Extension professionals from the Horticulture and Landscape Architecture Department and the Diversified Farming and Food Systems Team hosted the first-ever combined Indiana Horticulture and Small Farm Conference at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds and Conference Complex, March 3-5, 2026. With a total of 64 educational sessions, 22 research posters, and several demonstrations to choose from over[Read More…]
Ashley Adair hosted the Indiana Organic Grain Farmer Meeting on Wednesday, February 18 at the Beck Center in West Lafayette. The event was a success with 80 participants and 17 exhibitors. Joel Gruver, Professor at Western Illinois University and nationally renown organic researcher, provided the keynote address on taking organic farming to the “next level.”[Read More…]
Ashley Adair moderated the panel discussion “Regenerative Agriculture: What Exactly Is It?” at the 2026 Ohio State Organic Grains Conference. Panelists included (from left) Eric Schwab, Ohio NRCS; Erin Silva, UW-Madison and OGRAIN; and Scott Myers, Woodlyn Acres Farm. Ashley has served on the OSU OGC planning committee since 2024. In 2027, the Indiana Organic[Read More…]
On December 11, Ashley Adair and Bryan Overstreet (CCSI/Purdue Extension) hosted the last session in the 2025 Indiana Organic Webinar Series. The webinar, titled “Farmers’ Perspectives on Organic Transition,” featured three organic grain farmers from northwest Ohio and their thoughts and advice for other organic grain farmers considering going organic. The 2025 ION Webinar series[Read More…]
On December 5, 2025, during the 2025 Purdue Extension Professional Development Conference, the PUCESA section of the Indiana Extension Professionals Association (IEPA) announced their award winners (more information here about PUCESA awards). We’re pleased to announce that Ashley Adair, Extension Organic Agriculture Specialist, and the Purdue Extension Master Gardener (EMG) Program were award winners representing[Read More…]
Last week, a team of Purdue Extension educators hosted another successful Rooted and Resilient: Homesteading Conference in Kendallville that brought in over 40 participants. Three HLA Extension specialists shared their expertise at the conference in sessions that connected practical gardening topics with sustainable practices. Miranda Purcell presented “Backyard Berries & Grapes: Small Fruits, Big Rewards,”[Read More…]
On November 6th, Ashley Adair co-hosted Marbleseed’s first Organic University event outside the state of Wisconsin with Tay Fatke (Marbleseed) and Leon Atwell (OFARM) in Danville, IN. The event caters to both specialty crop and grain farmers interested in organic transition and management. Tay and Jenn Whaley (OnMark Certification Services) kicked off the event with[Read More…]
Ashley Adair (HLA) and James Wolff (ANR Allen County) led a Diversified Farming and Food Systems Focus Group meeting at Teter Organic Farm in Noblesville, IN on Friday, 10/24. The group shared programming updates, discussed approaches to supporting the new extension pod pilot program, and received training on delivering the Grass to Garden (G2G) program[Read More…]
Ashley Adair guest hosted the Organic Agronomy Training Service’s podcast, Organic Advisor Call Series for the episode “Organic Fertilizer – How Much?” on Tuesday, October 14. Ashley led a conversation with James Schroepfer, agronomist with Crop Fertility Services (Cokato, MN), discussing how organic crop advisors can approach fertility recommendations based on soil tests and a[Read More…]