Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving

Please give a special thanks to the Farmers and Ranchers who produced the food you are about to eat.  Have a great day,  

Putnam County Farm Bureau, Inc.

Kron and Culp newly elected as President and VP of Indiana Farm Bureau

Randy Kron

Vandenberg County farmer Randy Kron was elected on the first ballot as President of Indiana Farm Bureau.  Kron said one of his first actions will be to revitalize county Farm Bureau organizations, “Our foundation is our county Farm Bureaus so, if we do not have strong county organizations, we will not have the support at the Statehouse we need.”  He added that, beginning in 2016, IFB will develop a strategic plan and will be seeking input from county Farm Bureaus on what resources they need.

Kendell Culp

Jasper County farmer Kendell Culp was elected First Vice President on the 4th ballot. Culp ran on a platform of reshaping Farm Bureau membership, “We have to look at membership rather differently.” He said other organizations like national FFA and ASA are changing the way they do membership, “I think it is time for Farm Bureau to sit down and look at other ways we can recruit and encourage others to be part of the organization.”

Several of the candidates for President, like Joe Kelsey and Donny Lawson, were younger farmers who called for changes in the way the organization works. Kron said he will be reaching out to younger farmers and finding ways to get them more engaged in Farm Bureau, “We are going to have to find new ways to get them engaged because maybe the traditional Farm Bureau way is not working.  So I want to reach out to them and see what we can do to help keep them engaged.”

Several of the candidates stressed the need for Farm Bureau to be more diverse and inclusive, with more involvement by the livestock sector and smaller and organic farmers. Culp, who also serves on the  Soybean Alliance board, said he will work to try and bring unity between Farm Bureau and the state commodity groups, “Indiana agriculture needs to speak with one voice.” He stressed to HAT that there needs to be more coordination and consistency on policy issues among all sectors of agriculture.

Both men will assume their duties on January 1. Outgoing President Don Villwock had high praise for the new President, “He has the experience and a deep passion for serving agriculture and Farm Bureau members.” Kron has been served as the IFB vice President for the past 14 years.  Kron farms with his wife and son near Evansville, raising primarily corn, soybeans, and wheat. A 1983 graduate of Purdue University, he holds a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics. He has held numerous leadership positions, including as INFB’s representative on the U.S. Grains Council and on the Indiana Corn Marketing Council. He is also past president of the county extension board, and he serves as his township’s trustee/assessor.

Culp farms with his wife, parents, son, and daughter near Rensselaer, raising grain and hogs. He served as District 3 director on the Indiana Farm Bureau board for 12 years (the maximum number of years a district director can serve). He currently serves as a director for Farm Credit Mid-America, Jasper County commissioner, and as a member of the board of directors for the Indiana Soybean Alliance.  Isabella Chism will remain 2nd VP of Indiana Farm Bureau.

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Partnerships strengthen family farm.

Partnerships strengthen family farm

FILLMORE, Ind. — Hog farmer Mark Legan and his family understand that to remain a successful farming operation, there is need for steady growth and improvement.
That is just what Legan and his wife, Phyllis, and their daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Nick Tharp, have been doing.
“As a farm, we continue to grow so we can compete and stay in business,” Legan said. “We try to be as efficient as possible and want others to know that what we’re doing is environmentally safe.”
The family operates a livestock and grain farm in Putnam County.
They farm 1,000 acres and raise 3,000 sows and have continued to expand over the years. A large portion of their time is spent taking care of the mother sows and their baby pigs. About 1,500 pigs are weaned each week and then moved to finishers.
A majority of the pigs are finished in partnership with two families in Shelby and Boone counties. Partnerships such as this have helped the family grow.

Getting A Start

Neither Legan nor his wife came from production agriculture. In fact, when Legan graduated college, he served as an Extension agent for seven years, until he got the opportunity to start a farming venture with a family in Putnam County.
In 1989, they joined the 180-sow farrow-to-finish operation. In 1994, the family purchased the farm and added another 250 sows.
The farm has since continued to grow. In 1997, they were up to 600 sows and began the process of modernizing and brought the sows inside to take better care of them.
“We saw a two-sow per litter increase by doing that,” Legan said. “We’ve had to reinvent ourselves every four to five years to stay competitive.”
They continued to grow with 1,600 sows in 2006 and then 2,400 sows in 2010, when their daughter and her husband joined the farm after graduating from Purdue.
“They helped us quadruple our management capacity and explore the partnerships with the families who have finishing facilities,” Legan said. “It has allows us to do what we do best.”
Today, there are 3,000 sows and 14 employees, including the family, helping out on the farm.
It’s easy to see why relationships and continuous growth are two of the family’s core values.
“Basically, everything we’ve been able to accomplish over the years has been because of the opportunities and relationships we’ve had with other people,” Legan said.

Putting It Together

Each family member has a different role on the farm. Legan’s primary responsibility is crops, manure management and working with finishing partners.
Nick Tharp manages the sow herd and the employees who help with that on a day-to-day basis. Phyllis Legan is in charge of human resources.
“We’re only as good as the people who help us,” Phyllis said. “Relationships are huge to us not only in our farming partnerships, but also here at the farm and in the barn.”
Beth Tharp focuses on the finances of entities including the grain and sows, the two partnerships and another entity on the farm. She also works on sales and marketing.
Although they all have separate roles, they also work together. The family is proud to be doing what they’re doing and do what they can to include the community.
Beth Tharp recently posted a 21-day series on the farm’s Facebook page of the life of a baby pig. The family prints a semiannual newsletter so that neighbors can see what they’re doing on the farm.
“We work hard at being good neighbors, and we carry on dialogue year round with them,” Legan said. “If they have questions or want to have a better understanding of how we do things, we want them to let us know.”

Above And Beyond

This is all part of what the family is doing to show consumers that they care about the well being of the animal, food safety and more.
Consumer perception can be challenging, which is why another core value is integrity or doing what’s right when no one is looking, Beth Tharp said.
“We feel like we have a moral obligation to take the best care of our animals,” she said. “Yes, we have to be able to sell our product, but we care about our animals and we want consumers to understand where we’re coming from.”
Phyllis Legan agreed and said she wishes that consumers would have an open mind about pig farming.
“I wish consumers would listen and not just at the wow-factor headlines that scare them into believing something without being educated,” she said.” We do all of these things in an effort to show we’re doing everything we can.”

Caring For Animals, Land

The family members are passionate about pigs, but they also are passionate about stewardship, which is their fourth core value.
“In addition to taking care of animals and making sure their needs are met, we have to take care of the land we’ve been entrusted with,” Legan said.
The family improves the health of the soil by using manure as a natural fertilizer and using conservation practices such as no-till. They have also been using cover crops for the past six years. The practices cut down on erosion, improve soil biology and help reduce the amount of fuel needed to produce grain crops.
For more information, visit www.leganlivestock.com or search for Legan Livestock and Grain on Facebook.

Amie Sites can be reached at 317-726-5391, ext. 3, or asites@agrinews-pubs.com. Follow her on Twitter at: @AgNews_Sites.