Whether you can make the first day of the 2012 Indiana Farm Management Tour or not, there is a second day. The tour remains in Marshall County, visiting Brad Stackhouse and family at 8 a.m. EDT on their farm near Plymouth. Each farm on the tour features a visit with the host family, lasting about 30 minutes, and three to four mini-tours, typically zeroing in on practices that the host either utilizes or specializes in.
The Stackhouse farm raises non-GMO corn for food grade markets. They will likely discuss the extra measures it takes to ensure that their corn is not contained by GMO pollen in the summer, and that each load is free of GMOs.
Precision enthusiasts- Marvin Houin and his son, Charlie, adapt as much technology to their operation as they believe is practical and cost-effective.
Elevators accepting non-GMO grain now have sophisticated techniques to test for GMOS. Within five minutes, they can not only have a visual observation, but a precise, numerical printout of what GMOS, and how much of each one, if any are present in the load. Different companies set different limits on how much they are allowed to accept before rejecting the load. Typically, most companies want less than 1%, although it depends upon the use for the corn.
The tour move the Marvin and Charlie Houin farm near Bremen for the final stop. This stop features lunch. This father and son team specializes in applying precision technology to their farming operation. Their goal is to not be the first to try something, but to be watching those that try it first and then adopt it if it looks promising. The goal, they note, is that a technology needs to fit into their operation and provide a financial benefit in some way.
Chris Hurt will also give the market outlook for the upcoming months at this stop. He is a Purdue University ag economist. Hurt once put his talk on paper as a handout. He doesn't do that anymore, he notes, because weather is so volatile, especially right now with dry weather developing in many areas. Come hear what he has to say.