Bringing it to the Table by Phil Beebe

“Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens.

They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.” –Thomas Jefferson, Letter to John Jay (Aug. 23, 1785)

Bringing it to the table A special section on farming by The Star Press and The Palladium-Item

Bringing it to the table A special section on farming by The Star Press and The Palladium-Item

13 | Minnetrista

STORIES YOU’LL FIND INSIDE HOWELL FARMS: A large local farming operation, Howell Farms produces tomatoes as well as corn and soybeans, and also has 400 acres devoted exclusively to pumpkins, which are sold to Walmart and other retailers around the country. | 3 Photographer Chris Bergin captures farms scenes from East Central Indiana. | 6 Agriculture in Transition: Experts say in time, many remaining farmers will become fulltime, larger producers | 11 Today’s Harvest Farm in New Paris, Ohio, is owned and operated by the Jordan family, which has been farming this land for more than 55 years. | 12 Habitat for Humanity and Agriculture: A Winning Connection. | 14

14 | Delaware County Fair

Learn more about the next generation of farmers and their take on the industry | 17

15 | Bill McCoy Ford Lincoln Mercury 16 | Reynolds Farm Equipment

New technology, including GPS, is an important advance for farmers | 21

17 | McCrocklin Ford Sales

Farmer and vet uses science to help care for livestock | 23

18 | Farmland Locker, Inc. & Yorktown Wireless 19 | Stafford Insurance

Photographers Kyle Evens and Kurt Hostetler (The Star Press) traveled ECI to document farming through their lenses. | 24-25

20 | Muncie Liquor 21 | Goodwin Brothers Automotive

States woo California dairymen with less regulation | 26

22 | T & H Sweeper 23 | Fuqua Motors

Photos from the Delaware County Farm Festival | 28-29

26 | Small Engine Warehouse

Food prices trending lower locally | 29 Cows to chardonnay: Can Conn. dairy farms change? | 30

27 | Mid States Concession Supply; A Rental Service; Fincannon Ford Mercury 28 | Apple Farm Services & All Steel Carports 29 | Morton Buildings & Red Gold Incorporated 30 | Applegate Livestock Equipment; The Golden Rule Store; AgBest Cooperative Inc.

31 | Huggins Auto Sales; Harter Auctioneers; Greens Fork Alignment and Tire Service; Whitewater Truss, LLC.; Harvest Land Co-op; Gorden & Associates; RMD Insurance 32 | American Chevrolet

Palladium-Item photographers Steve Koger and Joshua Smith’s photos show farm life in the Richmond area. | 30

“Farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil

and you’re a thousand miles from the corn ﬁeld.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower

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Howell Farms

By Ken Wickliffe irtually anyone who has dipped a french fry in Red Gold ketchup or taken a sip of Red Gold tomato juice has tasted a tomato grown by Howell Farms in Delaware County. A large local farming operation, Howell Farms produces tomatoes as well as corn and soybeans, and also has 400 acres devoted exclusively to pumpkins, which are sold to Walmart and other retailers around the country, according to Adam Howell, manager of the farms. “One of the big things going on right now in agriculture is consolidation,” he said. “Given the reality of population growth worldwide, with more people moving off of farms and into cities, the world can no longer be fed with small-scale agriculture.” But, the perception that most farms are now owned by big corporations is not accurate — at least not in this area, Howell added, and small farms still can prosper by maximizing the efficiency of their operations. “The old Romantic view of the small family farm is not as true now, and some people are sad about that, but most farms are still family owned,” he said. “The families who operate these larger farms have survived and grown by adapting to change and working hard. “We don’t see it as big versus small, but rather practical versus idealistic,” he explained. “The world needs the efficiencies and productivity of modern agriculture to feed itself, whether it is done on a large farm or a small farm.” Founded in 1973 by Adam Howell’s parents, David and Mary Howell, Howell Farms began by raising corn, soybeans and hogs, and in 1981 diversified its crop mix and got out of the livestock business, Howell said. “Right now, Howell Farms supports six families completely, and provides half of the support for another three families, plus several seasonal jobs,” he said. Steve Smith, director of agriculture for Orestes, Ind.-based Red Gold, said his company purchases from local farmers such as Howell Farms

V PHOTOS BY KYLE EVENS

Top: Adam Howell in the grain ofﬁce of his family’s business, Howell Farms, in Southwest Delaware County. Above: Fertilizer is applied to ﬁelds at Howell Farms before the planting season.

“The old Romantic view of the small family farm is not as true now, and some people are sad about that, but most farms are still family owned. The families who operate these larger farms have survived and grown by adapting to change and working hard.” — Adam Howell

Continued on Page 4

Bringing it “Trade increases the wealth and glory of a country; but its real strength and stamina are to the table The Star Press & The Palladium-Item April/May 2010 • 4

to be looked for among the cultivators of the land.” — William Pitt

whenever possible to ensure freshness and reduce transportation costs. “Local farmers are extremely important to us in terms of volume and best quality,” he said. “In addition, our location puts us within a day’s drive of two-thirds of the population of the United States, which makes for efficient and environmentally friendly operations.” Smith, too, sees changes in the farming industry, but he also sees a lot of things that are still done the same way they have been throughout history. “We still plant tomatoes in the ground, local farmers take care of them, and the crop gets harvested and brought in by local people,” he said. “The basic premise of agriculture has not changed an awful lot.” But, technology has made farms and food processing companies more efficient and improved product quality, Smith added. “The use of precision farming methods, such as GPS (global positioning system) tracking of the equipment through the field, electronic color sorting, and machines that harvest in lots of different conditions means producers can deliver a better quality tomato to us,” he explained. “Also, tomato varieties are more advanced than they were years ago and, using traditional breeding methods, they continue to advance and get better.” Farms and food processors are using many techniques to reduce the impact of agriculture on the environment, Smith said. “As an example from our company, a lot of our plant processing waste is fed back to cattle,” he said. “In addition, most growers are adopting fuel reducing methods of farming, such as reduced tillage to reduce fuel usage, and using crop protectant materials that are extremely environPHOTOS BY KYLE EVENS mentally friendly.” Above: Rob Miller manufactures a mounting bracket for a monitor to be mounted A family-owned company, Red Gold has been processing tomatoes since 1942. The company’s 1,100 full-time employees produce 100 styles in one of the Howell Farms tractor. and flavors of tomato products sold in 20 states — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, West Virginia, and Wisconsin.

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Bringing it to the table “Burn down your cities and leave our farms, and your cities will spring up again as if by magic; but destroy our farms and the grass will grow in the streets of every city.” The Star Press & The Palladium-Item April/May 2010 • 6

Star Press photographer Chris Bergin traveled around East Central Indiana to capture scenes from life on a farm.

— William Jennings Bryan

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“It is only the farmer who faithfully plants seeds in the Spring,

who reaps a harvest in the Autumn.” — BC Forbes

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AgricultureinTransition Story By Ken Wickliffe | Photo by Kyle Evens

Experts say in time, many remaining farmers will become full-time, larger producers “With so many factory jobs leaving the area, it’s harder now for people to work a day job and then put out a couple of hundred acres to boost their income. To survive and provide full-time income for their owners, I believe many of the smaller farms will expand or consolidate.” — Mike Behrendt

griculture is in a transitional period across the United States, and economic factors in East Central Indiana are having a noticeable effect on area farms and the people who operate them, according to Mike Behrendt, a board member of the Delaware County Farm Bureau and the organization’s local public relations director. “With so many factory jobs leaving the area, it’s harder now for people to work a day job and then put out a couple of hundred acres to boost their income,” he said. “To survive and provide full-time income for their owners, I believe many of the smaller farms will expand or consolidate.” According to United States Department of Agriculture statistics, 58 percent of current Indiana farm operators do not list farming as their primary source of income, but Behrendt believes that number will change over time. “I think we’re seeing a transition, and in five years that statistic will swing the other way, with a lot of the remaining farmers becoming full-time, larger producers,” he said. “It was easier to operate on a small scale when costs were lower, and you could buy fertilizer for $200 to $300 a ton. Now it’s $700, $800 or $1000 a ton, and other costs are higher as well, so it’s necessary to become larger and more efficient.”

The total value of Indiana’s agricultural products — nearly $8.3 billion in 2007 — ranks the state tenth in the nation in overall value of farm products, according to the USDA. Of Indiana’s total farming revenue, 64 percent is derived from sales of crops, the agency reports, while 36 percent comes from the sale of livestock. Indiana’s longstanding image as a large producer of corn is borne out by data showing that corn is, in fact, this state’s number one crop, accounting for almost 40 percent of total farm receipts, according to 2008 figures. The other four of the state’s top five agriculture commodities are soybeans, which generate 24.4 percent of farm receipts, followed by hogs at 9.3 percent; dairy products, 6.4 percent; and chicken eggs at 5.4 percent. Other data from the USDA’s National Agriculture Statistics Service and Purdue University indicate that the average farm size in Indiana was just under 250 acres in 2007, the year of the most recent Census of Agriculture, and the total percentage of Indiana’s land area used for farming decreased about two percent from 2002 to 2007. While the large majority of Indiana’s roughly 61,000 farms are owned by men, just over 10 percent of Hoosier farm owners are women, the USDA reports.

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“Life on a farm is a school of patience; you can’t hurry the crops or make an ox in two days.” – Henri Alain , French author and soldier

Today’s Harvest Today’s Harvest Farm is located at U.S. 40 and Ohio 320 in New Paris, Ohio. It is owned and operated by the Jordan family, which has been farming this land for more than 55 years. They believe in growing tasty and nutritious vegetables that are to be sold and eaten right away, according to their Web site. Paul Jordan had a large potato farm in the early 1950s, and farmed the land with sons Jimmy, Phillip and Harold. About 30 years ago, Harold began selling sweet corn by the side of the road. Today, Harold’s son, Tom Jordan and his wife, Lisa, farm 550 acres of row crops (corn and soybeans), 30 acres of sweet corn, 15 acres of other vegetables and pumpkins, and 6 acres of peach and apple trees. PHOTOS BY STEVE KOGER AND JOSHUA SMITH / THE PALLADIUM-ITEM

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“If the farmer is poor

then so is the whole country.” – Polish Proverb

Tamika Brown and her family

Habitat for Humanity and Agriculture:

A Winning Connection By Cynthia Downham illard Fuller and his wife believed in a simple concept; all people deserve to live in safe, affordable housing. With this dream in mind, in 1976, they began what is now called Habitat for Humanity. This year at the Indiana State Fair, Habitat for Humanity will team with the agricultural community to build a home for a deserving family. The Indiana State Fairgrounds is the construction site for the project. The Indiana State Department of Agriculture, the Purdue Extension Office, and business representative Reynolds Farm Equipment, will work alongside Habitat volunteers in building the home. The process of connecting people with resources and ideas is not a new one. Nor is the idea of agriculture working with communities to eradicate poverty. Feeding and sheltering the hungry go hand-in-hand. Since the days of barn-raising, agriculture has played a crucial role in meeting the needs of the community. This year’s theme, “From the Farm Gate to the Dinner Plate,” demonstrates the agriculture and housing connection. The success of Habitat for Humanity and their efforts to eradicate poverty depend greatly on the generosity of business sponsors and volunteers. One way young people become involved is through membership in the FFA (Future Farmers of America). This association promotes giving back to the community by members participating in Days of Service. Donating their time and efforts to helping others led this group to become closely affiliated with Habitat for Humanity. A Reynolds Farm Equipment associate had a daughter involved in the FFA and volunteering for Habitat. Their willingness to become involved has made the dream of homeownership possible, one

family at a time. Habitat for Humanity has gained a reputation for rallying individuals and resources together to complete a common goal. This year at the Indiana State Fair, this ideal will be put to the test. Normally, Habitat volunteers complete a home within a six-week timeframe. During the fair, Habitat volunteers and the farming community will complete a five-bedroom home in just 15 days. This year, Tamika Brown and her family were chosen as the recipient of the home to be built at the 2010 Indiana State Fair. For the past two years, Tamika had been working with other Habitat homeowners to complete their homes. Requiring prospective homeowners to provide service hours toward the construction of their home is a unique aspect of Habitat for Humanity. Habitat believes encouraging responsibility and ownership empowers families in developing a sense of pride in their homes. After their home is completed, Tamika and her family will be moving out of their cramped three-bedroom apartment. The home will be moved to a neighboring location close to the fairgrounds. As Tamika recently had twins, a new home could not have come at a better time. Choosing a needy family from a list of applicants is a long process. Those wanting assistance in building a home must participate in over 200 training hours and meet specific guidelines. Habitat homeowners not only learn basic aspects of home construction, but also how to manage finances, balance a checkbook, and perform minor repairs and maintenance. Since its inception in 1987, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis has completed nearly 350 homes. The Muncie Habitat for Humanity Discount Center is located at, 2620 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Blvd. To donate items or volunteer call Habitat for Humanity: 288-1814.

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“When tillage begins, other arts follow. The farmers, therefore,

are the founders of human civilization.” – Daniel Webster, American statesman, lawyer and orator

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The next

GENERATION

By Ken Wickliffe

oung farmers across the United States say the need to remain profitable, increasing government regulation and the impact of activist groups are their top three concerns, according to a survey released last month by the American Farm Bureau Federation. Four young East Central Indiana farmers agree that their business brings many challenges, but they are also optimistic about the future, and they say technology and constantly improving farm management strategies are helping farmers cope with economic pressures. Continued on Page 18

Matthew Chapman spreads anhydrous ammonia on his family’s farm ﬁelds in Northwestern Henry County. PHOTOS BY KYLE EVENS

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“The ﬁrst farmer was the ﬁrst man.

All historic nobility rests on the possession and use of land.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, American poet, essayist

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Pigs on the Seldom Rest Farms in Southeast Delaware County. PHOTO BY KYLE EVENS

Dan Hiatt

As a kid, Dan Hiatt never had any trouble answering the question, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” “There are not too many people out there who can say, ‘Since I was three or four years old I knew this was what I wanted to do, and it still is now that I’m 35,’” Hiatt said. With his parents, Keith and Linda, Dan operates his family’s 2,300-acre farm between Muncie and Daleville. While Dan has, at times, worked at jobs off the farm, these positions have usually taken advantage of experience he gained in farming, such as operating heavy equipment. As the family’s operation has expanded, Dan now farms full-time with his dad. “We raise corn and soybeans, sell hay and bale straw, and also have a few head of beef cattle we raise for friends,” Hiatt explained. “We also sell sweet corn in the summertime.” Area residents may also be familiar with the Hiatts’ corn maze, which is open each year from about the first week of September through the first week of November. Hiatt, who studied agri-business at Vincennes University, said technology is increasing farmers’ yields and improving their ability to protect the environment. “For example, the automatic boom shutoff on a sprayer minimizes skips and overlaps so you can do a better job of applying chemicals, which is good for the environment and for our bottom line,” he explained. “We also use satellite sampling to determine soil types, which lets us get a prescription for fertilizer, which is then put on a thumb drive in a computer in the spreader truck, allowing us to put on exactly what we need. “A yield monitor that hooks into a GPS (global positioning system) lets

us track yields across the fields as we combine,” Hiatt added. “Later, we correlate our yield maps to our fertilizer maps, and we can either prove that what we’re doing is working, or find that we may need more or less application in different spots.”

Matthew and Jacob Chapman

Brothers raised on their family’s Henry County farm, Matthew and Jacob Chapman are part of an extended family that includes several relatives who farm in the area. When Matthew graduated from Purdue in 2004 with a degree in agricultural economics, he and his father, Tim, expanded their operation so Matthew could work there full-time, making him a fifth-generation farmer. “We started a hog finishing facility on contract with a local company, receiving the pigs at 50 pounds and finishing them up to market weight,” he explained. “We wanted to do all of the work ourselves, and with this type of operation one person can manage an 8,000-head facility.” Jacob, who will graduate from Purdue in 2013, works on the farm when he is home from school on breaks, and he will join his brother working full-time when he graduates. At that time, their father plans to retire. Matthew Chapman said he sees every day the tangible benefits of advances in agricultural science. “We now produce more with fewer acres, and we keep livestock healthier, safer, and at a comfortable temperature, which helps them grow faster and keeps losses to a lower level,” he explained. A love of the outdoors is one reason Chapman knew he wanted to farm, and he sees farmers as being closely connected to the environment. Continued on Page 20

“We started a hog finishing facility on contract with a local company, receiving the pigs at 50 pounds and finishing them up to market weight. We wanted to do all of the work ourselves, and with this type of operation one person can manage an 8,000-head facility.” — Matthew Chapman

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“You can make a small fortune in farming

— provided you start with a large one.” – Unknown

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“Farmers are the original stewards of the land,” he said. “We breathe the same air and drink the same water as everybody else.”

Eugene Whitehead

ABOVE: Eugene Whitehead works in the family’s business, Seldom Rest Farms in Southeast Delaware County, tending to the livestock. TOP RIGHT: After planting sweet corn Dan Hiatt checked for the correct depth of the planted seed on his family farm in Southeast Delaware County. PHOTOS BY KYLE EVENS

A fourth-generation farmer, Eugene Whitehead works with his parents, Bill and Kaye, on a farm founded by his grandparents. With an operation that includes 600 sows and about 3,500 acres of soybeans, wheat and hay, Eugene works full-time in all phases of the business. A challenge of farming is that, unlike most other business people, farmers don’t get to decide how much to charge for what they produce, he says. “No matter what your costs are, you get the price the market is giving that day, so the risk can be quite severe,” Whitehead said. “Also, the further people become removed from farming, the harder it is for them to relate to the nature of agriculture as a business. For livestock producers, this problem can be especially difficult.” After graduating from Wapahani High School in 1996, Whitehead went to Purdue University and majored in

agricultural economics and animal sciences. He has also completed Ball State University’s business certificate program. Family farms are still the dominant force in agriculture, he says, but changing economic conditions have tended to dictate that farms become larger or more specialized to remain profitable. “One hundred years ago, 40 acres was a large farm, but now 4,000 acres is nothing to blink an eye at,” Whitehead said. “At the same time, many smaller farmers are getting into niche markets such as sweet corn and vegetables they sell directly to the public through farmers markets and local grocery stores.” Technological changes have made a big difference in the way farmers operate, he added. “We now use satellites and computers that can get you within one inch, year after year, of whatever ground application you’re doing, whether it’s planting, fertilizing, spraying weeds or harvesting,” he explained. “In the future, I believe you’ll be able to set up a boundary and program the tractor to drive itself. “We’re on the cusp of more breakthroughs.”

“I think our governments will remain virtuous for many centuries;

as long as they are chieﬂy agricultural.” — Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826)

By Pam Tharp Correspondent one are the days when seed and sunshine were all a farmer needed to plant a crop. Global positioning systems and “prescriptions” for seed and fertilizer applications make planting now a high-tech adventure, one that allows farmers to finetune their fields, save money and protect the environment. Farmers aren’t lining up yet for prescription planting, but the numbers interested in it are doubling every year, said Harvest Land precision ag coordinator Chris Kluemke of Richmond. “When you pay $300 for a bag of seed, you can save 5 percent of the seed with row turn off, and you put that seed where it belongs,” Kluemke said. “It takes a past history of that field to do this. You can’t rent the land this year and come up with that information.” Agronomists can now prescribe the best seeding and fertilizer rates for all areas of a field, rates that will vary automatically as a planter moves across the field. Newer planters also have the ability to shut off planting units, two rows at a time, when turns are made or point rows planted, which also saves seed and fertilizer.

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FarmTech

A John Deere 8270R tractor and planter at Smith Implements. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA SMITH | THE PALLADIUM-ITEM

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“To forget how to dig the earth and tend the soil

is to forget ourselves.” — Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869-1948)

ABOVE: Scott Pflum poses with a John Deere 8270R tractor that features GPS and other hightech devices to assist the farmer. RIGHT: A GPS and other high-tech equipment can help farmers in a John Deere 8270R tractor at Smith Implements. PHOTOS BY JOSHUA SMITH | THE PALLADIUM-ITEM

“Technology is not going away. Farmers do need to be more computer savvy in the past, but I have 90-yearold customers who can use the monitors. You can’t be afraid to push buttons.” — Scott Pflum, ag management solutions consultant for Smith Implements of Richmond.

Variable rate application of seed and fertilizer works because GPS units can track the equipment’s exact location in a field, said Scott Pflum, ag management solutions consultant for Smith Implements of Richmond. A GPS unit is mounted on the top of the tractor cab. Tractor drivers can watch their computerized systems operating on a monitor in the cab. Prescription agriculture first began for fertilizer application, Kluemke said. Soil samples were taken using a grid system and fertilizer rates were individualized based on the grid sampling results. During harvest, newer combines can provide site specific yield data, so farmers know which areas are most productive. Planting based on yields and soil fertility is the next step in the process. Consultants like Kluemke bring all the information together and aim to match it with the right seed choices and seeding rates. Smith Implement, a John Deere dealership, is seeing increasing interest in variable rate planting because of higher cost of seed and fertilizer, especially among farmers with lots of acres, Pflum said. Curt Caplinger, sales manager of Twin Valley Equipment in Eaton, Ohio, said all Case IH planters are capable of variable rate planting and interest is increasing. “We have about a halfdozen farmers who are doing it now. They all farm 1,000 to 2,000 acres,” Caplinger said. “The planters cost a little more, but the price difference is not huge. And you don’t have to be a “techy” to use it. It’s all more user friendly than it used to be.” Providing variable rate seeding has taken working with growers to a new level, Kluemke said. The service is included in Harvest Land’s Yield Pro program, Kluemke said. For customers not in the Yield Pro program, there’s a per-hour charge, he said. Yield results from prior

years must be weighed against the weather conditions that occurred in those years, like too much rain or not enough, before variable seeding rates are decided, Kluemke said. Constantly changing seed varieties are another factor in the prescription, he said. For corn, seed is planted at higher rates in the most productive areas of a field. With soybeans, seeding rates increase in a field’s less fertile areas, Kluemke said. “It’s as much art as science, but there’s a lot of science in there too,” Kluemke said of creating a planting prescription. Nothing happens, though, if the technology isn’t working. Even with the dust and grit that farming creates, the computerized equipment works pretty well, Pflum said. And farmers are getting comfortable with the technology, he said. “Technology is not going away,” Pflum said. “Farmers do need to be more computer savvy in the past, but I have 90year-old customers who can use the monitors. You can’t be afraid to push buttons.” Technology in tractors doesn’t end with planter improvements. “Light” bars provide automated steering on tractors, making sure rows are straight, Pflum said. The tractor can turn automatically at the end of the field, he said. Because the size of farming operations has grown dramatically in the last decade, features like the automated steering and turning and GPS-guided planting help reduce farmer fatigue, Pflum said. “It allows them to do a lot more work in a day without being as tired,” he said. Farmers who want to surf the Web from the tractor cab will have to bring their own iPod because Internet-capable computers are not available on John Deere tractors, at least not yet, Pflum said. “Some (farmers) are asking for it, so it probably won’t be long,” Pflum said.

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“To dig in one’s own earth, with one’s own spade,

does life hold anything better?”

The Star Press & The Palladium-Item

— Beverly Nichols

He knows his beef

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FARMER AND VET USES SCIENCE TO HELP CARE FOR LIVESTOCK

Story by Ken Wickliffe Photo by Kyle Evens n East Central Indiana veterinarian, Dr. Kyle Becker, is using his knowledge of animal science not only to help other farmers care for their livestock, but also to raise his own cattle using a special feeding regimen he has developed that offers the benefits of grass feeding without the high cost. Kyle and his wife, Emily, operate the Becker Farms Cattle Company in Mooreland, Ind., which sells “freezer beef” directly to restaurants and to consumers who order from them or shop at places such as the Minnetrista Farmers Market in Muncie. “Consumers like to buy from local people, and they want to know that the animal was in good health,” Becker said. “I can look customers in the eye and assure them that our cattle are healthy. “Basically what I’ve done is formulate a high-fiber food ration that’s much more efficient than grass, but which provides the same health benefits as grass to the cattle,” he added. “Our cost of production is about 15 to 20 percent higher than that of corn-fed beef, but half the cost of grass feeding.” Kyle and Emily bought their 100-acre farm and founded the Becker Farms Cattle Company (beckerfarmscattlecompany.com) after returning to the area from West Lafayette upon completion of Kyle’s veterinary education at Purdue University. In addition to operating the farm, Becker works as a food animal veterinarian for the Kurtz Veterinary Clinic. Emily, who holds a bachelor’s degree in food science as well as a master’s in public health from Purdue, is a Consumer and Family Sciences Extension Educator in Henry County. “I grew up on a farm in this area

What keeps me in business and makes me like what I do are the people who come back week after week and tell me they enjoyed the beef they bought from us.” — Dr. Kyle Becker, left with his wife, Emily — we raised cattle and had row crops,” Kyle said. “On both sides of my family, farming goes back many generations. This is what I know and love; I think it’s genetic. “As a vet, I work mainly on cattle, including several Amish farms and some large dairies.” Living up to his farm’s motto of “Know Your Beef” sometimes means looking in some unconventional but not entirely unexpected places to determine the effectiveness of his feeding plan, Becker explained. “Analyzing what’s in the manure is how you know your cattle are

healthy and performing as you intend,” he said. “I tell people, ‘We have the best cow manure in the industry here.’” Increasing consumer concern about the healthiness and quality of the food they eat provides an economic opportunity for smallscale producers to cater to consumers who are willing to pay a little more for beef and other food they know is safe, Becker says. “For a long time, the whole premise of American agricultural policy has been to supply an abundance of cheap food, but when you’re a young farmer trying to start out,

that doesn’t leave you any margin to earn a living,” he said. “What keeps me in business and makes me like what I do are the people who come back week after week and tell me they enjoyed the beef they bought from us. “I get the same feeling from hearing that as some other guys get from catching a six-pound walleye.” Becker also believes it’s a positive development that consumers are asking more questions about farming and becoming better informed about the origins of their food supply.

“One of my hobbies is educating people about agriculture,” he said. “Many farmers tend not to be very political, and we are also not very vocal about our way of life, so the story of agriculture is often not told at all, or is not told very well. “When only one- to one-and-ahalf percent of the population is directly involved in the production of food, most people don’t understand where their food comes from, how it’s produced, or why farmers do what we do,” he added. “Dealing directly with the public is one way of educating people.”

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East Central Indiana farms. Photos by Kyle Evens & Kurt Hostetler for The Star Press

“The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything at retail, sells everything at wholesale,

and pays the freight both ways.” — John F. Kennedy

FARM SCENES

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“A warrior dies in battle; a mountain climber on the rocks,

but a farmer dies of old age.” — New Zealander Proverb

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Courting California Cows

States woo dairymen with less regulation

ES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The number of dairies in California has plummeted by more than 500 in the past decade, with many moving to other states enticing them with promises of lower costs and simpler regulations. Eight states, ranging from Idaho to Iowa, have been courting dairies from California, the nation’s largest milk producer. The reason is clear: Cows mean cash for local economies. Mike Meissen, vice president for value added agriculture for the Iowa Area Development Group, estimated each dairy cow has an economic impact of $15,000 a year. “So if a thousand cows go into a county, that’s $15 million,” said Meissen, whose group is made up of rural electric cooperatives that work to bring new business to Iowa. While officials in other states offer California farmers a number of reasons to consider moving, one of the biggest incentives seems to be the promise of fewer regulations. It’s a message that Michael Marsh, chief executive of the Modesto, Calif.-based Western Union Dairymen, said resonates in a state he calls a “regulatory nightmare for farmers.” From air and water quality rules to reporting odometer readings on farm vehicles, regulations make it difficult for farmers to do business in California, he said. “There are regulations you have here that you don’t have in any other state or around the world,” said Marsh, whose organization represents 60 percent of California’s dairy producers. Darin Dykstra left California in 2002 to start a dairy in northwest Iowa. Several factors drew him and his wife to Iowa, he said, including ties to Dordt College, the Sioux Center school they graduated from, and Wells Dairy, which buys milk from the Dykstras’ 3,000 cows and is known for its Blue Bunny ice cream. Dykstra also likes the slower pace, access to Christian schools for his children and distance from urban sprawl. “Living in Southern California, there used to be grape vineyards next to our dairy. Now there are houses there,” he said. “It’s not ideal to have your farm in the middle of all that and slowly we were getting pushed out — all the dairies were getting pushed out — so you have to move to the Central Valley or move out of state, and I chose to move out of state.” Because land is cheaper in Iowa, he also Continued on Page 27

Darin Dykstra stands in the milking parlor on his dairy farm near LeMars, Iowa. Dykstra, like hundreds of other dairy farmers, decided to move from California over the past decade. Some of the reasons he gives for moving are urban growth, increasing state regulations and quality of life. PHOTO BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

“Farmers are philosophical. They have learned

that it is less wearing to shrug than to beat their breasts.” — Ruth Stout

could afford to grow feed corn on about 1,750 acres, rather than buying it as he did in California. Dykstra still owns part of his family’s farm in California. But he said he was glad to be away from the state’s regulations, such the required installation of expensive methane digesters over manure lagoons accompanied by a ban on emissions from the engines the digesters power. “Dairymen are trying to do the right thing, but the state is putting up road blocks,” he said. Marsh said stories like Dykstra’s are all too familiar. At least eight other states are trying to attract California dairies — Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nevada,

Texas and Wyoming. “Other states come to farm shows and say ‘Come to our state where this is little regulation, low taxes, jobs, state grants.’ So for a lot of farmers, they look at that and the grass may be greener,” Marsh said. Iowa, which is known mostly for hogs and corn, has been able to attract enough dairies from California and elsewhere to become the nation’s 12th largest dairy producer. Texas also has lured dairies with what it claims are less onerous regulations, an attractive climate and large feed supplies. Its dairy cow population has grown from about 17,000 in 2000 to more than 200,000 this year, said Ellen Jordan, a dairy specialist with the Texas A&M extension. Overall,

Texas ranks No. 8 among dairy states, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “Producers who come here know what the regulations are,” she said. “They can get a permit to operate and they know the area they are choosing is very ag friendly.” Meanwhile, the number of California dairies dropped from more than 2,200 dairies in 1999 to 1,700 in 2009. Still, what that means isn’t entirely clear. Jay Van Rein, a spokesman for the California Department of Food and Agriculture, said the decrease happened as the industry shrunk and some dairies bought others out. “It isn’t just farms or herds disappearing,” he said. “In many cases, they were absorbed into

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April/May 2010 • 27

other herds.” The state had about 1.8 million dairy cows last year, down some from the year before, but still more than 300,000 more than it had in 1999, according the USDA. Van Rein declined to “wade into” issues of California’s regulatory climate, saying the Legislature makes the rules and agencies enforce them. But he acknowledged some communities didn’t plan their growth well, leading to homes bumping up against farms. “In our Central Valley, where most of our farms are, they have learned that lesson and are taking steps to improve their planning before they build subdivisions that are bordering farms,” Van Rein said.

“Other states come to farm shows and say ‘Come to our state where this is little regulation, low taxes, jobs, state grants.’ So for a lot of farmers, they look at that and the grass may be greener.” — Michael Marsh, chief executive of the Modesto, Calif.-based Western Union Dairymen

Bringing it “Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; let fortune’s bubbles rise and fall; to the table who sows a ﬁeld, or trains a ﬂower, or plants a tree, is more than all.” The Star Press & The Palladium-Item

April/May 2010 • 28

Visitors had an opportunity to pet sheep and other animals during the 32nd annual Delaware County Farm Festival at the fairgrounds. PHOTOS BY JERI REICHANADTER | THE STAR PRESS

— John Greenleaf Whittier, 1807-1892, American Poet, Reformer, Author

DELAWARE COUNTY

FARM

“Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will in the end

contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.” – Letter from Thomas Jefferson to George Washington (1787)

All aspects of farm life were seen at the 32nd annual Delaware County Farm Festival, including milking cows. Below: Cody Davis, a 4-Her from Daleville, holds a rooster. PHOTOS BY JERI REICHANADTER | THE STAR PRESS

FESTIVAL

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Food prices trend lower By Ken Wickliffe

rices for several commonly purchased grocery items have recently been trending lower in Indiana and across the country, according to surveys by the Indiana Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation, giving consumers a welcome break during a time when prices for many other products and services have been going up. “Americans spend just under 10 percent of their disposable annual income on food, the lowest average of any country in the world,” said Isabella Chism, second vice president of the Indiana Farm Bureau. “Food is such a bargain in this country.” She added that consumers can cut their food costs further by choosing less-processed foods, which tend to be less costly in general, and which have seen steeper price declines in recent months than more heavily processed foods. Food price data is derived from the federal government’s Consumer Price Index as well as informal “market basket” surveys taken by the Indiana Farm Bureau and the American Farm Bureau Federation. Conducted since 1989, the market basket surveys utilize volunteer shoppers who price a uniform “shopping list” of 16 popular grocery items such as chicken breasts, deli ham, milk, eggs, cereal and orange juice. The result is a snapshot of prices in a particular area, according to a news release from the Indiana Farm Bureau. The shopping lists were updated in 2008 to better reflect changing trends and consumer preferences. While retail food prices rise and fall over time due to a variety of factors, the overall share of food expenditures received by farmers and ranchers has declined steadily over the past 35 years, according to American Farm Bureau Federation economist Jim Sartwelle. “Starting in the mid-1970s, farmers received about one-third of consumer retail food expenditures for food eaten at home and away from home, on average,” he said. “That figure has decreased steadily over time and is now just 19 percent, according to Agriculture Department statistics.”

Bringing it to the table

“The farmer has to be an optimist

or he wouldn’t still be a farmer.”

The Star Press & The Palladium-Item

– Will Rogers

April/May 2010 • 30

Cows to chardonnay:

Can Conn. dairy farms change?

ARREN, Conn. (AP) — A winter breeze rustles through the brittle and dormant vines twisting along the hills of Bill Hopkins’ vineyard, the latest transformation of a Connecticut farm that since 1786 has been keeping up with changing agriculture, markets and consumer tastes. The 100-acre family farm on Lake Waramaug in western Connecticut’s Litchfield Hills has raised sheep, race horses, tobacco, grain crops and dairy cows. Responding to falling dairy prices and the 24/7 demands of running a dairy business, Hopkins quit in 1979 after 25 years and established Hopkins Vineyard. Now, the University of Connecticut is studying whether Hopkins’ solution — adapting land once used for dairy farms to grape production — can work statewide. The university aims to help dairy farmers diversify and preserve open space, keep land productive and boost grape-growing to supply Connecticut’s wineries. Hopkins, whose wines sell online from a range of $11.99 for a semisweet to $41 for a sweet wine, adapted a 19thcentury dairy barn to house the cases of chardonnay and other wines to stores, restaurants and New York city tourists. He’s skeptical that his success can be adapted across Connecticut. “It’s possible. I don’t know how realistic it is,” Hopkins said. “It all depends on the land, the knowledge you

have and the equipment.” The winery has been profitable, though it has suffered in the recession, he said. “The last two years were not good, but the thing is, it’s better than dairy farming,” Hopkins said. Leading the university study is Boris Bravo-Ureta, professor of agriculture and resource economics, who said the study will analyze the expected profitablility of specialty crops and examine the potential market for locally grown grapes. Researchers hope to help dairy producers who are seeking alternative sources of income from their land and fill a growing interest in specialty crops such as grapes. As the number of Connecticut’s dairy farms continues to decline — to 151 last year from 500 in 1990 — grape cultivation is among the fastest-growing agricultural activities in the state, said Agriculture Commissioner F. Philip Prelli. Thirty licensed wineries operate here, he said. “Every farmer in the state of Connecticut, whether it’s dairy or winemaking, is looking at specialty products to help increase their profits,” he said. “That’s just a business move.” Chris Galen, a spokesman for the National Milk Producers Federation, said dairy farms have been declining in number year after year. Older farmers will retire and younger dairy farm owners must come up

with new ways to make money, he said. However, switching to a different crop, “probably does not happen a lot because of geography and tradition,” Galen said. Jamie Jones, who runs Jones Family Farms in Shelton, which includes a winery, said Connecticut wineries must keep up with rising consumer demand for locally produced food and beverages. “I think people are becoming more concerned about where their food is coming from, to know their foods,” he said. Adapting dairy land to grape-growing is a “vote for open space,” Jones said. Not all dairy land can be adapted to the new crop. Grape growing cannot be in a valley where early frosts are frequent and land must be well-drained. Ideally, vineyards must have a southeast or southwest exposure, Jones said. Robin Chesmer, a dairy farmer who owns nearly 800 acres in Lebanon, said using dairy pastures for vineyards “could be an opportunity to diversify.” “Our land might not adapt to some uses, but it could for grapes. With steep slopes, the right land profile, it could be a good mix.” Even before UConn’s researchers begin their work, Hopkins thinks he knows what they’re facing. “I can already tell them what they’re going to get,” he said. “It’s pretty hard making a living growing grapes.”

FARM SCENES

TOP: A pristine farm on Boston Pike near Richmond. ABOVE: A group of cattle seek shade in Wayne County. LEFT: A farmer works a field in Wayne County near Centerville. PHOTOS BY STEVE KOGER AND JOSHUA SMITH / THE PALLADIUM-ITEM

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