The Purdue Farm Management Tour next week will be the 85th installment of the on-farm series. This year tour stops are in Howard and Carroll counties June 22nd and 23rd. Director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture, Jim Mintert, expects farmers to pick up one or two ideas during the farm visits that might work on their own farm.
“One of them is some management style ideas with respect to how you work with farm employees, how you work with family members and landlords,” he said. “One of course would be looking at the facilities. These farms like a lot of farms in Indiana have invested in facilities pretty heavily in recent years. There’s an opportunity to look at what they’ve done and learn from what they’ve done and how you might apply that on your own farm. Then there’s the advent of all the new technology that’s taken place being applied on farms across the Corn Belt and learn from the technology that they’ve used, not only what works but perhaps some things that didn’t work and perhaps learn from that.”
Corn, soybeans, and technology are common themes across all four tour farms, but Mintert says there are many variations that make them all unique.
“Several of the farms are involved in specialty crop production,” he told HAT. “They’re involved in waxy corn, popcorn, several of the farms are growing soybean seed. So you’ve got some differences there and we’ve got some people growing food grade corn, so they’re all doing different things and using some different management practices. Some of these farms are using cover crops. Some are using a more conventional tillage approach. So you have opportunities to compare and contrast and learn from those different styles.
There is no fee for attending the Purdue Farm Management Tour both days and the lunch on June 23, which features Dr. Chris Hurt’s traditional outlook update. But you’re asked to register by this Friday.
Purdue Farm Management Tour Schedule:
June 22nd:
Scott Farms – Interview at 12:30 p.m. and mini-tours to follow. 7877 W 1100 N, Delphi
Mylet Farms – Interview at 3:30 p.m. and mini-tours to follow. 5227 N 400 E, Camden
Reception for the Indiana Master Farmer Dinner at 6:00 p.m. at Wabash & Erie Canal Conference Center, 1030 W. Washington, Delphi, IN 46923. Pre-registration is required by Friday, June 16th. Tickets $25 per person
June 23rd:
Kirkpatrick Farms – Interview at 8:30 a.m. and mini-tours to follow. 13961 E 300 S, Greentown
Farm Tour lunch starts at 11:30 a.m. at Maple Farms, 3924 S 250 E, Kokomo and includes Agricultural Outlook Update with Dr. Chris Hurt followed by Maple Farms Interview and mini-tours.