Beginning Farmers: Purdue to Offer Farm Tours and Workshops Across Indiana

Beginning farmers across Indiana and surrounding areas will have an opportunity to tour local farms and learn from the experts.
Beginning farmers across Indiana and surrounding areas will have an opportunity to tour local farms and learn from the experts.

Purdue University has announced that it will be offering 10 farm tours and workshops across Indiana for aspiring farmers. The goal is to give individuals an opportunity to learn from agricultural experts and network with locals in the field.

“We hope that aspiring and current farmers will find the tours to be a source of useful information and an opportunity to meet and interact with other people who are passionate about farming,” said Kevin Gibson, professor of botany and plant pathology at Purdue.

As of 2012, the U.S. had 522,058 beginning farmers. Although this is 20 percent less than 2007, beginning farmers were responsible for one-fourth of the 2.1 farms in the U.S. at the time, according to the Census of Agriculture.

The farm tours and workshops are being hosted in conjunction with the Local Growers Guild. The series will begin on May 8 with a closer look at regenerative agriculture, and it will conclude on Oct. 14 with a trip to the Blue Yonder Organic Farm.

Other locations that will be featured during the series include Silverthorn Farm, Clay Bottom Farm, and Seven Sons Farm (among others). Various topics will be addressed, ranging from the use of high tunnels in vegetable production to cheese-making.

More information on the tours and workshops can be found on the Purdue website. Organizers are asking interested participants in registering beforehand.