Top Farmer Conference: January 10, 2025

As one of the most successful and longest-running management programs specifically crafted for farmers, the Purdue Top Farmer Conference is a one-day event for agricultural producers and agribusiness professionals looking to navigate the complexities of today's agricultural landscape. Participants will have the opportunity to network with peers and hear from farm management experts and agricultural economists from Purdue, Farm Credit Services of America, the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Acres, a land value data analytics company.

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What You Missed >>

July 17, 2024

Randolph County

Tour 2 of Indiana’s most innovative farms
& celebrate the 2024 Indiana Master Farmers

Subscribe for updates

What You Missed >>

July 17, 2024

Randolph County

Tour 2 of Indiana’s most innovative farms
& celebrate the 2024 Indiana Master Farmers

Subscribe for updates

Purdue Farm Management Tour & Indiana Master Farmer Reception 2024

Overview Agenda Map Lunch Locations Photos + Recap

Overview

Learn about innovative farm management strategies, new technologies for improving efficiency and productivity, ways to ensure a successful transition of farm operations to the next generation at the 91st annual Purdue Farm Management Tour on July 17.

Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture and Purdue Extension sponsored the tour, which includes stops at two farm in Randolph county Indiana. Each tour included an interview session where farm operators provided an overview of their farms. Host farmers also shared successful farm management tips, discussed how the management of their operations is changing in response to the agricultural economy and evolving family circumstances, and shared reasons behind their recent innovations in production practices and adoption of new technology. This was a great opportunity for producers to ask questions and learn from the experiences of Indiana’s best farm business managers.

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 was held in conjunction with the Tour to honor the 2024 Indiana Master Farmers.

The tour and reception were free and open to the public. The 2024 Purdue Farm Management Tour was held July 17 in Randolph County in east-central Indiana and the Master Farmer reception and panel discussion followed. – Find out more details under the Agenda tab above.

PFMT2024-Flyer_85x11

Download (pdf) flyer

View the details on last year’s (2023) Purdue Farm Management Tour here.

Agenda

2024 Agenda

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

Wednesday, July 17, 2024
9:00 a.m. EDT	Clements-Miller Farm 4698 E 600 S, Lynn, Indiana
	The Clements-Miller farm's origin goes back to 1959 when Rex Clements’s parents purchased what is now the home farm. Rex joined the operation full-time upon his 1972 high school graduation. In the 1970's up through the early 2000's the farm's enterprises were corn, soybeans and a farrow-to-finish hog operation, but over the years Rex and his wife Cheryl expanded the crop operation and the farm now focuses exclusively on corn and soybean production. The Clements' daughter Jill and her husband Wade Miller joined the operation following their marriage in 2008. Usage of precision ag technology helped make clear the advantages of improving tile drainage and the farm purchased a self-propelled tile plow to augment existing drainage in 2014. At this tour stop you'll learn how the Clements have positioned their farm to make a seamless transition to Wade and Jill and how improved drainage management has been key to their success.
	Lunch on own Local favorite restaurants are listed under the Lunch Locations tab above
1:00 p.m. EDT	Union Go Dairy Willow's Edge 627 W 100 S, Winchester, Indiana
	Union Go Dairy was founded by Tony and Yvonne Goltstein in 2003. Growing up on his family’s dairy farm in the Netherlands, Tony Goltstein knew he wanted to be a dairy farmer. After operating a small dairy farm independently in Germany for almost a decade, Tony and Yvonne visited the U.S. on a vacation and decided to launch a dairy operation in east central Indiana. In recent years, their daughters, Mikae and Sanne, and their son Rob have all joined this family operation. At this tour stop you’ll learn how this family has successfully integrated three next generation family members into the farm business, how their farm’s risk management approach has evolved as they work with Dannon as the exclusive purchaser of their milk along with a birds-eye view into a modern dairy operation. Please note that this tour stop is located at Willow's Edge due to concerns regarding bird flu and our commitment to maintain biosecurity standards at the dairy.
4:00 p.m. EDT	Master Farmer Reception & Panel Discussion Willow's Edge 627 W 100 S, Winchester, Indiana
	The Master Farmer program is a long-standing tradition in Indiana and honors individuals who have contributed to Indiana agriculture and demonstrated success in their farming operation, 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 Willow's Edge in Winchester, Indiana. 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. The 2024 class of Indiana Master Farmers: Tim Gauck, Greensburg Troy and Lisa Furrer, Wolcott Ron and Sherry Cash, Greencastle Keith and Darla Schoettmer, Tipton Steve Nichols, Delphi (Honorary Master Farmers) Harry Pearson, Hartford City (Honorary Master Farmers) Learn more about the 2024 Indiana Master Farmers here.

Download (pdf) flyer

Purdue Farm Management Tour and Indiana Master Farmer sponsors (logos of Indiana Farm Bureau and Farm Credit Mid-America)

Map

Lunch Locations

Local Food

Lunch will be on your own so we encourage you to explore the local food establishments in and around Winchester and Lynn, Indiana. Amy Alka, Purdue University Agriculture & Natural Resources Extension Educator in Randolph County, recommends you give these eateries a try if you’re looking for lunch or a snack during the 2024 Purdue Farm Management Tour. Many of the menus can be found online and Amy shared some of her favorite treats.

Stacy and Taylor’s Sweet Treats
108 N Main St, Lynn
http://www.stsweettreats.com/
Their chicken salad is the best. Excellent baked goods!
El Carreton Mexican Restaurant
910 E Greenville Pike, Winchester
https://www.facebook.com/ElCarretonWinchester/
Everyone thinks their Mexican restaurant is the best however, once you eat at El Carreton it will be your favorite too!
A&B Café
110 N Main St, Winchester
https://abcafeindiana.com/
Daily lunch specials and everything is delicious. My favorite is the pork chop.
House of Flavors
625 W Washington St, Winchester
Get the jumbo tenderloin. When you are finished with lunch you can get the best excellent hand dipped ice cream!! I recommend white chocolate raspberry.
Cuervo’s Tacos
630 E Washington St, Winchester
http://ordercuervostacos.com/
Simple and delicious.
Gran’s Kitchen
202 S Meridian Street Winchester
https://www.facebook.com/GransKitchenIN
This fairly new restaurant has a wide variety of homemade choices!
Chicago’s Pizza
117 W Franklin St, Winchester
https://chicagospizza.com/locations/winchester/
The only chain restaurant on the list for a reason! Get the skyline pizza!!
Mrs. Wick’s Restaurant
100 N Cherry St, Winchester
https://www.wickspies.com/bakery-cafe/
They serve breakfast all day!! Of course, their pies are excellent!!
County Line Meat Market
406 N Main St, Lynn
No dine in but has hot and cold lunch items. The deep-fried tenderloin is a real tenderloin that can’t be beat!!
Bogie’s Ice Cream
75 Sunny Knoll Dr, Winchester
https://www.facebook.com/Bogies1987/
No dine in but they have a great lunch menu. Our go to is the nacho’s. Plus, who doesn’t like ice cream!!

Download Restaurant pdf

Photos + Recap

The Purdue Farm Management Tour and Master Farmer Reception was held on Wednesday, July 17, 2024, in Randolph County in east-central Indiana. The free event provided a remarkable platform for Indiana’s top farm business managers to gather, offered an exceptional chance for the nearly 150 participants to gain insights from others’ experiences and uncover fresh ideas to implement on your own farm. Those in attendance learned creative farm management strategies, new technologies for improving efficiency and productivity, ways to ensure a successful transition of farm operations to the next generation, and asked these top producers questions.