agriculture

The Beecher house welcomed a wave of visitors, all eager to see the “supercow” on pace to break a record.

Among all states, Indiana landed in the top 10 for both crop sales and total agricultural sales (a particularly remarkable feat considering that we measure in at a relatively puny 38th in geographic size).

The Hoosier livestock industry makes more than $2.5 billion a year and “has seen growth in almost every livestock sector.” But for a group that’s doing so well, animal-farmers sure seem defensive.

Give thanks for this bountiful compendium of dairy farmers, pierogi makers, brewers, chefs, field hands, and many others on Indiana’s agricultural scene.

From Big Ag to organic, rural to urban, and scientist to traditionalist, the following profiles highlight the diverse attitudes and approaches of Indiana’s current agrarian class.

Having a 20,000-acre spread, one of the largest farms in one of the nation’s most productive farm states, buys some clout.

If you believe that Indiana farmers are weather-hardened old men who grow corn and soybeans, you might look at these tidy patches of naturally raised produce and see a garden—and, in the pretty thirtysomething who tends them, a gardener.

First planted in 2010, The Feel Good Farm is a 60-acre, certified-organic growing operation near Sheridan, where the suburban sprawl of Hamilton County gives way to a flat landscape of fields, fencerows, and barns.

Baggott took an early retirement and, in 2010—just a year after ExactTarget surpassed $100 million in annual sales—purchased a 98-acre farm near Greenfield to raise livestock. Never mind that he had no agricultural experience whatsoever.

In simpler times, Bowman’s plan might have passed for good old Hoosier ingenuity. Unfortunately, Monsanto, the world’s largest seed company—and a notorious ball-buster—doesn’t see it that way. And neither did the highest court in the land.

This encounter with Bing grew from—ahem—the kernel of an idea: Challenge the traditional definition of “farmer” by highlighting the more contemporary elements in Indiana agriculture.