Beginning Organic Farming Program
Feb. 1st, 2006
Speakers
Gary Reding:Garyis president of Langeland Farms, Inc. in Greensburg, Indiana. He farms 600 acres, of which 249 are certified organic pasture and hay used for an intensive grazing operation. He also processes organic and conventional food crops, including popcorn, dry beans, soybeans, wheat and corn.
John Clark: John is the owner/manager of Roseland Organic Farms with 1800 certified organic acres since 1980 in Cassopolis, Michigan. He raises certified organic livestock, pasture and grass crops with his wife and two sons. He has 300 head of Charolais beef cattle, 400 grazing acres, 300 crop acres, with the other acres in wetlands, woodlands, and open space.
Dan Frantz: Heritage Harvest Farm, located 25 miles west of Louisville Kentucky in southern Indiana, is operated by Dan and LaDonna Frantz. In 1995, the management of 20 tillable and 35 hay /pasture acres was converted from chemical rescue to organically sustainable farming methods.
Today, 4-5 acres of a wide spectrum of vegetables are grown for sale at farmers markets, a family owned herb shop and other commercial outlets.
2006 is the first year that a "Community Supported Agriculture"
subscription program will be available from Heritage Harvest.
Although Heritage Harvest is no longer certified organic, natural, non-synthetic measures are still practiced.
Corinne Alexander: Corinne is an Assistant Professor of Agricultural Economics at Purdue and serves as an Extension specialist in the area of grain marketing. Her goal is to assist farmers and agricultural businesses with the marketing of their grain both in commodity markets and in specialty markets. Dr. Alexander received her Ph.D. in agricultural economics from University of California, Davis with fields in agricultural economics and resource economics. Her current research interests examine how farmer’s production decisions interact with their marketing decisions. Corrine has two Extension programs. The first program focuses on price risk management and provides information about new marketing tools such as new generation grain marketing contracts. The second program focuses on marketing value-added products, with a focus on food-grade grains and organic products.
Joe Balagtas: Assistant Professorof Agricultural Economics at Purdue, Joe Balagtas does research on U.S. and international agricultural policy, regulation of agricultural markets, and industrial organization of agricultural markets. Recent and ongoing work focuses on a range of issues in the dairy industry, including milk marketing regulation, the U.S.-Australia trade agreement, and R&D for new uses of milk.
Professor Balagtas teaches an undergraduate course in agricultural marketing. Joe joined the department in August 2004. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from the University of California, Davis, and an M.S. in Agricultural Economics from Iowa State University.
David Conner: David was born and raised in Pennsylvania and earned a B.S. in biology in 1987. He worked on a number of organic and sustainable farms until 1992, when he began a two year service as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal, West Africa. After getting a Masters in Extension Education from the University of Vermont in 1997, David was a marketing manager for a large organic vegetable farm in Pennsylvania. In 1998, he went to Cornell University, where he first got a Ph. D. in Agricultural Economics, then served as the economist for the Northeast Organic Network, a multidisciplinary project looking at organic farming in the Northeast. Currently, David is a Research Specialist at Michigan State University’s C.S. Mott Group for Sustainable Food Systems, where he does research on two main themes: What would be the economic impacts of a more sustainable, community-based food system? What are the opportunities and obstacles to bringing products from this type of system to market? David lives in East Lansing, MI with his wife Lana, daughter Anessa and son Matthew.
Jim Traub: Most recently General Manager of Favored Grain, West Lafayette, IN-coordinating sales, operations, risk control in company operations in Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. He operated certified organic facility in Windfall, IN since November 2003. Previously, Jim was VP of Specialty Grains, Clarkson Grain, Beardstown, and Cerro Gordo, IL. Jim established first certified commercial organic facility in Illinois. He began business career in grain merchandising with The Pillsbury Co, serving in various merchandising and operations jobs in Illinois and Indiana. He served as merchandising Manager for Behimer and Kissner Grain in Mt Vernon, IN evolving from there into specialty grain merchandising in Illinois, and Kentucky. A native of Livingston Co, Illinois and ag graduate at the University of Illinois, Traub has presented at various soybean and soyfood seminars at University of Illinois, Texas A and M, Iowa State, Purdue and at Organic and soyfood meetings in Japan and Europe. Jim is married to Linda, an elementary teacher and has three grown children.
David Robb: David is the Manager of Business DevelopmentatTraders Point Farm Organics, Inc which is located in Zionsville, IN. Traders Point Creamery is dedicated to producing the highest quality organic, grass fed dairy products.
Tedd Heilmann: Tedd is the pool director for the meat program at Organic Prairie, a wholly-owned meat-marketing subsidiary of CROPP-Organic Valley in La Farge, Wisconsin.
Jennifer Dennis: Jennifer joined the Purdue Agricultural Economics faculty in June 2004 working in the areas of extension, teaching and research in marketing of specialty crops and consumer behavior. She has a joint appointment with the Department of Horticulture & Landscape Architecture. Jennifer teaches an undergraduate class in the Horticulture department entitled “Principles of Marketing and Management for Horticultural Businesses.”
Jennifer has a master’s degree in Horticulture with an emphasis in survey research methods from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she explored target marketing within the Illinois retail nursery and garden center sector. Jennifer completed her Ph.D. work at Michigan State University where she investigated the role of regret and consumer satisfaction/dissatisfaction on purchase situations with horticulture products. Her general research interest includes consumer behavior topics such as switching behavior and repeat patronage, consumer perceptions of products, marketing of organic products, and the organization and implementation of consumer awareness programs for Indiana grown fruits and vegetables. Jennifer is also active in the development and delivery of programs through the New Ventures Team.
Mark King: Mark King is a former Chair of the National Organic Standards Board and currently serves as Principal of 4 FOOD WORKS; a consulting firm dedicated to the development and implementation of sustainable and verifiable food production and handling systems. Mark has enjoyed opportunities to launch and successfully manage both tangible and intangible product offerings with various corporate entities throughout his 20 year career.
Early in his food career he led the effort to establish Georgetown Market as one of the Nations’ first certified organic retailers. He began his agricultural endeavors in the seventies assisting in the management of a traditional Midwest family grain and livestock farm. He is the recipient of state and national agricultural management awards and is an avid supporter of family farms and rural life.
Michelle Wander: Michelle Wander (Associate professor in Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, UIUC) is a soil ecologist who teaches courses on soil organic matter, soil ecology, nutrient cycling and decomposition and advises graduate and undergraduate students. Her research addresses the function of, and factors influencing, soil organic matter in natural and managed ecosystems. She is part of the Windsor Organic Research Team and now works with the Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program. Her interest in organic farming systems is both academic and practical as her husband grows and sells organic vegetables in Illinois.
Dan Egel: Dan is a plant pathologist in the Botany and Plant Pathology Department at Purdue University. He is located at the Southwest Purdue Ag Center in Vincennes. As an extension specialist, Dan helps growers diagnose and manage diseases of vegetables with an emphasis on reduced input.
Liz Maynard: Liz Maynard is a Regional Horticulture Specialist in the Dept. of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture at Purdue University. She develops and implements research and education programs for commercial flower and vegetable industries. Her office is at Purdue North Central in Westville, where she also teaches introductory horticulture in alternate years. During the summer she spends a lot of time in vegetable research plots at the Pinney-Purdue Ag Center in Wanatah, working with tomatoes, sweet corn, pumpkins, peppers, and other crops. Prior to coming to Purdue in 1992, she completed MS and PhD graduate degrees at Cornell University in Ithaca, NY.
Rick Foster: Rick is Extension Entomologist and Professor in the Department of Entomology at Purdue University. He received his B.A. degree in Biology from Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville, his M.S. degree in Entomology from the University of Illinois, and his PhD degree in Entomology from Iowa State University in 1983. Rick served as Vegetable IPM Coordinator at Cornell University and as an Assistant Professor of Entomology at the Everglades Research and Education Center (University of Florida) at Belle Glade, FL before joining Purdue University in 1988. He has responsibilities for extension and applied research related to arthropod pests of fruits and vegetables. He also serves as Extension coordinator for Entomology and as Assistant Extension Program Leader for Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Cissy Bowman: Cissy has been growing food organically since 1973 and has worked in organic certification since 1989. She has served as vice president and legislative liaison for OCIA International and in 1996 helped to start a small certification agency that has grown today into ICO, a USDA and ISO 65 accredited certifying agency currently operating across the U.S. Cissy currently serves as CEO of ICO, chair of the Indiana Organic Peer Review Panel, and she is involved in many organizations dedicated to organic food and farming.
Mickey Latour: Mickey is Associate professor and Extension Poultry Specialist in Purdue’s Dept. of Animal Sciences. Mickey’s current position at Purdue University serves the role of Teacher, Extension Specialist and Researcher. In a portion of his capacity as Extension Specialist, he enjoys helping small poultry producers, because for the first 21-years of Mickey’s life, he was surrounded by backyard poultry and in a recent project sent two different students to Honduras and Guatemala to implement alternative feeding to backyard poultry. Today, he would like to present some of the “hot topics” of backyard poultry and opportunities that might exist.
Tim Johnson: Tim is thePurdue Dairy Extension Specialist . His degrees are : B.S., Wilmington College; M.S., Michigan State University; Ph.D., University of Wisconsin. His research is in neonatal calf nutrition, ruminant protein, amino acid and carbohydrate nutrition and applied nutrition and feeding systems. Tim teachesIntroductory Animal Science and Principles of Animal Nutrition. His extension activities involve dairy cattle nutrition and management including theTri-State Dairy Nutrition Conference, held annually since 1991 , and nutrition of intensely grazed dairy cattle.
Neil McDonald: Neil is with Traders Point Farm Organics, Inc. which is located in Zionsville, IN. Traders Point Creamery is dedicated to producing the highest quality organic, grass fed dairy products.