Purdue News
Purdue News
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June 16, 2000 Farm tour showcases some of the best in the businessWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Successful farms come in all shapes and sizes. Hoosiers can visit five prime examples July 5-6 during the Indiana Farm Management Tour. The annual tour showcases top-performing farms across the state. This year's tour includes farms in Tippecanoe, White, Jasper and Newton counties. The operations are as different as a farm that produces specialty grains in the spring and summer and Christmas trees in the fall, to a new state-of-the-art dairy. Also, U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar of Indiana, chairman of the Senate Agricultural Committee, will speak on farm issues at a meeting the evening of July 5. The tour is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Indiana Farm Management Association, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service and Purdue's Department of Agricultural Economics. "The mission of the Indiana Farm Management Tour is to identify and lift up significant management performances by Indiana farm families," said Howard Doster, a Purdue Extension agricultural economist and tour coordinator. "Visitors can see corn and soybeans and cows and pigs, but the focus is on evaluating the management skills of the host families." Visitors are asked to register when they arrive at a tour stop, where they may pick up a tour book. The itinerary includes: • 1 p.m. Wednesday, July 5 – Wise-Huffman Farm, 3914 N. County Road 800E, Tippecanoe County. Wise-Huffman is a 2,500-acre farm managed by a family board of directors, consisting of Levi and Norma Huffman, son Aaron, son-in-law Jim Hawbaker and their wives Roberta and Sherilyn, respectively. They grow corn, soybeans, wheat and processing tomatoes, and supply a major share of the Indian corn sold by Wal-Mart. Wise-Huffman raises about 10,000 hogs each year. • 3 p.m. July 5 – Walter Kelley & Son Farm, 3367 W. County Road 1150S, White County. Walter and Kevin Kelley, both Purdue agricultural engineering graduates, built a complex system of grassed waterways and pattern drainage to fully utilize their 1,800 acres of farmland. The Kelleys grow corn and soybeans. They've added a sprayer parts and service business, and are making major changes to their grain drying equipment. Walter spends his free time on the amateur auto racing circuit. • 7 p.m. July 5 – Harrison High School auditorium, 5701 N. County Road 50W, Tippecanoe County. Richard Lugar will speak on risk management and agricultural policy. • 8 a.m. Thursday, July 6 – Harper Brothers Farm, 6073 N. County Road 300E, Jasper County. Dave and Mike Harper produce corn and soybeans on a rapidly expanding farm of 6,200 acres. For seven consecutive years the farm has been listed among the "Top 100 Farms" in the United States by Farm Futures. The Harpers began operating the then-700 acre farm in 1978, following their father's death. The teen-age brothers knew little about farming and learned by doing. Today the entire family is involved including the brothers' children, who run their own hay, vegetable and custom baling business. • 10 a.m. July 6 – Kingma Family Farms, 8901 W. County Road 1000N, Jasper County. Three generations of Kingmas have transformed the 1,700-acre farm from crops and livestock into a diversified agribusiness that produces specialty grains and Christmas trees. Jon Kingma manages the grain operation, while the family pitches in to maintain Kingma Christmas Tree Farm. The Kingmas harvest about 12,000 trees each year for the wholesale and retail markets. The family runs The Holly Shop, a Christmas tree and gift shop. Among its offerings, the store carries its own line of wreaths. Lunch will be served at the farm at noon. Free lunch tickets are available at previous tour stops, while they last. Chris Hurt, Purdue agricultural economist, will present a grain and hog price outlook during the Kingma tour. • 1:30 p.m. July 6 – Fair Oaks Dairy, 5431 E. County Road 600N, Newton County. Established in 1999, Fair Oaks expects to house 10,000 milking cows by September. The facility, managed by Mike McCloskey, takes in 10,000 acres of cropland – all in alfalfa and corn silage. The dairy and crop operations employ close to 100 people. Much of the milk is marketed to supermarket chains such as Kroger and Winn-Dixie. Admission to Fair Oaks is limited to 400, to reduce disruptions to the milking operation. Free tickets will be distributed at other tour locations. At each farm, visitors may join the Indiana Farm Management Association. The association was formed in 1932 to encourage and develop effective farm management skills. "People in any walk of life will find the farms on this tour fascinating," said Scott Fritz, association president. "This is not designed just for farmers, but for anyone interested in farming." Sources: Howard Doster, (765) 494-4250; doster@agecon.purdue.edu Scott Fritz, (219) 946-6592; fritzse@pwrtc.com Writer: Steve Leer, (765) 494-8415; sleer@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu NOTE TO JOURNALISTS: A publication-quality map of the July 5-6 Indiana Farm Management Tour. (Map courtesy Howard Doster, Purdue Extension agricultural economist.) is available at the News Service Web site and at the ftp site. Photo ID: Doster.farmmgmt
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