Hop Production in Indiana - Small Farm Conf. Workshop

Registration information can be found here.   

2017 Indiana Small Farm Conference - Registration Awards Available

The Purdue Beginning Farmer and Rancher Project is providing (10) registration fees to the 2017 Indiana Small Farm Conference for farmers who are beginning (less than 10 years of farming), farm in Indiana, and are willing to participate in the three day workshop/conference at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds, Danville, Indiana from March 2-4, 2017. 

The award only covers registration fees (which includes lunch on all three days). Mileage and hotels costs are not included, nor any other food costs. Potential attendees need to apply by filling out this online survey before January 31^st. Those being awarded a registration fee will be notified the first week of February.

Good luck! 

2017 Small Farm Conference - March 2-4th

Registration is open for the 5th Annual Indiana Small Farm Conference scheduled for March 2-4, 2017 at the Hendricks County 4-H Fairgrounds and Conference Complex, Danville, Indiana.

Deep dive into a full day workshop on Thursday, March 2:

• Hops Production in Indiana
• Beginning Farmer Workshop: Starting a Small Farm in Indiana
• On-Farm Food Safety for Fruit and Vegetable Growers (Produce Safety Alliance Grower Training)
• Indianapolis Urban Agriculture Tour

On Friday and Saturday, the conference features concurrent sessions on topics ranging from vegetable and livestock production to farm management and marketing. The trade show is open Friday and Saturday for you to network and interact with farm supply and services businesses, non-profit organizations, state agencies, and more. Sit down with experts during consulting corner sessions, check out a trade show demonstration, and catch a screening of The Market Gardener’s Toolkit.

The Friday keynote speaker is Eliot Coleman, farmer at Four Season Farm and author of The New Organic Grower, Four Season Harvest, and The Winter Harvest Handbook. Eliot has more than 40 years of experience in all aspects of organic farming, including field vegetables, greenhouse vegetables, rotational grazing of cattle and sheep, and range poultry.

On Saturday, the keynote speaker is Blaine Hitzfield, farmer at Seven Sons Family Farms. Blaine is the second son in the family farm operation and manages the marketing and distribution of their farm products. He will discuss the family and operations team for the farm and how they have been successful at direct sales and regional distribution.

Preview the full conference agenda, which will be updated as additional speakers and details are confirmed.  Visit the registration site for more conference details and to register today!

Purdue Hops Team Heads West for Educational Tour

Recently I participated on a Purdue Hops and Small Farms Tour through Washington and Oregon states with the intention to introduce and Purdue Researchers, Extension Educators and Indiana farmers to new specialty crop possibilities. The primary focus of the itinerary included stops to promote collaboration and interaction among team members intermingled with learning innovative procedures, on-going research, and marketing practices.

Our first stop included a visit to Washington State University's Puyallup Research and Extension Center where we joined members of their Small Farms Team and discussed organic cover cropping systems among other projects.

That afternoon we traveled to Toppenish Washington the home of Perrault's Hop Farm, a family operated farm established in 1904. Here we spent the afternoon learning production techniques from some of the best hop producers in the country. We also enjoyed a visit with Yakima Chief, Inc and Hopunion LLC a 100% grower owned supplier for their perspective on the business and marketing of hops.

We completed our time in Washington state with a visit to the WSU - Irrigated Agriculture and Research and Extension Center. This stop may have been my favorite stop where we learned to identify common diseases associated with growing hops, such as downy mildew. This fungal pathogen Pseudoperonospora humuli can cause significant yield and quality losses in hop systems depending on hop variety and disease pressure.

Over the next few days we traveled into Oregon where

we continued to discuss hop diseases, breeding and well as a diverse group of organic vegetable systems at the Oregon State University's Hyslop Farm.
This educational opportunity was professionally rewarding and well as personally enlightening. The Purdue Hops team developed a bond with Indiana growers to promote hops, research best management practices, and develop resources for this new ever expanding commodity within Indiana. If you are interested in more information on growing hops, feel free to contact me via email at any time or by calling our local Extension Office at (317) 776-0854.