farmindiana@aimmediaindiana.com. To advertise, contact Mike Rossetti at (812) 379-5764 or mrossetti@aimmediaindiana.com. To subscribe to Farm Indiana, call (800) 435-5601. 12 issues (1 year) will be delivered to your home for $24. Back issues may also be purchased for $5 per issue.

Contents JANUARY 2016

5 Field Notes Tips and advice

6 Spencer Farm 10 The Farming Engineers 14 Michaela Farm 18 Lush Leaf Farm 22 Growing Places Indy 26 Ag Jobs 28 Rushville Consolidated

High School FFA

32 Tragic Harvest

36 USDA Grants 38 From the Field Columns by growers

44 Local Food Marrow

46 Continuing Education

ON THE COVER

Read more about Matt and Lisa Burke on page 10. Photo by Josh Marshall

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EDITOR’S NOTE

This Adorable Life

RECENTLY, I POSTED A PICTURE to our Farm Indiana Facebook and Twitter pages with a request that readers participate in a project with me. I hoped that people might post pictures showing the less “glamorous” side of farming. This idea came to me thanks to a couple of recent text messages I had exchanged with a friend of mine. I’d sent her a text to ask a random question, and she quickly responded with an offhand comment about how she had been thinking about me lately. When I asked what she’d been thinking about, she again quickly responded: “Oh, just about your adorable life.” I assumed she was referencing the life my husband and I lead out here in the country, the parts of life that I show my friends on Facebook at least. I make no secret of my love for being here, with my husband and our animals, the changing seasons, the sunsets, the sunrises, the warm summer nights and the winter snows. Given how Facebook is, however, people rarely see the uglier side of this adorable life. Every day on the farm is filled with moments that aren’t so lovely. Some things are difficult to capture in a photo, like the occasional arguments

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

my husband and I have over how best to wrangle a chicken or alpaca who won’t behave, the freezing cold that creeps into your bones at 6 a.m. when you’re standing in the goat barn trying to get everyone up and moving so you can get to work, or the smell of skunk that permeates your home when your dog, Adelle, gets sprayed in the face and carries that aroma back inside, despite your best efforts to contain her. (I’m describing how our house smells at this very moment.) So I figured — for transparency’s sake — I would start posting pictures of some of the other moments that this adorable life affords my husband, Randy, and me. When I came up with this idea, I instantly thought back to the many moments that I’d lost by not photographing them along the way. I pictured my muddy boots and grass-stained clothes, the many dead voles and baby bunnies, the piles of alpaca droppings that have needed regular shoveling and the chicken coop cleanings that have left me wondering if I’d ever really even lived before experiencing something so vile. Make no mistake: Posting pictures like this will be fun for me. I hate to see dead animals (even if I know it will help our garden harvest next summer) just as much as the next guy (and likely more), but I still hold tight to the random, unexpected and oftentimes mud-covered moments of this adorable life. Dead voles, rooster attacks, aching backs and all.

FIELD NOTES

BY CATHERINE WHITTIER

Succession Planning

W Here and below: Will Schakel’s Great Pyrenees.

Protecting Livestock Predators like coyotes, stray dogs and coydogs, a cross between a coyote and a domestic dog, are a threat to livestock, explains Will Schakel, ag program assistant at the Purdue Extension office in Rush County. Guard animals, such as llamas, donkeys and guard dogs, can offer life-saving protection. Schakel has raised Great Pyrenees dogs for 35 years and sells pups to be used as livestock guardians. While most of his dogs have been utilized to protect sheep and goats, he has also sent pups all over the United States to be used for the protection of horses, cattle, turkeys and white-tailed deer, among others. “They can be used for protecting all classes of livestock,” he says. Great Pyrenees have a natural instinct to be protective, says Schakel. “They can stay with their livestock all the time or perhaps be around the farmstead part of the time.” The setting of the farm determines how to best utilize the dog. In order for pups to bond and become accustomed to sheep or goats, they must be put out in the field at 8 to 10 weeks of age. If the dog is put out with livestock at 6 to 8 months old, when they are more playful, they could have trouble adapting, he explains. Schakel recommends that owners set up a small area for the puppy within the livestock pen. “This is an area that the dog can get in to, but that other animals cannot,” he explains. “We are trying to do two things: get the dog bonded to a class of livestock and also get those animals used to the dog.” The small area for the dog is utilized until everyone gets used to one another. For further information, call (765) 345-5711.

WINTRY DAYS in January and February are a great time to do much needed or neglected paperwork, planning and organizing. Establishing or updating the farm family succession plan is an essential task that can provide a great sense of peace and security once accomplished. Many families find it difficult to begin the succession planning process and don’t know how to start the necessary conversations, explains Amanda Dickson, agriculture and natural resource educator at the Purdue Extension office in Morgan County. “The great thing about succession planning is that there is a definite start and end to the process. You can do bits and pieces, here and there, to create your plan,” says Dickson. “There is no right or wrong way to do it, because every family situation is different.” She offers some excellent tips and outlines best practices to begin the family succession planning process: “There are five main parts of a succession plan,” says Dickson. The first step in developing an estate plan is for the first generation to decide what their goals are for the estate. They will need to determine: If they will sell to someone outside the family, donate to charity or sell or give to heirs. Will they transfer manage-

ment and ownership of the farm over several years or all at once? The next step is to share those goals with important family members, who are most likely the future heirs. It’s important to understand the goals of the future heirs: Will they come back to the farm, remain off the farm or be a partner? Finally, after everyone is on the same page regarding estate and transfer goals, an estate plan will need to be established. Gather necessary documents, determine titled and non-titled property dispersion goals, finalize the plan with an attorney, and have another meeting with the family to share the plan. The Purdue Succession Planning Team offers help through its two-day regional workshops on farm family succession planning during January and February. Workshops include one-on-one counseling. Upcoming Seminars on Succession Planning: Planning for the Transfer of Farm Ownership and Management for January take place in Seymour at the Jackson County Building on Jan. 12 and 13 and in Wabash at the REMC Community Building on Jan. 26 and 27. Registration is due two weeks prior to program. Fee: $150 for first four family members; each additional member costs $15. For more information, call (765) 342-1010. FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

hallowed GROUND Kyle and Lori Spencer hope to grow the best Indiana has to offer BY RYAN TRARES | PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOSH MARSHALL

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

WHEN KYLE SPENCER started his small berry farm in Hamilton County, he didn’t know he was founding a new family tradition. He and his wife, Lori, had just married when they decided to plant 10 acres of strawberries. Since that first plot, they have worked side-by-side. Their three children, now adults, also helped in the fields or in the farm market as they grew. All left to attend Purdue University, but have slowly gravitated back to help at times. “You can’t put words to what it’s like having them all want to be around the farm,” Kyle Spencer says. “It’s something you always hope, but it’s the Lord’s will what will happen.” From that original plot, Spencer Farm has grown to a 35-acre operation that specializes in berries, early spring crops such as rhubarb and asparagus, a pickyour-own pumpkin patch and in-ground mums.

Kyle and Lori Spencer and their son, Mark.

The farm has become an agritourism destination in the Noblesville area and after more than 30 years has evolved into the type of business that the Spencers hope stays in the family for generations. “It’s been a blessing beyond measure, in terms of family involvement, community support, everyone’s involvement,” Spencer says. Sitting on the front porch of his rural Noblesville home, he has ample time to talk, now that he’s come to the tail end of the farm season. With the pick-yourown pumpkin patch done for the year and the pre-cut Christmas trees not yet ready for sale, he can catch his breath and reassess for the coming year. This is the end of Spencer Farm’s 34th growing season. Looking out over the grounds, he easily sums up what led him to agriculture in the first place. “I’ve always loved growing things,” he says. “It was as simple as that.” FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

as a career. The plan was to be a teacher, he says, but there were doubts. “He asked me if that was what I really wanted to do,” he says. “I told him I wanted to teach, but that I really wanted to farm.” The next day, the farmer took him to a field of strawberries near the sheep operation, suggesting that the fruit could be an accessible way for him to start farming. After discussing it with his father, Spencer started investigating what it would take to start a farm. He connected with other growers and agricultural experts about the soil, conditions and planting schedule. He graduated from Purdue in 1982, and that same year he married Lori and they started the small 10-acre strawberry patch on rented ground.

A 1930s barn on the property. Right: Strawberries leftover from the growing season. Bottom: Rows of strawberries are covered with straw to protect them through the winter.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Spencer Farm wasn’t handed down through the family, but Spencer did have some exposure to the agricultural life as a child. His grandmother operated a small farm in Greene County with hogs, cattle, corn and beans. He grew up in Florida until he was 12 years old and the family moved back to Indiana. But every summer, he’d visit his grandmother’s farm. “I just loved it,” he says. “It was part of me.” Spencer put himself through college at Purdue University by shearing sheep in Hazleton, getting them ready for the Kentucky State Fair. It was at the end of the summer, just as he was about to start his junior year of school, that the farmer he worked for asked him what he wanted to do

Spencer began teaching agriculture at Hamilton Heights Junior High School. The couple continued growing berries for about three years. “A lot of people say they couldn’t work with their spouse,” Spencer says. “But it’s been a blessing for us.” Eventually, the same friend renting land to Spencer approached him with an offer to sell 80 acres to them on contract. Though they only farm 35 of those acres, the extra land allowed them to grow blueberries, red raspberries, black raspberries, pumpkins and mums — the main products they offer today. Crop rotation at the farm each year starts with asparagus and rhubarb in the spring, before the strawberries come into season in mid-May. By the end of June, black

The Spencer Farm shop.

raspberries and blueberries are ready. The field-bloom mums near their peaks in late summer, before the pumpkins, gourds and apples bring in the public for a traditional autumn farm experience. Growing berries and other produce comes with the same challenges that a row crop farmer has to deal with, Spencer says. He battles drought and rainy weather. He has to work to prevent insects, slugs and mice from eating his crops, and he watches for diseases that might attack his plants. The farm shuts down after Halloween, only accepting orders for homemade pumpkin, rhubarb, cherry, apple and other pies for Thanksgiving. Then on the day after Thanksgiving, people can start picking out pre-cut Christmas trees. Spencer Farm teams up with another Noblesville operation, Mannix Farm, to sell the trees. Eventually, choose-and-cut trees will be available on Spencer Farm, but that operation is still in its infancy, he says. “We’re not a bells-and-whistles place,” Spencer says. “We try to keep it neat, tidy and clean, which is important when you’re growing food, but there’s not much more to it. If you want time out in the country to learn how things are raised and see how things are raised, to see the best products that Indiana has to offer, we hope we’re doing that.” Kyle and Lori are still the primary operators of the farm. But that could change in the coming years, Spencer says. Their

middle child, daughter Nicki Fix, has shown interest in returning after her husband retires from the Air Force. Youngest child, Carrie Stephens, hopes to help with tours and other jobs in addition to her job as a second-grade teacher. Mark Spencer, their eldest, left a career in commercial real estate in Chicago and advertising in Indianapolis before returning to the farm full time. His influence is apparent to anyone who visits. He added acres of grapevines along the farm’s gravel drive. “We’re excited about the vineyard,” Spencer says. “He’s taken the farm production-wise to a whole new level.”

Spencer Farm FOUNDED: OWNERS:

Kyle and Lori Spencer

LOCATION: SIZE:

1982 7177 E. 161st St., Noblesville

About 35 acres of produce

PRODUCTS: Asparagus, rhubarb, strawberries, black and red raspberries, blueberries, field-grown mums, pumpkins and gourds.

The farm recently planted a vineyard to grow grapes, though the extent of the operation and what they’ll do with it is still undetermined.

FUTURE PROJECTS:

INFORMATION:

spencerberryfarm.com

4329 N. U.S. 31, Seymour, IN 47274

812-522-5199 MON-FRI 7 A.M. - 5 P.M.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

DIGGING DEEPER To Lisa and Matt Burke, farming comes with a learning curve

By Ryan Trares Photography by Josh Marshall

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Lisa Burke. Top right: Matt Burke. Top bottom: the Burkes’ daughter, Cassandra, sits in the warm car.

HILE TRAINING as engineers, Matt and Lisa Burke learned that every problem had a solution — and a precise methodology using mathematical equations and physical properties to find that solution. If only that same approach extended to their work in agriculture. Farming, instead, has been less about precision and more about “putting in the time, experimenting and learning,” Lisa says. “We didn’t grow up on a farm, so there’s a whole learning curve.” What started as a small patch of vegetables in the couple’s backyard has grown into a produce-and-poultry operation the Burkes call The Farming Engineers. They feature products ranging from juicy heirloom tomatoes and kale, arugula and other greens to pasture-raised chickens, all on a 38-acre plot of land in southern Clinton County.

Matt still works as a software engineer in Carmel, while Lisa does the majority of the farming. She never envisioned when studying to be an engineer that she’d eventually spend her days plodding through the mud, digging in the dirt and cultivating a diverse slate of crops. But seven years into their agricultural venture, they can’t imagine doing anything different. “It’s (farming) a disease that’s infected me and will never leave,” Lisa explains. “There’s a farmer I know who’s in his late 70s, whose wife asks him every year when he’ll retire. He always considers it, until the seed catalogs arrive.” Matt, 37, and Lisa, 38, went to RoseHulman Institute of Technology in Terre

Haute to study engineering. Matt specialized in software, while Lisa was a mechanical engineer. After graduation, they married and bought a house in Noblesville. In their new backyard, they began to garden. And the vegetable garden got bigger every year. When Lisa decided to sell some of what she grew at local farmers markets, she started with garlic. “We went and sold it (garlic) for a couple of weeks at the Carmel Farmers Market,” she says. “We sold it all and thought that maybe we could do it as a business.” Lisa had worked in engineering after graduation, but then gravitated to a few other careers, including a job at a garden FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Matt Burke. Opposite page: Lisa Burke and farmhand Devin George harvest produce.

center, which solidified her desire to work in agriculture. When friends inquired about purchasing their existing house, the Burkes decided to try finding a farm of their own. They settled on the land in Clinton County. The location allowed Matt to commute easily to his job with software developer GitHub in Carmel. Surrounding their small farmhouse, a farming operation has taken shape. Their first hoop house (greenhouse) went up in 2010. A second was built one year later, and the third erected in 2014. The Farming Engineers One hoop house WHAT: A produce and poultry was built to hold operation specializing in raised beds and rows distinctive heirloom vegetables of greens that sprout throughout the and pasture-raised poultry. winter. Though the WHERE: Pickard, southern structure isn’t heated, Clinton County temperatures are warm enough to alWHO: Lisa and Matt Burke low tomato plants to WHERE TO FIND THEM: start growing in late Indy Winter Farmers Market February. “We can grow perfect toma9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturdays toes and have them starting Jan. 16, Maker’s Trail, ready by the Fourth Circle City Industrial Complex, 1125 of July,” Lisa says. E. Brookside Ave., Indianapolis Another greenCarmel Farmers Market house serves as a chicken shelter 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays through March during cold weather. 12, Wilfong Pavilion at Founders Park, Their chickens run 11675 Hazel Dell Parkway, Carmel free most of the year INFORMATION: in a five-acre pasture burkefarm.wordpress.com but are relocated to the greenhouse for the winter. The year is a constant rotation of planting and harvesting. Between February and October, they’re always planting something. Harvest takes place from June through the following March or April. “People don’t realize how much work it is,” Lisa says. “Everyone loves the idea of having a garden, but when you’re out in the dirt … you rethink that.” In between working on the crops, the Burkes home-school their children, 9-yearold Oliver and 3-year-old Cassandra. Both 12

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Rural Living & Local Food

children have taken to farm life, helping to pick veggies with their parents. The couple’s produce is sold exclusively at farmers markets throughout the area. Since their hoop houses and covered crop rows allow for year-round growing, they offer off-season vegetables such as rainbow carrots, beets, turnips and purple and green broccoli at winter markets in Indianapolis and Carmel. The pair focuses on selling their distinctive and heirloom vegetables in Carmel, Noblesville and at the Farm to Fork market in Indianapolis during the summer. Lisa has successfully raised purple-and-yellow striped beans, as well as giant varieties of kohlrabi that sometimes fill half a table. “I’m always tempted to keep a count of how many people ask about the kohlrabi,” Matt says. “Everyone asks what it is.” Since starting the operation in 2008, the Burkes have learned something new about how to produce successful yields with each new season. They’ve determined where the

property drains and which sections of the farm are higher and thus stay drier during the wet seasons. They also have learned to process their chickens themselves, mostly by reading a book about butchering. Lisa is taking a workshop from Michigan State University on growing food in high-tunnel hoop houses to maximize the farm’s production. Expansion is a possibility, though that would require the construction of more infrastructure, such as digging a well or a pond for irrigation. That’s something the Burkes say they aren’t ready to do yet. They may also investigate looking at selling wholesale in the central Indiana produce market, though that again is not in the immediate future. As relatively new farmers, their education in agriculture remains an ongoing and ever-changing process. And, like all good engineers, Lisa and Matt Burke “never stop adjusting and changing what we do,” she says. FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

field mission

Duties at Oldenburgâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Michaela Farm are of a higher order By Jim Mayfield | Photography by Josh Marshall

A prayer walk at Michaela Farm.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Michaela Farm’s offerings. Below, Sister Peg Maher.

A RED-TAILED HAWK was giving Michaela Farm manager Chris Merkel fits. The bird has recently mounted a successful aerial campaign against a portion of the farm’s chicken flock that is temporarily fenced atop one of the rolling hills in southeast Indiana’s Oldenburg. The hawk has been on the farm for years, but it’s never been a nuisance before, and Merkel, a big, bearded, soft-spoken Batesville kid who never wanted to do anything but farm, couldn’t figure it out. But instead of putting a shotgun or other anti-hawk defense system in play, Merkel decided to take a walk outside and have a talk with the boss. “I asked God to help me understand what was going on,” he said. Sometimes, you have to think outside the box. He actually broke the chain of command, given that his immediate superiors who own the place are the Sisters of St. Francis in Oldenburg, who’ve been around since 1851. It was then that Sister Theresa Hackelmeier traveled from Vienna, Austria, by ship, boat and buggy to Oldenburg at the request of Father Francis Rudolf, the mission pastor at Oldenburg’s Holy Family Church, the spires of which still scratch the soft underbelly of the clouds and mark the town from a distance. Originally charged to educate and care for local children who had been orphaned by an 1847 cholera epidemic, the order’s ministry now extends to several states, including Native American schools in New Mexico and Montana. To feed the operation, a farm was established in 1854, named after Mother Michaela, one of the original sisters of the order who joined Hackelmeier in the early days and who served as the farm’s manager for 18 years. Given that God’s plan lies at the heart of the operation, Merkel’s decision to go straight to the top didn’t ruffle any feathers, and he got his answer. Seems last year some bird feeders were moved and trees cut back that eliminated the hawk’s pre-existing natural food source near the farm store. A hawk’s got to eat, however, so it started swooping down on the chickens.

Merkel’s move to re-establish the bird feeders away from the flock to protect all creatures concerned falls directly in line with the Franciscans’ values. “As Franciscans we are deeply committed to taking care of the Earth and creation,” said Sister Peg Maher, the farm’s planning coordinator. The sisters believe all the natural bases can be covered without sacrificing one for another. It’s the way they do business. “Care of creation is their mission,” Merkel said. “It’s what the sisters live for.” A one-time sprawling operation, taking in over 400 acres of farm and pasture land and providing food and sustenance for 500 at its peak in the 1960s, the farm has cut back to 276 acres with a

mission to provide healthy food to the community, Maher said. A variety of produce is grown using natural, sustainable farming practices, and this year Merkel is experimenting with overwintering carrots in addition to the spinach and lettuce sprouting beneath the low grow tunnels over the plant rows. Though the farm does not claim to be certified organic, “we follow organic standards almost to a T,” Merkel said. Instead of using pesticides, the farm employs companion planting with plant varieties that attract the good bugs and repel the bad, and neither the Rhode Island Red egg layers nor the 74-head herd of Devonbeefalo cross cattle are given antibiotics or growth stimulants. Evan Divine, who works as a district conservation officer in Franklin County for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, said Michaela Farm is a snapshot of everything good about southern Indiana agriculture. Divine’s office has partnered with the farm and other agencies on improvement projects there and hosts field days on the farm to educate other farmers and landowners on the finer points of sustainable farming. “It’s a nice place to have in Franklin County and a great resource,” Divine said. It’s certainly a good resource for local beef and produce, drawing customers from Cincinnati to Indianapolis. The majority of the farm’s bounty is now sold to the public via the farm store located in the big, 100-year-old red barn and through its community supported agriculture (CSA) outlet in the spring and fall. Kathy Moistner makes the 30-minute run each week from Versailles to pick up her share of the fall CSA. This year the CSA FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Clockwise from left: Equipment is stored throughout the winter season in the 100-yearold barn that was uncharacteristically built with bricks and built-in windows for the time period. Michaela Farm entrance. Emma Salatin stocks a fridge in the farmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s store. The three steeples of Oldenburg can be seen from the Michaela Farm property. Calves out to pasture are fattened before being processed. Farm manager Chris Merkel.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

pulled in about two dozen participants during the summer and 19 for the fall, said Emma Salatin, the farm’s head gardener, whose work more than pleased Moistner. “It was much more than I had hoped for,” she said of the fall’s CSA benefits. “My husband and I decided to be a little bit healthier, and this has been a good boost. I would tell anyone about this.” For over 160 years, on and off, Michaela Farm has been feeding the flock at its own pace in its own way. The farm’s business card fairly sums up the process: “Don’t get ahead of God, do God’s work at God’s pace, which is slower than we’re used to.” As the farm begins to slow for winter, Merkel and the three-member full-time staff begin thinking ahead to spring seedlings in the greenhouse, another growing season and next year’s CSA. The hawk isn’t so much of a worry now. That issue is being handled by a higher authority. For information about Michaela Farm, its CSA, volunteer and donation opportunities, visit oldenburgfranciscans.org.

Left: Storage barn with tractors. Right: The farmhouse where one of the sisters resides also contains the farm office.

Year End e

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

By Jim Mayfield Photography by Josh Marshall

Staying Power Hancock County’s Lush Leaf Farm produces a year-round crop

Lush Leaf’s lettuces, packed for delivery. Right, top to bottom: Two layers of plastic help insulate the greenhouse. Lettuce roots. Various tools inside Lush Leaf’s greenhouse.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Tony Barnett gathers lettuce.

WITH THE INDIANA GROWING season all but over, Tony Barnett stands squarely under an overcast sky in the middle of his lettuce crop that will produce 1,000 head at week’s end. Unhinged from regular seasonal cycles by a 3,000-square-foot greenhouse covered by two walls of poly-plastic, Barnett’s Lush Leaf Farm churns out six varieties of lettuce that include Romaine, bib and butter without implements or dirt. The plants, protruding through 10-by20-inch foam board trays, start their fourweek life cycle conventionally as potted

seedlings but advance to maturity floating in nutrient-laden growing beds in Hancock County’s only hydroponic lettuce farm. Now in his eighth year as a hydroponic farmer, Barnett moved his growing operation from his Centerville roots to Hancock County about two years ago. Lettuce is his core crop, though he experiments occasionally with other leafy produce. “Lettuce and leafy greens fit really well into the hydroponic system,” Barnett said. “And there are a lot of advantages. We don’t use pesticides or weed killers, so there’s no spraying.

There’s also not much worrying about the weather, either. “We’ve done all right,” Barnett said. “We started small, played around with it some and made it through the freezes and droughts.” Lush Leaf Farm sprouted from Barnett’s abiding interest in growing and gardening, cultivated by his father, who was an organic gardener. The business end of the idea struck Barnett while working for Traders Point Creamery’s sales and distribution arm in Zionsville. There the 33-year-old grower saw a burgeoning demand for naturally grown, locally sourced food firsthand. FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Now he’s selling his own lettuce, primarily to local restaurants and chefs, schools in Madison and Hancock counties and even the Indianapolis Zoo, where root-laden plants are special favorites among the primate population. “They love it primarily due to the fact that technically it’s a live plant,” Barnett said. “The nutritionists love it because the roots are still on it.” The humor that his lettuce is admired as much by area chefs as it is by local orangutans is not lost on him. “The nutritionists at the zoo say everybody (orangutans) just loves it,” he said. Tree-dwellers aside, Angie Reed, manager of Tyner Pond Farm’s The Mug in Greenfield, has been sourcing the restaurant’s lettuce from Lush Leaf since opening day. “It’s part of our effort to support local farmers,” Reed said. “We source as much as we can from local farmers.” The fact that Lush Leaf produces lettuce virtually year-round is also a big advantage, Reed said.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

“Chefs want consistency,” Barnett said. And the market for his lettuce remains solid. “We’ve found on the commercial side, (hydroponic) lettuce is a totally viable crop in Indiana by hitting it hard 10 or 12 months a year,” he said. On the one hand, it could be argued that Lush Leaf’s operation is far simpler than conventional farming. There’s no shed full of tractors, implements and other farming machinery; no plowing or tilling; no spraying or fertilizing. But as with all farms, there’s more to it than meets the eye. “It’s one of those things where some people see the glass half full and others see it half empty,” said Hancock County Purdue Extension educator Roy Ballard, who has worked closely with Barnett’s hydroponic operation. “It’s a pretty specialized business and not something you enter into lightly,” Ballard said.

Barnett wraps the roots of the lettuce before delivery. Inset: A mix of lettuces floats in a nutrient-rich bed of water.

Barnett enters his Greenfield greenhouse.

Though a hydroponic farm does not require the soil work and inputs of conventional agriculture, growing sans dirt places the nutrient burden solely on the farmer. “Soil provides a lot of buffering and background nutrients,” Ballard said. “With hydroponics, those nutrients aren’t there unless you provide it. There’s a good bit of science to it, and a lot can go wrong in a short period of time.” Barnett acknowledges that if he lets up even briefly, he’ll feel the effects in production at some point during the growing cycle. Though the recycled rain water the plants float in is purified by an ultraviolet filter, the plastic roof keeps the room 30 to 40 degrees warmer than the ambient temperature outside, and large fans draw fresh air into the growing area, there’s a lot to do and plenty to keep an eye on.

Barnett is currently hanging rows of grow lights from the greenhouse skeleton to improve the daily growing cycle and will install a third growing bed once that project is completed. The third bed should take his weekly yield to 1,500 heads of lettuce, and there’s still the old greenhouse in Centerville that can be called into operation as business improves. Barnett said he has considered and may experiment with other crops, but for the present, lettuce and leafy greens are his core business. And business is good. Ballard said he’s seen a number of hydroponic farming operation startups come through the area, but few remain. It’s not as easy as it looks. “The fact that (Lush Leaf) is still here is a pretty good statement in itself,” Ballard said. “That’s pretty good staying power.”

For more information, visit lushleaffarm.com.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

TARA STROHL PHOTOGRAPHY

CITY ROOTS

The Hendersons with their daughter, Aanika.

Tyler and Laura Henderson unearthed the power of agriculture in Indianapolis BY JON SHOULDERS

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

GROWING PLACES INDY, an Indianapolis-based, nonprofit organization specializing in urban farming and healthy lifestyles, could be fittingly defined as organic — not only for describing the farming methods of the organization, but also for how it came into existence in the first place. “It was very casual,” says Tyler Henderson, who co-founded Growing Places Indy with his wife, Laura, and currently serves as farm manager. The couple arrived in Indianapolis in 2006 after spending two years in Norway, Finland and Portugal, and promptly befriended several farmers and restaurant proprietors throughout central Indiana. “We were a little bit frustrated and disappointed about the lack of innovative things happening both in general and around food in this area back then,” Tyler recalls. “Eventually I very casually mentioned to some restaurant owners that it would be fun to have their own gardens. I have a job where I travel around the world a lot, and I increasingly see restaurants with their own on-site gardens.” By 2009, Laura, a native of Louisville, Kentucky, and Tyler, who hails from northeastern Ohio, had helped the owners of a few local establishments in cultivating their own micro-gardens

Sky farm at Eskenazi Health

around Indianapolis, including sites at R Bistro restaurant and Goose the Market, a specialty food and wine market. During that same year, the Hendersons were asked to build and maintain a garden at White River State Park, which Tyler says was operational by 2010 and served as a template for the subsequent urban farm and garden projects Growing Places Indy has developed throughout the city. In 2008, Laura also founded the Indy Winter Farmers Market — now in its eighth season — to give Indy residents year-round access

to locally grown food and improve relationships between local farmers and the central Indiana community. “We realized the power of having farms and farm-related projects in very high-traffic urban areas, and that ended up being our model — doing public farms and farm training,” Tyler says. “That’s really the model that we operate off of, so we don’t pay rent to be anywhere. All of this led to various partnerships, one being at Eskenazi Health for their rooftop farm, one being in the Cottage Home district where we

KELLEY JORDAN PHOTOGRAPHY

have a slow food garden, one being at the Chase Legacy Center and one with the Patachou restaurant group where we started their micro-farm at the Public Greens restaurant. We have both the production side of the farm, which I run, and then we have an educational side, which is what Laura runs.” Tyler says he and Laura personally funded the organization in its early days, and Growing Places Indy now relies on USDA grants as well as vegetable, fruit and flower sales to around 30 local restaurants for funding as a nonprofit operation. “From the beginning we had a CSA (community supported agriculture) program and a farm stand, and we also sold at a farmers market and to restaurants, and all of that remains what we do,” he says, adding that the organization’s presence at the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center in India-

Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center

Clockwise: The micro-farm at Public Greens on the Monon Trail. Garden at White River State Park. U-Pick garden at Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center.

napolis includes a 13,000-square-foot farm that operates as a U-pick produce location from June until September, as well as a 1,000-square-foot greenhouse with produce crops that are transplanted as needed to the organization’s four additional farm and garden sites throughout the city. As executive director, Laura says one of her primary goals is to promote the idea that mental and physical fitness, environmental awareness and healthy eating are interdependent elements. “We have a motto, which is ‘Grow well, eat well, live well, be well,’ and in order to have a vibrant, healthy and thriving community of individuals it takes all of those things — not only farms, gardens and sustainable agriculture principles, but also mindfulness of our bodies and surroundings, which is where our meditation and yoga classes come in,” she says. “Wellness and nutrition and the environment are all interconnected.” Growing Places Indy’s yoga classes are led by volunteer teachers from yoga studios across Indianapolis and are offered free of charge. One hundred percent of encouraged donations from attendees are put directly toward a price matching program for recipients FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Growing Places Indy’s five farm locations around Indianapolis serve many functions, including cultivation of the 60plus varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs that are eventually distributed to restaurants throughout the city and offered through the organization’s 10-week CSA program. However, farm manager Tyler Henderson stresses that an equally important purpose for each site is to spark conversations among city residents. “The hope is that these sites, which are seen by so many people just by being located in these busy urban areas, generate talk and questions about food, growing and what it means for health,” he says. “If it gets people interested in starting their own gardens in their backyards, that’s a positive outcome.”

Farm and greenhouse at the Chase Near Eastside Legacy Center WHAT IT IS: A multipurpose growing site featuring 13,000 square feet of U-pick farm space (open to the public from June through September), 2,500 square feet of raised garden beds and a 1,000-square-foot produce greenhouse. LOCATION: 727 N. Oriental St. YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2012

Micro-farm at Public Greens restaurant WHAT IT IS: A small-scale produce growing site used for the Public Greens kitchen and for the Patachou Foundation, a nonprofit organization aimed toward feeding disadvantaged children throughout Indianapolis. LOCATION: 902 E. 64th St. (on the Monon Trail in Broad Ripple, between 64th and 65th streets) YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2014

Garden at White River State Park WHAT IT IS: Approximately 6,000 square feet of growing space used for cultivating a wide variety of produce and as a pickup site for the Growing Places Indy community supported agriculture (CSA) program. LOCATION: 801 W. Washington St. YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2010

Sky farm at Eskenazi Health WHAT IT IS: A 5,000-square-foot garden on the rooftop of the Eskenazi Health Outpatient Care Center, used as an educational space and produce growing site for Eskenazi Health’s eateries and nutrition classes. LOCATION: 720 Eskenazi Ave. YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2014

Garden at Cottage Home WHAT IT IS: A 2,200-square-foot microfarm in Indianapolis’s Cottage Home neighborhood, used for produce that is sold to local restaurants and used for Growing Places Indy’s CSA program. LOCATION: 504 N. Oriental St. YEAR ESTABLISHED: 2012

For more information on Growing Places Indy’s urban farms, ongoing educational opportunities and summer apprenticeship program, visit growingplacesindy.org.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Laura Henderson with Aanika at White River State Park’s garden.

of the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which allows eligible individuals and families to use an Electronic Benefits Transfer card to purchase food, plants and seeds at participating farmers markets, farm stands and groceries. The Indy “This is going to Winter Farmers be the next wave Market and of farming — Growing Places community-centered Indy’s summer farm stand at gardens, rooftop the Chase Near farming, all of it.” Eastside Legacy —TYLER HENDERSON Center accept $10 maximum price matching for all SNAP customers, which class donations help to fund. Since 2009, a handful of applicants has been chosen each year for Growing Places Indy’s summer apprenticeship program, during which participants learn the basics of small-scale crop cultivation, lead youth education programs, attend yoga and meditation sessions and work to improve Growing Places Indy’s continuing partnerships with community organizations. “The youngest this year was 20, and we also had a 65-yearold,” Laura says. “We even had an apprentice from Israel who had met a former apprentice who was traveling in Israel and decided she

would come to the U.S. for the summer and apply to the program. We now usually get 50 to 60 applications for 10 spots, and the first year we had four spots and had a hard time filling those. It’s so nice to see that it’s come so far.” Tyler says the growing interest he has seen in urban farming and locally grown food throughout Indianapolis reflects a nationwide trend that will likely continue to increase in the coming years. “This is going to be the next wave of farming — communitycentered gardens, rooftop farming, all of it,” he says. “None of us at Growing Places grew up on farms or anything. I got started by just growing food in my backyard, and little did I know it would turn into this. You now have city people who want to live in the city and have all of the amenities and the conveniences, but also want to have an agricultural life. I’m excited about it.”

KELLEY JORDAN PHOTOGRAPHY

Tyler Henderson. Far right: The Indy Winter Farmers Market.

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Purdue students prepare for a variety of careers in agriculture.

In fact, the best ag-related careers might be yet to come, according to Julie Tesch, executive director for the Washington, D.C.-based American Farm Bureau Foundation for Agriculture. “There are so many jobs that aren’t even created yet, that by 2050 we won’t even recognize them, I believe,” Tesch says. “When you look back at the industry, even tractors have changed. And who thought we’d have drones?”

Career-Minded

Non-traditional agricultural job options continue to take root BY CJ WOODRING

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

IF YOUR IMAGE of an agricultural life is an overalls-clad farmer riding a John Deere into the sunset, it’s time to think again. Today’s ag-related workers rarely — if ever — set foot on a farm. The field of ag-related careers is as wide ranging as animal nutrition, ag law enforcement, cheese-making, entomology, meat and poultry inspection, winemaking and water well drilling. Overall, there are more than 300 such careers, with educational requirements that range from a high school diploma to a doctoral degree. And although most don’t contribute to growing and processing food, each plays a role in and contributes to the overall agricultural industry. This is good news at a time when projected world growth will demand increased food production, farmland has decreased in many countries and the average United States farmer is older than 50.

EDUCATION AND OUTREACH Indiana is the ninth most productive ag state in the nation. Because agriculture contributes at least $25 billion to Hoosier State coffers, according to the Indiana Business Research Center, off-farm ag opportunities are plentiful and in demand whether for students beginning a career, older farmers who want to transition or entrepreneurs seeking startups. Purdue University, a global leader in agricultural sciences programs, provides many options for individuals seeking a degree. The West Lafayette-based school turns out a trained, highly skilled workforce intended to fill nearly 58,000 jobs that will open annually in the United States in ag-related occupations, according to a May 2015 report by Purdue’s College of Agriculture. Kenneth Foster and Bernard Engel head the school’s agricultural economics and agricultural and biological engineering departments, respectively. Foster says a majority of his students go into sales, marketing and retailing, pursuing careers such as fertilizer and seed sales, grocery store management and food processing plant management. “Well over 98 percent of our students have a job within weeks of graduation,” he says. Fewer than 10 of more than 100 students who graduate each year return to traditional farming, he says. Foster says improving our ability to collect and analyze data is of growing importance in the agricultural field, which includes a better understanding of what consumers want, along with their nutritional needs. “We need to improve food production, reduce food waste and improve the cost of effectively developing products and getting them into use without loss, while keeping it affordable to the broad range of humanity,” he says. “We also need people who are good at developing and envisioning technology that can improve food production.” Students should develop non-academic skills, he says: communication, teamwork, leadership and the ability to analyze from an objective view. Individuals with strong problem-solving skills are also in high demand. PHOTOS SUBMITTED

“It’s about combining quantitative analysis with a good understanding of humans and economic behavior, and those careers are on the upswing,” he says. Engel’s department prepares graduates to develop and manage technology-intensive agricultural production and processing systems through biological and agricultural engineering programs. “Areas of growth in these areas include design of agricultural machines, sustainable management of water systems and use of biological processes and engineering approaches to create products ranging from food to fuel to pharmaceuticals,” he says. “Today’s agriculture is not your father’s agriculture. The opportunities to use science, engineering and technology to address the challenge of feeding the planet in a sustainable manner are amazing.” While many students have an interest in farming, “most are not positioned to do so, given the large capital investment requirements and other factors,” he says. “However, many find fulltime career opportunities in agribusinesses aligned to support farmers, such as co-ops and other product — BERNARD ENGEL and service providers. “I would expect this trend to continue as some farm sizes continue to grow and more technology is deployed in these operations.” Students focused on STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics), he says, find work in careers related to and outside agriculture, solving challenging problems in areas such as food processing, manufacturing of products from agricultural and biological materials, and use of biological processes. “One of our groups of students, which has been in demand, pursues courses in management,” Engel says. “An interesting, even more futurelooking opportunity may lie in synthetic biology.” There also are many ag career paths to follow that don’t begin in a university classroom. And although a majority doesn’t involve growing food, each career supports those who do. “College is not for everyone,” Tesch says. “You can’t do a one-size-fits-all. There are ag careers that don’t require degrees and that make good money. We have to remind ourselves that students need to grow what they’re good at and love to do.”

“One of the things we do is let our students know there are more than 300 non-farm careers and a ton more in the industry as a whole,” says Kristy Meyer, communications manager for the National FFA Organization. “While production farming remains a large part of it, there are still a lot of other pieces we need and that they can look into, such as wildlife management or aquaculture, and that’s what we’re sharing in classes. “We’ve really been stressing the diversity of agriculture careers and think that’s what’s driving interest,” she adds. “We want to impress upon them that agriculture is all around us and touches our lives every single day, so they can understand the importance of it in our lives.” PARTNERS IN PRODUCTION Projected world growth — from 7 billion people today to 9 billion by 2050 — will demand as much food production within the next 40 years as was produced within the previous 8,000 years, according to FFA. At the same time, farmland acreage has decreased, the age of the average U.S. farmer is 58.3 years, according to the USDA’s 2012 Census of Agriculture, and fewer young people are returning to their farm homestead. Along with the American Farm Bureau Foundation, FFA is helping to offset those deficits. Operational since 1928, FFA is an intercurricular organization for students interested in agriculture and leadership. Today’s membership boasts nearly 630,000 members in Grades 7 through 12 who belong to one of 7,665 local FFA chapters. “I believe our future is bright,” says Meyer. “A definite interest is being shown, and I’m hoping this generation can work together to supply the food.” Although the amount of land dedicated to farming has decreased by at least 25 percent since 1950, Tesch cites USDA figures in the Farm Bureau’s most recent “Food and Farm Facts” that note in 2005 one farmer fed 143 people annually. Today, one farmer feeds 168 people. “So we’re getting more efficient and gaining more production out of our land through technology and science, and need to continue to do that,” she says. Ag-related, non-farm careers can help in meeting the challenge, she says. “Young people

“Today’s agriculture is not your father’s agriculture. The opportunities to use science, engineering and technology to address the challenge of feeding the planet in a sustainable manner are amazing.”

are very excited about the industry, and more than 65,000 people attended last year’s National FFA Convention & Expo, a record attendance.” Beginning in 2016 (event dates are Oct. 19 to 22) and through 2024, Indianapolis will host the annual convention. The American Farm Bureau plays an integral role in introducing students to traditional and non-traditional agriculture careers through Ag in the Classroom, which is offered to students K-12. Lessons and materials are offered at no charge to schools, community groups and other nonprofit entities. Tesch says each state runs its program differently, a majority working through their state Farm Bureau, land-grant university or department of agriculture. “We work hand in hand with them,” she says, “and increasingly are being asked to create programs.” “We’re looking forward to working with business departments and the FFA on how to market these jobs and getting students excited about these careers at a young age. “It’s especially important to find ways to work with local and state-level programs, such as the 4-H, which is where we have the most impact. “We realize that a large majority of farmers need income off the farm,” Tesch adds. “A majority of businesses in the rural community support agriculture, and we think we’ve done a good job within the last several years in helping students know about those non-farm jobs. Now we need to get that message out to more people.” Mindsets need to change, she says, because many people involved in agriculture don’t view their job as ag-related. For example, careers in forestry, agronomy, ag journalism and photography, landscape design and equine massage therapy are among those that fall under the agricultural umbrella. “In food processing, you have a majority in the business who don’t necessarily think of themselves in the ag business but in the food business,” Tesch says. “Consumers relate more to the food production label than agriculture, but I’ve seen a change in the last few years, where they’re beginning to rethink this.” Overall, growing off-the-farm ag careers is about understanding that nearly any chosen career path, whether or not degreed, can result in a bumper crop. As Purdue’s Engel notes: “There is such a diverse set of opportunities in agriculture that nearly everyone can find opportunities of interest, especially if they are willing to keep an open mind with respect to how they view and define agriculture.” FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

In the Classroom Local FFA chapters

Photographic Memories The bright futures of Rushville Consolidated High School FFA members all start with a ceremonial portrait By Catherine Whittier Photography by Josh Marshall

A photograph of the Rushville Consolidated High School FFA class of 2015-16, which hangs on display in the school’s agricultural building.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

EACH YEAR, FFA MEMBERS at Rushville Consolidated High School in Rush County proudly don their official jackets to pose for a group portrait, which is then added to a long line of photos on display in the hall of the agriculture building. The annual photo, taken during a formal initiation ceremony, is one of many traditions the chapter maintains. “It’s meant to be special,” says Blair Orme, who has been teaching agriculture at RCHS for 27 years. A commitment to FFA promises to be life-changing, and the initiation ceremony celebrates that commitment, explains Orme. “New members get their jackets that day,” he says. “They zip them on for the very first time. We want that to be a highlight of their start here in FFA.”

After the ceremony, students are then encouraged to “find their niche,” says Quinn Wicker, FFA adviser. “We want them to try out different CDEs (career development events) to see what they like and what they don’t like.” Through hands-on experiences, RCHS ag students learn leadership principles, focusing on personal development, teamwork and professionalism while working toward the completion of several FFA degrees.

Varying Degrees As part of their strategy to train effective leaders, Rushville’s teachers stress the importance of setting and achieving goals, and ask students to focus on their end goals from the beginning. Students are encouraged to work their ways through the FFA degree program, with the hope that they will eventually complete the American FFA Degree, which is awarded to “members who have demonstrated the highest level of commitment to FFA and made significant accomplishments in their supervised agricultural experiences (SAEs),” according to the National FFA website. “The degree process is very much like a pyramid,” explains Orme. FFA members can earn several degrees, including Greenhand, Chapter and Hoosier degrees, before receiving the highly distinguished American FFA Degree. “This year, we had four students get their American degree,” Orme says. “It holds a tremendous amount of value for someone to receive that degree. … The American Degree is the final destination for those who hold the organization close.” As Orme and Wicker coach their students through the process, they teach leadership principles, oftentimes by example. “We try to model it (leadership) as instructors, but we also try to develop that in our students, not only through experiences, but by actually studying what leadership is and how that can be applied to their lives after high school,” Orme says. “Leadership never goes out of style.” Orme teaches his students that “all leaders are readers,” says Mason Gordon, an RCHS graduate who is now serving as the Indiana FFA state southern region vice president. “He always wanted us to read books on leadership, but he was always reading them right along with us. He …

taught us to pay attention to different leadership styles, so that we would grow in leadership potential.” Conference Notes Rushville FFA members have the opportunities to attend the State FFA Convention, the National FFA Convention and the Washington Leadership Conference, as well as various camps at the FFA Leadership Center in Trafalgar. All these events allow members to learn and grow as leaders, regardless of their areas of focus within FFA. Students learn about themselves at these events, Orme says, and that self-exploration, he adds, “is

worth a lot.” Students are taught how to interview, how to stand in front of a group and how to be a professional — “the kind of things that they don’t really get anywhere else.” While Orme and Wicker do take pride in the students’ accomplishments at these events, they both agree that winning competitions is less important than fostering individual growth. “I figure the same components that make a basketball team or a football team great help to make our FFA chapter good or great,” Orme says. “You have to have some discipline; you have to have some expectations; you, of course, have to have some practices. At the same time, it’s more about molding that individual and helping them understand what success is and allowing them to apply what they have learned.” While winning competitions may not be the motivating force behind all that happens within the Rushville FFA chapter, members do succeed in competition. The

Rushville FFA traditionally places in the top four in the state with its supervised agriculture experience projects. Members have also competed at the national level in every career development event category they pursued. Rushville FFA members won a national award for their annual “Operation Decoration” event, during which members decorated the school for National FFA Week to promote their chapter.

Above left: Quinn Wicker instructs students. Above right: A student cuts through metal with a torch. Left: Rushville Consolidated High School. Below: Blair Orme teaches an introduction to agriculture course.

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Students also plan and host an annual banquet that recognizes what they have accomplished throughout the year. “My favorite thing is the banquet we have every year,” says Emma Harpring, Rushville senior and FFA vice president. “We take the ceremony so seriously, and we prepare for three months. It definitely pays off.” A Historical Perspective A large black-and-white photo from 1940 hangs on the wall in Orme’s classroom. “1940 was the charter year,” he explains. “One thing we tried to look at really closely a couple of years ago was the actual history of the chapter and some of the people that helped to develop it into what it is today. It was an interesting journey to see who some of the key players were. … As they say: How do you know where you are going, if you don’t know where you have been?” 30

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Above: Katlyn Keim, Emma Harpring, Brooklyn Herbert, Jenna Geise, Brayton Schultz. Left: FFA students used dyes and glitter to decorate Poinsettias. Opposite page top to bottom: The first RCHS FFA chapter students. The first chapter’s certificate. The RCHS Lion with an FFA jacket.

Tradition plays a big role in the direction students take when they join FFA. “I do believe that if your chapter has a given tradition in an area, that kids tend to want to hold that tradition in place, and they want to be successful in it,” Orme says. “We have a lot of kids in this program whose fathers passed through it, and we’re getting to the point where some mothers passed through it, too.” Jenna Geise, freshman and Greenhand FFA member, won the Rushville chapter’s annual creed speaking competition. “The

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one reason I wanted to be in creed speaking is because my dad did creed speaking in FFA and he won,” she says. “He also won district and got to go on to state. I wanted to carry on that for our generation and be able to tell my kids about it.” “I believe that students can really refine themselves through FFA — especially through the Rushville FFA,” Wicker says. “When they come through here, I feel like they’ve matured. They can go out there and be great representatives of Rush County, of agriculture and of other things in their futures.” “The true laurels of this organization begin to emerge after you have quit wearing the jacket on your body and start wearing the memories on your heart,” Orme says, “and when you have a chance to look back on your accomplishments in this fine organization.”

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PART 2

Duane Fuglie stands with the 1947model Allis-Chalmers tractor that killed 24-year-old Jake Fuglie while he was plowing snow.

Tragic Harvest Unsafe tractors, rising risks By Jeffrey Meitrodt STAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS)(TNS)

Photos by Renee Jones Schneider STAR TRIBUNE (MINNEAPOLIS)(TNS)

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

Peter Stellpflug loved his Farmall 300. The vintage tractor didn’t go very fast, but Stellpflug liked to use it to putter around his hobby farm in Eyota, Minnesota. He grew up on a farm outside Rochester using the same type of machine. Built in the 1950s, the Farmall is known as a “tricycle” tractor because it features two small, close-set wheels made to fit between rows of planted crops. Such tractors are considered dangerously unstable. Typically they lack cabs to protect the farmer if they tip over. But the old machines remain popular. In October 2011, Stellpflug’s tractor rolled while he was mowing grass on a steep hill. He died from his injuries. “I hated that tractor,” said his widow, Tammy Stellpflug. “This is an accident that never should have happened.” Tractor rollovers have been the top cause of death on the family farm for decades, even though engineers long ago figured out how to build a safer machine. Roll bars and enclosed cabs that modern tractors come with greatly reduce the danger. Other countries insist on such rollover protective structures, as they are known. But the United States allows hundreds of thousands of older tractors to remain in use without the safeguards.

It also allows farmers to remove the safety features, and some do. “We know Europe virtually eliminated rollover deaths because of their insistence on rollover protection,” said Matt Keifer, director of the National Farm Medicine Center in Wisconsin. “I don’t know why it is taking so long for us to figure this out.” More than 1,700 U.S. farmworkers died in tractor accidents from 2003 to 2013, and the most common thing to go wrong was a rollover. Those accidents accounted for 40 percent of all tractor fatalities, including at least 30 in Minnesota. The majority of tractor deaths in Minnesota occurred on machines without rollover protection, records show. There is no doubt about the effectiveness of roll bars and cabs, which create a protective zone around an operator. According

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that cover other industries, has never taken to the National Institute for Occupational that step. Safety and Health, the devices are 99 perInstead, the decision to upgrade is being cent effective in preventing death or serious left to farmers. Many pass, even if they are injury in a tractor overturn when used with aware of the safety advantages, either bea seat belt. cause they can’t afford to make the change If every tractor in the United States had or because they think their skills offset any rollover protection, the institute predicts, dangers, studies in several states show. nearly 1,000 lives could be saved over the So far, only a few states have created pronext 10 years. grams to help farmers who Scientists, manufacturers want the technology, but and regulators have asked the efforts are underfunded the government to help. More than 1,700 and barely chipping away at But requests for tax breaks, U.S. farmworkers the problem. In Wisconsin, financial incentives or died in ractor where there are roughly tough new regulations have accidents from 100,000 tractors without the gone nowhere. Manufacdevices, it took two years to turers began voluntarily 2003 to 2013, and find enough donors to help putting rollover protection the most common modify 103 tractors. Like on new tractors in 1985, but thing to go wrong most states, the program 40 percent of the tractors was a rollover. receives no public money. in use on American farms Minnesota doesn’t have are older and still lack the a program, and farm advotechnology, according to cates said they are not pursuing one. federal estimates. “Our government has become progres“The theory was that the old, dangerous sively less likely to fund things like this,” said tractors would be cycled out of service, and Keifer, whose center is sponsoring the prowe’d be left with a fleet that’s safe,” said gram in Wisconsin. “It’s just not a priority.” John May, founder and longtime director of the New York Center for Agricultural Sometimes even repeat mishaps won’t Medicine and Health. “But not all of us break a farmer’s loyalty to a beloved tractor. believe that is going to happen.” Duane Fuglie paid $150 for his Upon requiring rollover protection for 1947-model Allis-Chalmers tractor in 1969. new tractors, other countries have typically He re-engineered the machine so he can given farmers five to 10 years to retrofit olddrive backward, with the big wheels in er machines. But the United States, where front and the tiny ones in back. farmers are often exempt from regulations

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Gayle Lund walks by a cross she put in her driveway where her son, Jake Fuglie, died in a tractor rollover in 2010.

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

The area where Brad Braun was moving hay to feed his horses when he tipped his tractor and was killed in 2014.

Some farmers believe such modifications make a tractor more dangerous. By 2010, Fuglie’s family members had tipped his vintage machine four times. But Fuglie stands by his tractor. He says it can handle a heavy load as well as a modern machine can. “You can’t make it idiot proof,” said Fuglie, who was involved in one of the incidents. “You can still screw up if you do the wrong thing.” Just before Thanksgiving 2010, his 24-year-old grandson, Jake, borrowed the tractor to plow 10 inches of snow from his mother’s driveway in Ulen, about a mile from his grandfather’s farm. But Jake got too close to the edge of the driveway and tipped on a gentle slope. “I don’t think he did anything wrong,” said Jake Schreiner, the only eyewitness. Jake Fuglie died at the scene. His mother, Gayle Lund, said she was always afraid that her son, who built grain bins for a living, would get killed while working 80 feet in the air. He would send her photos to prove he was wearing a har-

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The 1955 International Harvester that rolled over as 61-year-old Brad Braun was moving a bale of hay.

ness and other safety gear. She said Jake made sure that the 1976-model tractor he bought to farm her property came with a protective cab. Lund is furious that Duane Fuglie let her son drive a tractor that had tipped over four times. “If I had known about this, I never would have let that tractor on my farm,” Lund said. “It doesn’t happen four times by accident. … I blame the tractor completely. It is obviously unstable.” Despite their easy-to-tip design, old tractors make economic sense for many agricultural operations. With new machines often priced at $100,000 or more, farmers can pick up a vintage vehicle — with enough horsepower to get the work done — for a tenth of the cost or less. For Don Braun, who decided to get into farming at the age of 55 after retiring as a prison guard in St. Cloud, price was a major issue. He picked up several used tractors, the newest built in 1965, to raise crops on 120 acres that he and his wife purchased in Clear Lake. None of the tractors came with rollover protection. “I bought what I could afford,” Braun said. Though he now rents the land to some-

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one else, Braun — who is 90 — still lives on the farm and uses the tractors. In 2014, his 61-year-old son, Brad, used his father’s 1952 International Harvester to move a 1,200-pound bale of hay. The machine tipped over, landed on him and killed him. Don Braun said his son should have lowered the bale before driving it down a dirt road with a slight incline, but he was in a hurry to get out of town to go on a cattle drive. “It was just carelessness,” said Braun, who bought the tractor 10 years ago for $3,000. It was the second time Brad rolled the International Harvester. The first accident left him with three cracked vertebrae, Braun said. Braun said his son’s fatal crash showed him the value of rollover protection, since it likely would have prevented Brad from being crushed. But he said he can’t afford it. Braun figures it would cost him about $2,400 to modify all three of his tractors. Many farmers can’t justify that kind of expense. “You’d never get that much money out of it,” said Braun, who intends to spend about $600 to repair the International Harvester that killed his son. “Maybe you save a life, yes, but I don’t think it would be worth it for the amount of use they get.”

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Small Investments Beginning farmers listen to presentations at a recent informational session at Redbud Farm.

LDER FARMERS, fewer farms and new farmers: It’s a national malaise. And one that doesn’t bode well at a time when a burgeoning population demands increased food production. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 Ag Census, the number of farms in the United States decreased 4.3 percent from 2007 to 2012. The number of beginning farmers decreased by 20 percent. In addition, the average age of a U.S. farmer is 58.3 years, continuing a 30year trend in which ages have increased. To encourage more — and perhaps younger — individuals to start small farms, Purdue University applied for and was awarded a three-year grant through the USDA’s Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development Program. The $681,046 grant — Purdue provided a 25 percent match — is an initiative of the $956 billion Agriculture Act of 2014. One of its highlights is to institute provisions related to small, beginning farmers and ranchers (0 to 10 years’ experience), minority farmers, socially disadvantaged farmers and disabled veterans. Specific goals include making credit more readily available for new farmers and increasing the land price ceiling for the Down Payment Loan Program, according to the National Young Farmers Coalition. In the past, these processes, routinely in place for the average American business owner, have been unavailable to individuals in agriculture, as have resources and information on marketing, development and growth. Awarded in late 2014, the grant began

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

USDA grant targets small farmers and military veterans BY CJ WOODRING

in January 2015 and will end in December 2017. As the first year ends, team members, which include representatives of the Local Growers’ Guild and Indiana AgrAbility, have combined experience, education and enthusiasm to create a dream team, grounded in reality. “We did a number of things this year, including six farm tours held throughout the state,” says Kevin Gibson, botany and plant pathology professor at Purdue University and lead investigator on the grant. “In morning sessions, participants learned about subjects such as marketing their products or having interns work on their farm. After the morning session, we toured an established local farm.” Gibson says each tour averaged more than 30 participants, for a congregate number of 180 to 200 attendees. “This year (2015) farmers and Extension educators went on a field trip to a Michigan farm. We also offered a field trip for educators — a team of Purdue’s faculty and staff plus 10 Extension educators — who partnered with the Local Growers’ Guild and with AgrAbility to coordinate tours and develop programs.” Tours may include a commercial farm and are not limited to new farmers, allowing growers at all levels to interact, network and form new, lasting friendships.

INDIANA AGRABILITY PROJECT

Initiated by Purdue University in 1979, Breaking New Ground was a forerunner of the Indiana AgrAbility Project, a component of the AgrAbility Program created by Congress in 1990. The USDA-sponsored program, still recognized by both names, assists farmers

there may be other aspects that draw them. “We don’t tell anyone they can’t do something. We may recommend they make some adjustments to do what they want to and can help them do a lot that some people thought they couldn’t do,” she says. “Overall, we’re marketing to whoever wants to farm, and we invite them to our programs and events and try to work with them.” Most important is just getting like-minded veterans to meet, whether or not disabled. “When we can get them together in the same room and talking about a mutual interest, it’s amazing to see the transition and their ability to create a network of friends they can talk to and help and be inspired by,” Chastain says. Tours will be held for another two years, at least, she says, adding that all veterans and family members are welcome to attend any event if they have even the slightest interest in farming.

and other agricultural workers with disabilities that range from amputations and arthritis to behavioral and military serviceinduced health and mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder. Cindy Chastain grew up on a farm near Crawfordsville and served in the Army for more than 30 years. As veteran/ farmer coordinator for Purdue-based AgrAbility, Chastain is tasked to make more veterans aware of the program, LOCAL GROWERS’ GUILD whether through press releases, a conCheryl Carter Jones is president of the tact list from the California-based Farm Local Growers’ Guild board of direcVeteran Coalition or word-of-mouth. tors and a member of the Indiana Grown “The veterans are out there; we just Initiative Commission, appointed by have to find them and let them know these the state’s lieutenant governor, as well programs exist,” she says. “Almost half of as a columnist for Farm Indiana. all veterans come from rural communities, She is also an eighth-generation Columand when they are discharged, generally bus farmer and semi-retired business concome back to that environment and that sultant. As such, Jones combines knowlbackground. Larger edge and expertise farming is out, for in coordinating farm financial reasons, tours and overseeing “Almost half of all veterans so small farming is “Ask a Farmer,” each come from rural communities, the niche market.” a component of the and when they are discharged, Whether veterans Beginning Farmer generally come back to are in their 60s and grant. “Ask a Farmer” served in Vietnam, or is an online resource that environment and are younger, post-9/11 that allows expethat background. Larger veterans, Chastain rienced farmers to farming is out, for financial says, the therapeutic respond to questions reasons, so small farming value of working outfrom beginning and is the niche market.” side with nature is unprospective farmers. —CINDY CHASTAIN deniable and invaluJones is thrilled able — and applies not that resources only to the disabled. for new farmShe says the program places no limiers are being put into place. tations on disabled individuals seeking “If somebody wants to get started in involvement. “For some, transitioning into farming anywhere, not just in Indiana, mainstream jobs may be more difficult; there are no resources or guidance, no others just have an interest in farming. Or one central place that can tell you how

PHOTO SUBMITTED

HEALING THROUGH FARMING

to be a farmer,” she says. “Much is trial “What we want to do is not only try and error and whether or not Mother to improve the infrastructure so that Nature looks on you favorably that year. Extension educators can continue the This is one place where people can go and work after the grant ends, but to increase attend events and get some answers.” access to education and educational Due to a rising need for more small material and develop community relafarms throughout the country, she says, the tionships that will provide support.” farm bill not only encourages small farm In 2016, he says, the team plans to double growth but has set a specific goal for estabthe number of farm tours to 12, offering lishing them throughout the United States. 10 for the public, which includes military So what is the face of the proveterans, and two specifically for veterans. spective new farmer? In addition, five workshops, one in each There are many, of Indiana’s five Purdue Jones says, among them Extension districts, will white-collar workbe presented for beginers disenchanted with ning farmers. A sixth “Farmland is very corporate life, seniors set workshop will take place expensive, and we don’t to retire and wanting to during the fourth anwant them going in on live off the land, young nual Indiana Small Farm a trial and error basis. college graduates hoping Conference, to be held This is one way we can to grow their own food, March 3 to 5 in Danville. help people whose and current farmers “We’re also planwho want to transition ning trips to a farm in heads are spinning to organic farming or Wisconsin and one in and they’re asking how diversify production. Maine. Trips are free do they even start.” “I have friends who and take about three to —CHERYL CARTER JONES are sick of the rat race five days ... something and want to do somelike that,” Gibson says, thing different, want to adding that they hope slow down their lives,” to have details for all she explains. “They opted for farming events ready by early February so parbecause it’s very soothing, which is why ticipants can plan their calendars. it’s so therapeutic for veterans who sufThe intent is to introduce particifer from PTSD or have had injuries.” pants to a wide diversity of farms, while But even while embracing the posalso allowing Purdue to venture out sibility of farming, most people have no and partner with other universities. idea of what the undertaking involves, “Different universities will have differshe says, or of variables that range from ent grants or focuses on research, so we’re soil and location to target markets. bringing back that information and sharing “Farmland is very expensive, and we it within the state, and often can adapt don’t want them going in on a trial and findings to Indiana,” Jones says. “This is a error basis,” Jones says. “This is one way we wonderful way to give back to our military can help people whose heads are spinning veterans, who have given so much for us.” and they’re asking how do they even start. Looking ahead to 2017, Gibson We’re trying to open their eyes so they can says they’ll repeat much of what will see what their opportunities are and get be done in 2016, continuing farm a little taste of what they’re getting into. tours and ongoing programs. Inter“We want to be the catalyst that ested beginning small farmers should empowers people to make decisions contact their local Purdue Extension ... based on what’s worked and what educator for information, he says. hasn’t worked,” she adds. “It really For information on small farm makes them think about things.” funding, visit the USDA National Gibson says the key words are infraAgricultural Library at ric.nal. structure, access and community. usda.gov/small-farm-funding.

SARA CREECH SERVED IN THE AIR FORCE as a surgical nurse during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Following deployment, she suffered from PTSD and in 2011 lost her husband, Charles, a former Air Force military pilot, to cancer. Creech turned to the healing nature of farming, founding Blue Yonder Organic Farm in 2012 to honor her late husband’s memory and fulfill the dream they’d shared. The therapeutic process, which began with developing a farm conservation program, helped the Michigan native cope with her loss and regain her life. Creech’s 43-acre North Salem farm, on which she grows produce and raises livestock, hosted the Purdue University grant program’s first veteran-owned farm tour. “There were about 40 veterans and families or significant others here,” Creech says. “It was great. Up until that time, I didn’t know there were other veterans doing similar things that I’m doing, because there was no real local organization that brought veterans and farmers together. Which is why I think it’s so powerful and helpful.” Since then, she says, she’s attended every farm tour. “We’re not only sharing experiences, but there’s the camaraderie, connections and resources, which are just as important, because in farming, you can’t do it by yourself.” Purdue educators, Extension agents and other farmers are good resources, but bonding with peers is especially beneficial, Creech says. “For me, there’s just something special about connecting with other veterans. It’s more than just meeting them; there’s an underlying shared experience. That’s why I was really excited about the focus on them in Indiana.” In 2013 Creech attended a training program, Armed to Farm, at the University of Arkansas. Presented by the National Center for Appropriate Technology, in partnership with the USDA Agricultural Research Service, Farmer Veteran Coalition, University of Arkansas, Growing Warriors and other organizations, Armed to Farm offers sustainable agriculture training for military veterans. The program is very similar in content and goals to Purdue’s USDA grant, Creech says, but there was nothing comparable in the Hoosier State at that time. “Nationally, there’s a huge trickle down movement, but it hadn’t really trickled down to Indiana yet,” she says. “I’d researched everything on the Internet, including the Purdue site, and couldn’t find anything. Then the Purdue small farm conference started, and I met a few people from there at that point. “The program is super beneficial. Before this, I had to go into Illinois for all of my training. So we’re now actually providing this locally, and there’s not much out there other than this, so it’s really exciting.” Creech also cites Homegrown by Heroes, which displays labels on products grown, raised and produced by veterans. Several state Departments of Agriculture have partnered with Homegrown by Heroes through the Farmer Veteran Coalition to promote the HBH label. States that have, thus far, developed labels are Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina. “There are a lot of veterans who are interested in getting involved in farming,” Creech says, “whether to provide for their family, be more self-sufficient or just to get into agriculture. A lot of them have exciting ideas and are just getting started. There’s something healing about the land.”

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

FROM THE FIELD

Understanding Indiana Grown BY CHERYL CARTER JONES

INDIANA WAS lagging behind most other states in offering a robust statewide local food initiative when our Legislature unanimously voted for a new Indiana Grown Commission to be formed. The new Indiana Grown brand was the result of an initiative originally conceived in 2012 as a cooperative effort among farmers, processors, retailers, wholesalers, restaurants and the Indiana State Department of Agriculture to promote products produced and grown by the Hoosier agriculture industry. The new branding serves as a certification

program through which producers and retailers can apply for permission to clearly label, and thereby help consumers more easily identify, locally grown products, including produce, meat, beer and wine, dairy and nonedibles, such as flowers, household supplies and wood products. I have served on the Indiana Grown Commission for the past year, and I am proud to say Indiana’s program is surging ahead of other states with technology available to help Hoosier consumers locate locally grown food. Now, the challenge is to make sure every Hoosier understands what exactly is available.

THE LABELS There are four labels that consumers will see on local food produced by Indiana Grown members. Knowing the difference and the various ways in which the labels are used will allow consumers to be more informed about their purchases.

1 234

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

When you see this label, you may be assured that your product was grown in Indiana. It does not indicate the growing or production practices of the farmer, but simply shows that the food is grown here. Let’s say a farmer grows tomatoes in Indiana. If that farmer does nothing more to those tomatoes, they carry this label. Indiana Grown members are encouraged to incorporate this logo into their own label, which may offer the consumer even more information about specific growing practices, such as whether the item is organic or naturally grown. If you attend a local farmers market, you may notice that some vendors offer some products with the Indiana Grown label and some without it. This distinguishes the products they grow locally from those that they may purchase wholesale and truck into Indiana for resale.

This label is reserved for products that are grown, sourced and packaged only in Indiana. No ingredients come from outside our state, and all production practices take place here as well. If the same farmer who grows tomatoes (as we discussed in the Label 1 section) adds other ingredients to the tomatoes from his garden and makes salsa in his Indiana kitchen, then his product gets Label 2. Again, Indiana Grown members may incorporate the logo into their own labels, offering consumers even more information about product specifics on their customized labels.

This label identifies that 100 percent of the preparation of a product has occurred in the state. However, product ingredients may have been sourced from anywhere. For example, a canning company may truck vegetables in from another state, but the canning process all occurs within Indiana. If we use the example of our tomato farmer again, in this instance the farmer might make spaghetti sauce from the tomatoes. If that farmer adds ingredients such as ground beef that have an unknown origin or come from outside Indiana, then the farm can only use Label 3 because it is not 100 percent grown in Indiana. That said, while not all the product comes from Indiana, it is still supporting our state’s economy and is providing jobs for Hoosiers through its production.

There are many companies doing business in Indiana that are on the bandwagon to bring local food to Hoosier households. In order to use this label, those companies must be actively involved in marketing Indiana Grown products and members. Grocery stores, for instance, may have signage in one section of their produce area where they display the Indiana Grown sign, signifying which Indiana Grown products they have available.

Let us protect you... Why buy Indiana Grown products? My reason for starting a farm was to uphold a personal commitment to myself and my family to avoid foods grown with chemicals. These Indiana Grown labels empower everyone in the state to gain a greater knowledge of where their food comes from. The overall mission, beyond educating consumers on the importance of buying local, is to help Indiana farmers and producers have a greater market for their products and to support Indiana processors in their effort to process more Indiana Grown products. Indiana is the first state to offer a smartphone app, available for iOS and Android, which allows consumers to scan the bar code on Indiana Grown items to find information about the exact farm where the product was grown. This empowers consumers to know more about the food they buy — how it was raised and processed — and more about the farm where it was grown. As consumer demand increases for these locally grown products, local jobs will increase and more money will flood our local economy. Programs like Indiana Grown help to create and build sustainable communities. Indiana Grown member benefits The benefits to Indiana Grown members are just beginning to be realized. Currently, members have access to promotional support,

including sales and marketing resources. The Indiana Grown initiative is excelling at making connections between farmers and potential retail partners. It provides a means for retailers, restaurants and other partners throughout Indiana to identify the local food items that local growers and food providers offer. In general, Indiana Grown is creating a brand awareness and, most importantly, helping to increase the amount of local food on the dinner table in Hoosier households. The potential impact of the Indiana Grown initiative is great. The program offers a means for consumers to identify the source of their food, while impacting the local economy and helping to create new jobs and selling opportunities for Indiana Grown members. It provides an even greater branding opportunity for our agricultural products on a national and potentially international scale. Indiana is a state rich in agricultural heritage, and by buying locally, Indiana consumers are helping to preserve and build on that heritage. More about the Indiana Grown program may be found at indianagrown.org. Thanks to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture for delivering this program, especially State Director Ted McKinney, Assistant Director Melissa Rekeweg, and David King, program manager. And I would be remiss if I don’t also acknowledge my fellow commissioners for their time and commitment to seeing this initiative to fruition.

Cheryl Carter Jones is an Indiana farmer and the president of the Local Growers’ Guild, a cooperative of farmers, retailers and community members dedicated to strengthening the local food economy in central and southern Indiana through education, direct support and market connections. For more information on the guild, visit localgrowers.org.

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FROM THE FIELD

the winter

TO-DO LIST BY KATIE GLICK

I ALWAYS SEEM to find myself in conversations about our family farm. It usually just starts with “Where are you from?” or “Where do you live?” or “What do you do?” All of these questions are answered by using the words “farm” or “farmer.” Sometimes I’m just confirming to them that farmers actually do still exist and that someone might actually still be living and working on a farm. Other questions are simpler and somewhat reasonable because so many people are disconnected from farm life and from the source of their food. A friend once asked me, “What exactly do farmers do in the wintertime?” This question came a day after my husband and I had a conversation about things he would be doing in the next few weeks of winter. And his list was long. When most people think of farmers, they usually think of the springtime when farmers are planting and the fall when they are harvesting. However, there is a lot to do during every season, and not all the work happens in the fields. Every season has its own to-do list and every farmer has a to-do list. Some farms are more diversified than others, which means they have more than just crops or livestock. They may have both. In the winter, you have to check on your

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We Stock Them, We Install Them. few others: fix and prepare machinery, review last year’s financial and agronomic data, clean barns and shops, create a plan for next year’s planting season, buy seed for next year (happens throughout the year), review financial planning and future growth or diversification, work on year-end financials, monitor markets, sell grain, haul grain Katie Glick grew up on her family farm in and visit with landlords, Martinsville and now lives with her husband on their family farm near Columbus. She is a partners, customers, congraduate of Purdue University and has worked sultants, equipment dealers in Indiana politics. She now works in the and machinery dealers. agriculture industry. She shares her personal, Farmers have to review inwork, travel and farm life stories on her blog, surance, attend meetings to Fancy in the Country. learn about new production practices, new farm policies and new developments in the agriculture industry, review insurance and legal documents, livestock just like during every other catch up on a lot of farm magazines that season. The animals need to be fed, have piled up in the fall before their wives water and a warm barn just as you and throw them away, and complete random I need to be fed, have fresh water and jobs that weren’t finished during planting a warm home. Farmers and livestock or harvesting season. producers have to not only get out in Basically, there is no real off season the cold to put the hay or feed out for for farmers. Even though some farmers the animals, but they also have to check may not have as many things to do as their water supply. others, there is still work to be done and Our first year of marriage, we lived still a long winter to-do list. And most in a house with no central heat, just farmers are spending time prepping their baseboard heating in only one room farms for the next generation and teachof the house. We woke up one morning them about all the things they must ing, and the temperature was zero. My learn and do. farmer’s first concern was the cattle’s As I finish this, wrapped up in my water. He left me in the freezing house blanket, my farmer has come home from and was gone all day fixing their frozen his long day and countless things to do. and broken water supply. When he came He’s also covered in cow manure, so I home from being outside all day, I was must get up and tackle the never-ending wrapped in layers under a blanket with laundry that exists in a farmer’s house. a hat and gloves on my shivering body. But I’m reminded how blessed we are to His response to my shivering, “I think have a to-do list that is never complete. it’s warm in here!” The luxuries of living It means our family farm still exists and with a farmer are endless. — we hope — will continue to exist for Animals are not the only thing to care generations to come. for on the winter to-do list. Here are a

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FROM THE FIELD

THE VIEW AT NIGHTFALL

Death On The Farm BY NATE BROWNLEE

MY MOTHER-IN-LAW tells a story that is quite common. When she was young, she named her first cow “Hamburger.” For a lot of people who raise animals, it is important to remember that it is only a matter of time until the living creature that you feed and water, that you care for every day, will be killed to feed you and your family. When that day comes, sometimes you have to load your animal onto the trailer. It is either

After years of gaining experience on other farms, Nate Brownlee and his wife, Liz, moved back to Indiana to start their own family farm, which they named Nightfall Farm. Here, they share stories of the many trials, tribulations, successes and failures in running a family business. For more on Nightfall Farm, visit nightfallfarm.com.

hard because the animal doesn’t want to get on the trailer or it is hard because you know it trusts you enough to get on the trailer. If you are young, you might hide in your room until the truck with your animal is gone. Sometimes you have to pull the trigger to kill the animal yourself. Whatever your role, you are directly involved in the death of this animal. We raise animals at Nightfall Farm because we love animals. We do name some of our animals, but the day we must butcher them is never far from our minds. Butcher day is not a happy day for our animals or for us, and taking our animals to the butcher leaves a hole in our lives. Chores are different with fewer animals, and it takes awhile to get things back to normal. Going to the butcher means we have a product to sell, but it hurts to say goodbye to the animals we work with every day. “I could never do that.” I often hear this said in respect to what we do on our farm. Everyone knows that eating meat requires death, but most are a step removed from that death. Your dinner doesn’t look like an animal. And there are plenty of people (farmers) who will do the dirty work of raising, killing and selling you meat simply because not everyone can do that. And that is OK — it keeps us in business — but it doesn’t mean we enjoy every step of the process. We think it is important to remember where your dinner comes from and the sacrifices that were made in the process. We love connecting the dinner dots for the kids who visit our farm. This year, I gave a farm tour to a family with several boys. One of the boys petted a pig while asking lots of questions. I love questions, and eventually we started talking about why we raise pigs. While still petting the pig, he asked, “So you mean when I eat a ham sandwich, I’m eating

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

a pig?” And then he wanted to know how the pigs are killed. Some kids are sensitive to the death involved in raising and processing farm animals, but quite a few are curious because we so often avoid the topic. Our first farming mentor was willing to take us under his wing specifically because we acknowledged and talked about death. We were working as educators on a demonstration farm, and he noticed that every time we talked to visiting kids about farming, we directly addressed the topic of death. The farmer I worked for in New York had a young daughter who was fascinated with chicken butchering day. She would stand and watch the whole process, not shying away from the actual killing. She was interested in the colorful and shiny insides of a chicken, learning from the teamwork of the farm crew doing its job. We raise our animals to join our team. Rotating the animals around the pasture takes a lot of time, and that time we spend with them habituates them to our presence. They learn that having us around means that they are about to get access to fresh grass, to get new food or water. They get used to having us around and become easier to work with, to move into a new paddock or to load onto a trailer. But it does not end with the trailer. Though long since butchered and eaten, we still remember our animals because we care for them while they are on our farm. We often talk about the sheep named Jimmy and David Bowie, the pigs named Pete and Sweetheart and the turkey named Beaumont. We eventually kill all of the animals we love, but their death means something: Our farm is still around to provide quality, pasture-raised meat to our customers.

CONGRESS IN SESSION By Cissy Bowman

Conference season is coming soon and the Indiana Horticulture Congress has a great lineup this year. Hoosier Organic Marketing Education (HOME) hosts the organic sessions, and we also participate in joint sessions that will be of interest to everyone. There are social activities and great opportunities to network with other producers and professionals during this three-day event. Here is HOME’s 2016 lineup. We hope to see you there.

JAN. 19

JAN. 20

JAN. 21

9 to 10 a.m.

9:30 to 10 a.m.

9:30 to 10:15 a.m.

Cheryl Carter Jones, president of Indiana’s Local Growers’ Guild, a cooperative of farmers, retailers and community members dedicated to strengthening the local food economy in central and southern Indiana, will talk about LGG as well as about niche marketing.

10 to 11 a.m.

Jamie Petty Campbell from the Indiana Industrial Hemp Association will talk about the progress of the research of industrial hemp growth in Indiana.

11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

(with a lunch break at noon) HOME is joining the Food Safety Sessions, which will cover whether cellphones can help with food safety on organic farms.

3 to 4:30 p.m.

Purdue’s Lori Hoagland, from the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, will provide an introduction to soil health and soil tests.

4:30 to 6 p.m.

We adjourn and will be attending the “High Time with Purdue Hemp and Hops Social.”

Purdue’s Lori Hoagland and Liz Maynard, both of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture, and Suranjan Panigrahi, professor of electrical and computer engineering technology, will be speaking on technological perspectives for organic produce quality and safety.

10 to 10:30 a.m.

Indiana State Department of Agriculture’s David King will tell us about ISDA’s programs for organic and sustainable farmers.

10:30 a.m. to noon

A joint session, titled “We Are Here From the Government and Here to Help,” will include speakers from a variety of Indiana government agencies.

1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

HOME hosts a half-day workshop on transitioning to organics with Jessica Ervin, Jeff Evard and George Kalogridis from Ecocert/ICO, which issues certification for organic farming products, natural and organic cosmetics, organic textiles, fair trade and more. This session will cover production, regulations, funding and the growing markets for transitional crops.

Bob White from the Indiana Farm Bureau will discuss insurance needs for organic farmers.

10:45 a.m. to noon

Roy Ballard, state coordinator for North Central Region – Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, will give us an in-depth presentation on farmer/rancher grants through the NCR–SARE program.

1:30 to 4:30 p.m.

HOME will host a roundtable discussion that includes introductions to Sherri Dugger from Farm Indiana and value added producers, Amy and Alan McKamey of Heritage Meadows Farm and Caroline Rosa Kesten of De La Luna Farm.

We think this year’s programs will offer something of interest to all of Farm Indiana’s readers. For more information see inhortcongress. org or contact HOME at farmassistance@earthlink.net.

The founder and program director of Hoosier Organic Marketing Education, Cissy Bowman has been growing food organically since 1973 and on her current farm, Center Valley Organic Farm, since 1983. For more information on Hoosier Organic Marketing Education, email cvof@earthlink.net or call (317) 539-2753.

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FAMILY RESTAURANT FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

LOCAL FOOD

CHEF Q & A WITH

John Adams of Marrow BY TWINKLE VANWINKLE

For John Adams, entering the food industry was about more than just finding suitable employment. It was an epicurean epiphany. As young people often do, Adams tiptoed through many jobs before finding his true calling as a creator of glorious grub and opening his dream restaurant, Marrow, in Fountain Square in Indianapolis.

Why did you decide to become a chef?

It began with a trip in 2001 to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand with my uncle Dave and his husband, Nik, when I was 17. It exposed me to a whole new world of flavors and forced me to become an adventurous eater. When I came back, I had a couple of cooking jobs. … I decided to go to culinary school at the Arts Institute International Minnesota in Minneapolis. I got my feet wet at the Palomino and Cafe Barbette up there and came home to do my internship at Elements. After I graduated, I took jobs at H2O and Brugge, left to open Ruth’s Keystone Cafe. I was sous chef at L’Explorateur for a few years and went back to H2O and became the executive chef when it was sold. I opened Bluebeard in 2012, but left and moved to Louisville for a little while, working at Ed Lee’s Milkwood and then as chef de cuisine at Proof on Main. I came back and opened Plow & Anchor, took a little break and opened Marrow.

What’s at the heart of your passion for sharing locally grown and made products?

My passion for local products has to do with quality. Not just about quality of ingredients, but quality of relationships between local vendors and my restaurants. We are friends and partners in the food chain and strive to do things on a smaller scale, which have a larger impact on the world.

Marrow

FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

I’ve had a concept in my head of a sort of global barbecue or soul food concept for a few years after opening Bluebeard. I’ve been fascinated with Asian cuisine since my trip to southeast Asia as a teen. I honed my Asian and ethnic cooking styles at H2O and on weekends with my brother and friends (back when I had extra time.) I love to eat out at ethnic restaurants on my days off and wanted to create a place where a diner could experience all of those flavors under one roof, but with elevated service and … local ingredients. My philosophy is to explore the relationships between American soul food and immigrant and ethnic cuisines within the framework of a traditional soul food menu.

Do you have any specific connections to local farms or to Fountain Square?

I fell in love with the square when I was close by in Fletcher Place at Bluebeard. I have great connections with all of my local vendors. I’ve been working with them for years now. Specifically, I grew up with Eli and Genesis from Full Hand (Farm), and Eli’s dad used to run Harvestland. I’m good buddies with Matthew Jose of Big City (Farms) and Tyler and Laura Henderson of Growing Places Indy.

What’s your food philosophy?

1106 Prospect St., Indianapolis (317) 986-6752, marrowindy.com

So what’s different about Marrow than other places you’ve been a part of?

I like to respect the process. I take care to source responsibly and respect every process in preparation, cooking, executing and plating to come up with the best possible plate of food that I can. I like to put thoughtful twists on traditional foods and try to make some more obscure dishes feel more familiar.

John Adams

What about your experience and past has brought you to opening Marrow?

I put all of that knowledge and background into creating a menu that fulfills my love of world flavors. This is the food I would cook on my day off and encompasses a lot of my favorites from eating out at ethnic restaurants on my day off and food experiences I’ve had from my travels. It’s an uncompromising passion and dedication to the quality of food from the farm to the preparation, to the plate and to the customer’s experience. FOOD PHOTOS BY NATHAN BABB / HEADSHOT BY WHITNEY WILLIAMS

RECIPE

Lucky Loo Stew 1 pound frozen black-eyed peas ½ pound spicy Italian sausage ½ pound lean ground turkey 1 medium yellow onion, diced 1 celery rib, diced 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped 1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced 4 medium carrots, rinsed and diced 6 cups water or stock 1 bay leaf 2 teaspoons kosher salt 3 teaspoons fresh thyme 1 tablespoon black pepper Pinch cayenne 1 bunch kale, chopped 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Lucky You

BY TWINKLE VANWINKLE

Ringing in the New Year for some means giving up bad habits and kicking off a few good ones, like eating healthily and exercising more. Changing your diet can be easier and luckier than you think. Take this slow-cooker concoction, for instance. Lucky Loo Stew is loaded with veggies that are not only healthy, but rich with New Year’s Day lore. The stew is loaded with black-eyed peas, a country staple that’s chock full of nutrients as well as flavor. The history of black-eyed peas goes back centuries. First transported from West Africa on slave ships before spreading throughout the New World, black-eyed peas are said to carry luck with them. Many people eat black-eyed peas with their New Year’s Day supper to acquire good fortune along with their feast. For my elders, who passed down this tradition to me, eating peas on New Year’s Day symbolized an act of restraint and frugality for them, which in turn was thought to bring about prosperity the rest of the year. Whether I’ve experienced a surge in my bank account because I have eaten peas, I can’t rightly say. I do know, however, that I have never failed to cook and eat black-eyed peas and greens in some form every New Year’s Day. Just in case.

Twinkle VanWinkle is an Indianapolis-based food writer and experienced chef with Southern roots. She has more than 23 years of professional cooking under her apron strings and loves to share her unique perspective on food, foodways and culture with others. Needless to say, her family is very well-fed. PHOTOS BY TWINKLE VAN WINKLE

Rinse and drain the black-eyed peas. In a large cast iron or heavy-bottomed stainless steel pot, add the ground turkey and sausage. Cook on medium heat until the meat has browned. Remove meat from the pot with a slotted spoon and into a large bowl lined with a paper towel. This will soak up most of the grease. Leave a little — 1 to 2 teaspoons — in the pot for cooking down the vegetables. Turn the heat down to medium-low on your pan. Add the onion and celery and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, sweet potatoes and carrots and cook for one minute. Pour the water or stock into the pot. Slowly add the black-eyed peas and meat to the pot. Add spices and turn up to high and bring to a boil for about 30 seconds. Turn the heat back down to low, partially cover the pot and let contents cook for 30 to 45 minutes. To make the broth creamier, smash some of the peas with the back of a spoon on the side of the pot. Stir in the kale and vinegar and adjust seasonings to taste. Cook until the kale has wilted. Remove from heat and serve over cornbread. FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

CONTINUING EDUCATION

Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the

BUZZ? BY KATHERINE COPLEN Educational events slow down during the winter, but those looking to investigate keeping bees in 2016 have a variety of options to explore, including local clubs all over the state. There are even more beekeeping clubs included at indianabeekeeper. com/meetings.

JAN. 5 Indy Southside Beekeepers This beekeeping club meets on the third Tuesday of the month. Time: 7 p.m. Location: Franklin Township Civil League, 8822 Southeastern Ave., Indianapolis. Information: facebook. com/indysouthsidebeekeepers

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FARM INDIANA // JANUARY 2016

JAN. 5 Sugar Creek Beekeepers

JAN. 12 East Central Beekeepers

JAN. 16 West Central Beekeepers

Meeting is on the first Tuesday of the month. Time: 6:30 p.m. Location: Collom’s General Store, 8156 Bridgeton Road, Bridgeton. Information: cozynestfarm@gmail.com

Meeting on the second Tuesday of the month. Time: 6:30 p.m. Location: Grandview Church, 9064 W. Grandview Blvd., Pendleton. Information: jsdoty@ indy.net

JAN. 7 BeeTown Bee Club

JAN. 13 White Lick Beekeepers

Tippecanoe’s Extension Office is the host for the West Central Beekeepers, who meet every third Saturday. Time: 1 p.m. Location: Tippecanoe County Extension Office, 3150 Sagamore Parkway South, Lafayette. Information: westcentralbeekeeper.com

Mark your calendars for the first Thursday of the month if you’re in Bloomington and looking to learn about keeping bees. Time: 7 p.m. Location: Ivy Tech Campus West Side Room C126, 1907 Liberty Drive, Bloomington. Information: carolyn.peepall@gmail.com

The Mooresville Library plays host to the White Lick Beekeepers club on the second Wednesday of the month. Time: 6:30 p.m. Location: Community Room at the Mooresville Public Library, 220 W. Harrison St., Mooresville. Information: whitelickbeekeepers.org

JAN. 11 10 O’Clock Beeline Beekeepers

JAN. 14 White Valley Beekeepers

The 10’Clock Beeline Beekeepers meets on the second Monday of the month. Time: 7 p.m. Location: Brown County Library, 205 Locust Lane, Nashville. Information: 10oclockbeeline. wordpress.com

Block off the second Thursday of the month for a bee meeting in Winchester. Time: 6:30 p.m. Location: Randolph County 4-H, 1885 S. U.S. 27, Winchester. Information: btruax2907@earthlink.net

JAN. 19 Eastern Indiana Beekeepers Grab a seat at the Lamplight Inn to meet with the Eastern Indiana Beekeepers, who meet on the third Tuesday of every month. Time: 6:30 p.m. Location: Lamplight Inn at the Leland, 900 S. A St., Richmond. Information: brianscc@hotmail.com

JAN. 20 North Central Beekeepers This group’s bee meeting comes together on the third Wednesday of every month in Carmel. Time: 6:30 p.m. Location: Cool Creek Park, 2000 E. 151st St., Carmel. Information: (317) 695-7539

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