The Indiana State Fair continues, and a different farm family from around the state, representing a different segment of Indiana agriculture, will be featured each day. The program is part of the Year of the Farmer theme for the Indiana State Fair sponsored by Dow AgroSciences.
Featured on Aug. 10 are Mike and Susan Shuter and family. They operate a large no-till grain farm near Frankton, but they also have a beef herd. They are representing beef in the Year of the Farmer program.
Mike's two sons, Patrick and Brian, are currently involved in supplying beef for a retail meat market which opened recently in Pendleton.
So far, Mike says that the public has been very receptive to the idea of being able to purchase locally-grown beef near home. He suspects that the farm may be able to move most of its cattle raised each year through the market.
Shuter is also heavy into cover crops. He rigged up an air seeder off of his high-clearance sprayer a few years ago, and now operates a business to build cover crop seeding solutions for other farmers.
Phil Overdorf and family will be featured on Tuesday, Aug. 11, at the Indiana State Fair. Overdorf and his son, also named Phil, operate a chicken operation in Tipton County. The family will represent the poultry industry in the Year of the Farmer program at the Indiana State Fair.
The Overdorfs have raised chickens for decades. They currently have three houses of laying hens. Their eggs are collected automatically, and crated for shipment to another location where they are packaged for sale to consumers.
If you will be at the fair and want to meet the family of the day, look for them in the Glass Barn sponsored by the Indiana Soybean Alliance on the north side of the fairgrounds. They are scheduled to appear there for a live chat with fairgoers at 2:30 p.m. on their day.
On days when the evening parade is held, the family of the day will also be highlighted in the parade.
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.