Christmas and July harmonize like a blizzard on Independence Day, but the summer months are perhaps the most vital for Tom
Dull and his wife, Kerry, who raise 23,000 Christmas trees on their peaceful farm in Thorntown.
The U.S. hog-breeding herd is near the smallest on record, and wholesale pork-belly prices are up 72 percent in the past year,
to the highest price since at least 1998.
The industry group Indiana Pork Farmers says the state is home to 3,000 pork producers who raise 8 million pigs and feed 25
million people annually. The industry employs 15,000 people.
An application with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management calls for a six-barn confined animal feeding operation
near the Jay County town of Bryant.
The Indiana Department of Environmental Management says the rule would impact sewage treatment plants upstream of lakes.
Just because it’s summer, don’t expect tree and shrub pests to go on vacation.
Beginning this summer, the Department of Agriculture will house Indiana FFA's executive offices.
Health care, plastics, other fundamental consumer needs kept some companies on upswings.
Some farmers would like to see a small airport in rural northwestern Indiana closed in order to open up a large part of the
state's windiest area for electricity-producing wind turbines.
Decades ago, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin were the top U.S. mint producers, but the heart of U.S. production is now in
the Pacific Northwest. Over time, as small mint farms shut down, Indiana has fallen to fourth.
An annual report by Purdue University shows that 20 Indiana residents died last year in farm-related accidents, down
from 28 in 2008 and 24 in 2007.
Matthew Jose figures that if enough people follow him into urban farming, vacant and abandoned property will flourish with
productivity, consumer diets will improve, and worn neighborhoods will get new life.
A 26-member delegation of Hoosiers, including Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman, arrived Wednesday in Hangzhou, Indiana’s Chinese
sister state since 1987, for an agriculture-focused economic development trade mission.
Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman is traveling to China with a delegation of state officials and business and community leaders through
June 10. Skillman is blogging about their experiences as the group works to build relationships and attract Chinese investment
to Indiana.
Purdue corn specialist Bob Nielsen says recent frosts have caused mostly cosmetic damage to crops, but some fields experienced
damage serious enough that they must be replanted.
Newly implemented provisions of the 2008 Farm Bill are opening the door to possible federal aid for Indiana Christmas tree
growers and tree nurseries hit by losses caused by severe weather.
The Midwest is known more for growing corn than cauliflower, but if its farmers raised the fruit and vegetables eaten in
the Heartland, they could create thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in income, according to a recent study.
The federal money is for renewable energy systems, energy-efficiency improvements, energy audits and renewable-energy feasibility
studies.
As of last week, farmers had planted 56 percent of the state’s intended corn crop and 12 percent of the soybean crop. Both
are records for late April.
U.S. corn farmers may have planted more acres last week than in any week ever as dry weather
and more-productive equipment sped up fieldwork.
