Center for Commercial Agriculture

JULY 19 & 20, 2022

Tipton & Clinton Counties

Tour 3 of Indiana’s most innovative farms
& celebrate the 2022 Indiana Master Farmers

Subscribe for updates

JULY 19 & 20, 2022

Tipton & Clinton Counties

Tour 3 of Indiana’s most innovative farms
& celebrate the 2022 Indiana Master Farmers

Subscribe for updates

Purdue Farm Management Tour & Indiana Master Farmer Reception

Overview Agenda Map Cancellation Policy

Overview

The Purdue University Farm Management Tour returned in 2022 with three outstanding farms hosting visitors wanting to learn about farm and crop management on July 19th and July 20th.

The Department of Agricultural Economics at Purdue University has organized an annual Indiana Farm Management Tour every year since the early 1930s. Host farmers share keys to successful farm management and explain how the management of their operations is changing in response to the ever-changing agricultural economy and the evolving circumstances of their families. They also share reasons behind recent innovations in production practices and adoption of new technology. This is an opportunity to ask questions and learn from the experiences of Indiana’s best farm business managers.

2022 Purdue Farm Management Tour Flyer with map (download pdf)

The Master Farmer program is a long-standing tradition in Indiana and honors individuals who have contributed heavily to Indiana agriculture and demonstrated success in farming efficiency, stewardship of natural resources and community service. A reception with a panel discussion will be held in conjunction with the tour to honor the 2022 Indiana Master Farmers.

The 2022 Purdue Farm Management Tour will be July 19-20 in Tipton and Clinton counties in northcentral Indiana and the Master Farmer reception and panel discussion will be held at Beck’s Hybrids on Tuesday afternoon (July 19). – Find out more details under the Agenda tab above.

View the details on the past 2021 Purdue Farm Management Tour here.

Agenda

2022 Agenda

All listed times are in eastern daylight time (EDT).

Tuesday, July 19, 2022
12:30 p.m. (EDT)	M & K Henderson Family Farm / Henderson Ag Advantage 4467 N 200 W, Sharpsville, Indiana
	Monty and Austin Henderson are the 4th and 5th generations, respectively, of their family to farm in Tipton County. In addition to farming, Monty currently serves as State Director of the Indiana Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Agribusiness Initiative focused on aiding the development and growth of farms and agribusinesses across the state. After graduating from Purdue and gaining some industry experience, Austin leveraged his position as an independent Pioneer seed dealer to develop a new venture focused on helping his seed customers reduce their production costs by obtaining volume discounts. Austin’s enterprise, Henderson Ag Advantage, has expanded beyond providing customers seed to include a variety of other crop inputs, all focused on reducing production costs, which pairs well with Austin’s role on the farm. The M&K Henderson Family Farm operation emphasizes improving soil health using a combination of no-till, strip-till, and cover crops. Over the years, the Henderson family has also focused on improving drainage, moving beyond solving wet spots to improving yields by pattern tiling. Integrating a returning family member into the operation is always a challenge and at this tour stop you’ll learn more about how the Henderson’s have combined farming with their pursuit of entrepreneurial opportunities to help ensure a successful farm transition.
3:30 p.m. (EDT)	Master Farmer Reception & Panel Discussion Beck's Hybrids 6767 E 276th St, Atlanta, Indiana
	The Master Farmer program is a long-standing tradition in Indiana and honors individuals who have contributed heavily to Indiana agriculture and demonstrated success in farming efficiency, stewardship of natural resources and community service. The presentation of awards will be followed by a panel discussion with the honorees, moderated by James Mintert, director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture. The reception will be held at Beck’s Hybrid's headquarters near Atlanta, IN. Pre-registration is required to attend the Master Farmer Reception & Panel Discussion, no day-of tickets are available for this event. . The Indiana Master Farmer program is sponsored by Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and Indiana Prairie Farmer. All are welcome and the reception is free.

Wednesday, July 20, 2022
8:30 a.m. (EDT)	Orr Farms 6060 E Co Rd 50 S, Michigantown, Indiana
	Clint & Marianne Orr started their farming operation with just 200 acres under cultivation in the late 1980s. In the farm’s start-up years Orr’s focused on generating enough off-farm income to facilitate reinvesting farm earnings back into the farm and were able to transition to a full-time farm operation in the early 2000s. Lacking a large land base at a single location encouraged Orr’s to take advantage of existing facilities scattered across several owned and rented locations. Recently Orr’s built a new stand-alone grain facility with a GrainHandler Continuous Mix-Flow dryer. The facility, which is located near the junction of two highways, provides them with capacity to store 100% of the seed beans, waxy corn and white corn their farm produces. Growing specialty crops requires paying close attention to details which has helped make Orr’s efficient farm managers. Staying up-to-date on new technology is important on Orr Farms and their new 2022 model corn and soybean planters will both be on display at this tour stop.
	Lunch on own
1:30 p.m. (EDT)	Stafford Farms 2286 S 975 W, Tipton, Indiana
	Stafford Farms senior leadership is provided by Tim Stafford who, along with his sons Jarren and Jordan, raises corn, soybeans and hogs. Jarren and Jordan, comprising the 4th generation of farm operators, joined the farm full-time upon graduation from Purdue in the early 2000s and provide leadership on technology adoption and implementation. In addition to their hog enterprise, Stafford’s raise seed corn and have been installing pattern tile using their own equipment. To prepare their farming operation for transition to the next generation, Stafford’s have implemented a plan to move major assets from father to sons over time. In 2022, Stafford’s completed a new state of the art farm shop which will be featured at this tour stop.