Mike Starkey opens his farm near Brownsburg, Ind., during the National FFA Convention, held in Indianapolis, inviting FFA members from all over the country to come for a tour. This year, FFA’ers from Colorado, Oregon and Minnesota took him up on it.

Why? Starkey’s farm is unique in that it sits at the junction of Marion and Hendricks counties, about a 30-minute drive from downtown Indianapolis. FFA advisors from other states want students to get a taste of Indiana agriculture. It’s an opportunity to tell agriculture’s story that Starkey can’t pass up.

Don’t these kids already know all about agriculture? Not by a long shot. Many FFA members today don’t live on farms. If they do, it’s likely quite different than a typical farm in Indiana. For example, students from Colorado knew about raising corn, wheat and cattle, but tiling was a foreign concept. Tile contractors were starting a project in one of Starkey’s fields when students visited.

Educate, educate

“If I ask a room full of students how many live on a farm, a few hands go up,” explains Bob Barr, a research scientist at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis. Barr spoke to students at Starkey’s farm.

“If I ask if their parents or grandparents lived on a farm, more hands go up. This generation is removed from the farm, and we need to take advantage of our opportunities to educate them about agriculture and topics like protecting water quality,” he says.

Barr was at Starkey’s farm because he has supervised an ongoing project to study water quality in the watershed feeding into Eagle Creek Reservoir, a source of drinking water for Indianapolis, for 16 years. Once he discovered that water leaving Starkey’s fields contained less sediment and fewer nutrients than water entering streams elsewhere, he wanted to know why. Sixteen years later, he’s still learning.

The project, in cooperation with Starkey and the U.S. Geological Survey, involves two year-round monitoring stations that document what leaves fields and enters streams, both at the upper and lower ends of where Starkey farms.

“We want students to see what we’re doing and understand that being responsible for resources is part of agriculture,” Barr says. He also knows that even if one or two students become excited and consider pursuing a career in water quality related to agriculture, it’s a win for everyone.

Harvest experience

Starkey conveniently left corn to harvest adjacent to his shop where students gathered to begin their time learning on the farm. He invited any who were interested to get an up-close look at Indiana agriculture. Some chose to ride in the combine. Others elected to ride in the tractor pulling the grain cart.

Starkey believes it’s in his and all farmers best interests that non-ag people, especially young people, know what happens on the farm. He takes advantage of his opportunity to educate them firsthand.

We believe Starkey is right. Here’s hoping you will take advantage of any opportunity you have to educate non-ag people.

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