Indiana's vibrant fruit industry isn't overlooked in the Year of the Farmer program. If you visit the Indiana State Fair on Aug.12, you will meet two generations of a farm family that specialize in raising and marketing fruit, especially apples.
Related: Meet more hosts for 'Year of the Farmer' program at Indiana State Fair
The McClure family will be honored in the Year of the Farmer program at the Indiana State Fair this Wednesday. The program is sponsored by Dow AgroSciences. Families were selected to represent a broad range of Indiana agricultural producers, including fruit growers.
If you've traveled U.S. 31 near Peru and stopped at a small café by an orchard, you may have already met the McClures. They operate the café and use their fruit in items that they sell. One of the items they are known for are apple dumplings. Ice cream makes them even better! Yes, that's from personal experience!
They operate the business as a family affair, they note, and raise other things besides apples. They were honored to be chosen as the farm family to represent the fruit industry in Indiana in the Year of the Farmer program at this year's Indiana State Fair.
You can meet the family at the Glass Barn sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance if you are on the fairgrounds on Wednesday. Chats by video with participating farmers located on their home farms happened during the day at the Glass Barn. Then the host family of the day is scheduled to do a live chat with fairgoers in the Indiana Soybean Alliance WeGrow theater at 2:30 EDT.
Megan Kuhn, an assistant with the Indiana Soybean Alliance, says that the goal at the Glass barn is to emphasize chats with farmers at this year's fair. Look for them to be advertised around the grounds. They're hoping for more interaction with fairgoers. One farmer each day will be at home on the farm at set times for the live two-way chats. Kuhn says they're hoping for more audience participation this year.
See a full list of family farmers and links to their stories as they appear on the Indiana Prairie Farmer website: Indiana Soybean Alliance's Glass Barn will feature 'Year of the Farmer' hosts