Hat Chat

The long awaited revision in the strategic plan of the State Department of Agriculture has been unveiled. The revisions were based on feedback from industry partners and research from Purdue’s Dept of Agriculture Economics. The plan, which will guide the activities and programs of the department for the next 4 years, has three main priorities: Advocacy, “Serve as an advocate for Indiana agriculture at the local, state and federal level;” Economic Development, “Define and nurture economic opportunity, including technology development, in the food, fuel and fiber sectors,” and Environmental Stewardship, “Enhance the stewardship of natural resources on agricultural land in a manner that creates value-added opportunity for producers and assists agriculture stakeholders with current and future regulatory challenges.“ Making the ISDA an advocate for agriculture is a new concept admits Director Anne Hazlett, “I think we are the first in the nation to do this, but we can accomplish it because we do not have any major regulatory responsibilities.” She also told HAT that the strong support for agriculture by the Governor and Lt. Governor will serve as an example for the agency.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman says charging state government with being an advocate is necessary to meet the challenges facing the Indiana ag industry, “Very few Hoosiers have a real understanding of modern agriculture today, so we have to fill that void.” Skillman said the department will actively promote the interest of Indiana agriculture at the local, state, and federal levels. The plan specifically identifies “Assist in the coordination of advocacy efforts by industry stakeholders including development of unified message and implementation framework; facilitate a workgroup to bring industry partners together to discuss and coordinate action steps addressing regulatory issues in agriculture; cultivate relationships with federal decision makers by coordinating regular visits to Washington D.C. by a cross section of industry leaders.”

Lt. Governor Skillman presented the update to a gathering of industry representatives held at the Kelsay Dairy, a six generation dairy farm located in rural Johnson County. A complete copy of the plan can be found at http://www.in.gov/isda/.

You can listen to the presentation of the plan by Lt. Governor Skillman and Anne Hazlet

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Last week during an Indiana tour of hardwood companies, ISDA Director Anne Hazlett met Cass County’s Milt Cole, owner of Cole Hardwood and Indiana Dimension Incorporated. She was also meeting a man who farms a whole lot of acres. Cole (pictured at right) started farming in the early 1970’s when he was looking for a way to channel the energy of two young sons. “I thought farming was the best way to do that. I just got started and fell in love with it, and just kept buying. Now the bank and I have 13,600 acres, and I’m pretty proud of that.”

For eight years Cole, a native of Tennessee, has planted nothing but corn on his land that crosses three North Central Indiana counties. This year he resorted to 400 acres of beans because of spring rains. So far, he says the corn looks, “Fair. That’s the best, fair.”

Hear more from Milt Cole here:

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To find out more about the fiscal implications section of Purdue University’s recently released CAFO study, Hoosier Ag Today spoke with agricultural economist Larry DeBoer. His focus was how much additional revenue and additional costs are generated for county government when a new CAFO comes to that county.

Deboer’s findings were mixed. He explained, “For most CAFOs, if you count the tax relief and the additional revenue to the budget, they had what we call a positive fiscal impact. The additional revenue was greater than the additional costs that they imposed on the local government. But if you took a look at just the county budget, just how much of the additional tax bill that the CAFO actually pays, that actually becomes revenue for the county budget, then most of them had negative fiscal impacts. The revenue was not enough to cover the additional costs the CAFO created for the county.”

Click to hear the entire interview with Larry Deboer:

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The American Dairy Association of Indiana has announced their new spokesperson: Miss America. She will now be able to represent the Hoosier dairy industry to a worldwide audience. Katie Stam is the first Hoosier to be crowned Miss America and now the first Miss America to also be a spokesman for the ADA of IN. Stam told HAT that representing the dairy industry will come naturally since she grew up in a dairy farm family in Indiana, “As one of 4 children my job was to help take care of the baby dairy cows and help our in the milking parlor.” She will now be able to take her story of to the whole world, “It is my story; I can talk about my family’s lifestyle and how I was raised.” In 4-H, Stam had experience showing dairy cattle at the Jackson County fair, is not afraid to talk about animal care, and is eager to tell consumers about how dairy farmers treat their dairy cows, “For a farmer, his cows or his crops is his livelihood. It is the way we make a living so, of course we are going to take good care of our animals.” Stam said dairy farmers live on or near the land that their families farm and they understand the importance of protecting the natural resources.

This extremely articulate and intelligent young woman will serve as a role model for many young people and has a strong message about dairy products and the role they play in a daily diet, “Not only are dairy products a great source of calcium but 12 other important nutrients.” She also stressed that dairy products taste great. Her day begings with dairy, “I could not start the day without a good breakfast of bacon, eggs, and fruit and, of course, milk.” She said that after her daily exercise routine she enjoys a glass of chocolate milk.

Listen to the entire interview with Katie Stam

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For Anne Hazlett Tuesday was all about learning more about the hardwood lumber industry in the state. The director of the Indiana State Department of Agriculture toured three hardwood facilities to get an up close look at the industry that represents thirty-one percent of Indiana’s Ag economy. Ray Moistner of the Indiana Harwood Lumberman’s Association organized the tour. He told HAT, “We’ve known it for a long time, but we’ve always thought it was critically important for the leadership of the department of agriculture to understand that hardwoods are a part of Ag, just like any other crop. We just have a little bit longer growing cycle. The hardwood industry is bigger in terms of jobs, wages and impact on the economy than corn and soybean combined, for example.”

Director Hazlett used the day to continue the strong relationship the department has had with the Lumberman’s Association. She said, “This is something that has been a strong priority for the Governor and Lt. Governor. Ray and I have had an opportunity today to continue to talk about what the state can do to help promote this industry both to Hoosier consumers, but importantly, to consumers abroad.”

Listen to more comments from Anne Hazlett here:

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Listen to the Ray Moistner interview here:

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The Indiana Soybean Alliance helped fund a recent study by Purdue University that should help dispel myths about soy biodiesel. Those myths include reduced gas mileage and reduced power, particularly with higher blends like B20. ISA biofuels director, Mark Walters, says the very detailed side-by-side comparison of B-20 and ultra-low sulfur diesel in two 10-truck fleets makes it a worthwhile investment.

During the testing period one story seemed to prove the inaccurate perceptions some have about biodiesel performance. One driver running on B20 complained about its lack of power and requested a diesel fill-up to prove his point.

Walters spoke with HAT about how Indiana Soybean Alliance will utilize the study, and their efforts to expand biodiesel use into new markets, namely the mining and port industries. Hear that interview here:

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A legal ruling in Indiana earlier this year is being called a landmark decision on right to farm act issues across the U.S. The Lindsey family of rural Huntington County filed a nuisance suit in late 2003. They claimed the nuisance included manure smells and flies from the neighboring DeGroot Dairy operation. The Indiana court of appeals rejected the Lindsey’s argument and declared the Indiana Right to Farm Act constitutional. That law was passed in 1981 to shield farmers from nuisance law suits.

Attorney, and former Kansas cattle and wheat farmer, Todd Janzen, of Plews Shadley Racher & Braun in Indianapolis, litigated the case for DeGroot. He told Hoosier Ag Today, “This is one of the few cases in the whole United States where courts have examined this particular point and upheld right to farm acts on constitutional grounds. So I think it is certainly an important case for Indiana farmers, because it means if you build a farm or expand an existing farm in an established agricultural area, you cannot be judged a nuisance by a court of law just because your farm creates those smells, and sights, and sounds that are commonly associated with farming.”

Listen to all of Janzen’s comments:

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Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack was in the state on Tuesday to talk about economic recovery; but when he met with Hoosier farmers, they wanted to talk about something different. The Secretary’s visit to Hendricks County for a Town Hall meeting was the first time since the late 1980s that a Secretary of Agriculture visited this central Indiana County. Over 200 farmers and agri-business leaders filled the auditorium at the Hendricks County Fairgrounds to ask Secretary Vilsack a variety of questions related to agriculture policy.

Hear audio of the Town Hall meeting

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Last week the U.S. Grains Council brought a team of Chinese hog producers to the states for farm consultations, training and seminars. They were at Purdue University for two days for a swine production short course. The Purdue Animal Sciences instructor was Dr. Brian Richert. He explained that although China is the largest pork producer in the world, production methods are widely varied. “It’s a bit of a mixed bag in China at the moment. What we have with us today are ten of the more productive, elite operations that are patterning themselves after U.S. kind of production. That would be larger sow units, and farrow to finish operations, or starting to develop partnerships where there’s a sow unit that’s common, where a lot of people are then taking a thousand head, or two thousand head, and finishing out on their own, all the way down to backyard production with one or two pigs.”