WOOSTER, Ohio — The Wayne County Farm Tour, Oct. 14-15, offers a unique picture of the many facets of Wayne County’s agricultural industry, from dairy farms to poultry producers to grain, horse and beef farms.

Stop 1 is Starmark Farm and home of Kurt Sugg Stable, at 5795 Cleveland Road, Wooster. The farm is owned and operated by Dean and Martha Davis and Craig, Amy and Lucas Dudte.

Davis’ and Dudtes raise Holsteins, Red and White Holsteins and Brown Swiss.

A highlight of this stop is the 120-year-old bank barn that has been restored to house the dairy cattle. It features rubber floors and fans for cow comfort.

The farm is home of the Kurt Sugg Stable. Sugg is the trainer for Davis’ Standardbred racehorses. The stable races horses in 300-400 races per year.

They farm 410 acres and crops include hay, wheat and soybeans. The Northeast Ohio Pork Producers will sell grilled pork loins and sausage sandwiches.

Stop 2 is Hovanec Farm located at 5588 Stonesthrow Drive, Wooster. The farm is owned and operated by Ron and Julie Hovanec.

Hovanecs have 40 acres, which provide pasture for their 54 head of Miniature Beef cattle. They purchased the farm in May 2002 and acquired the cattle in August 2003. The herd is predominately Lowline Angus, a breed developed by the University of Australia to gain weight on a grass-based program. The calves weigh between 40-45 pounds when they are born. Mature cows weigh about 800 pounds when they are mature and stand about 42 inches tall or less.

Hovanecs use artificial insemination and embryo transplant procedures on their herd. He also has some crossbred animals, mostly Belted Galloway crosses and Buelingo crossbred animals. Kettle popped popcorn will be for sale at this stop.

Stop 3 is Cantendo Acres and Grazeland Jerseys located at 9959 Canaan Center Road, Creston. The farm is owned and operated by Tom and Rosalie Noyes, Russell and Cheryl King and family.

The Noyes’ and Kings own 62 acres and rent an additional 30 acres of pasture. The farm has been in a rotational intensive grazing program for about 20 years. The pastures are primarily clover with perennial rye and orchard grass.

They have 200 head of cows and replacements; 180 Jerseys and 20 Ayrshires. Calves are started on pasture at about 3-4 months of age. In 2003, they built a new heifer barn to house heifers from 4 months to breeding age; and in 2004, they remodeled an existing barn into a calf barn with a feed room.

Cows are housed in a free stall barn when they are not out on pasture and fed a total mixed ration yearround. Hand dipped ice cream will be available at this stop.

Stop 4 is Canaan Creek Organic Farm located at 3727 West Britton Road, Burbank. The farm is owned and operated by Matt Peart. Canaan Creek Farm has been farmed organically for 18 years. Peart farms 400 acres including soybeans, corn, spelt, sunflowers and hay. Spelt is a small grain similar to wheat or oats.

Peart has 30 Angus brood cows and 18 replacements. Heifers are sold as breeding stock and the steer calves are sold to neighboring farmers to feed out for freezer beef. This stop will also feature representatives from Friends of Ohio Barns, the Ohio Forestry Assoc. and the Ohio Ecological Food and Farming Assoc. Here’s The Scoop Ice Cream will be available at this stop.

Stop 5 is Deer Lick Farm located at 7482 West Britton Road, West Salem. The farm is owned and operated by Pat Kanehl and Karl Kanehl.

The Kanehls farm 100 acres raising hay for their eight horses. This farm is listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. The farm, originally a general livestock farm features the original buildings including the farmhouse built in 1874, smokehouse, carriage house with herringbone brick floor, and a weight house where the farm wagons were pulled in across a scale to be weighed.

The two story bank barn was built in 1896. It is a German style barn with a forebay and cupolas. The barn was built without plans from materials harvested from the premises.

Quota International of West Salem will sell sandwiches, chips and drinks at this stop.

Stop 6 is the Conrad Amstutz Chicken Farm located at 6730 Bates Road, West Salem. It is owned and operated by Conrad and Christine Amstutz and family.

Amstutz and his family operate an 80-acre farm, purchased in 2002, raising corn, soybeans and wheat. They have contracted with Case Farms of Winesburg, Ohio to raise broiler chickens. They have three houses with approximately 80,000 birds.

Two of the houses are 16-years old and hold 20,000 birds apiece. The third house was completed this summer and has 34,000 birds. Conrad Amstutz works as a salesman for Sterling Farm Equipment. Case Farms will have a display at this stop.

Stop 7 is Dismantler of Old Barns located at 2419 Congress Road, Wooster. The business is owned and operated by Jeff Weygandt. The business was established in the early 1960s by O.L. Weygandt to supply hewn beams and weathered siding for the Brown Derby chains. He also supplied materials for Adam’s Mark, a high-end restaurant chain.

His sons, Al and Harold, took over the business during the late 1970s through the 1980s. Jeff started working in the business in 1979. Weygandt dismantles old barns and recycles lumber, stones, siding, hewn beams, windows and slate roofs for remodeling and furniture, cabinetry, tables, flooring, trim and casing.

Don and Linda Reichert will sell roast lamb sandwiches, chips, pie and beverages at this stop.

Stop 8 is the Rice Farms and Rice Farms Milk Cartage located at 10595 Ashland Road, Wooster. The farm is owned and operated by Walter and Eloise Rice, and Joe and Kelley Rice.

Walter Rice, his son, Joe and his grandchildren represent the sixth, seventh and eighth generations of the Rice family to live on this farm. The original owner, Frederick Rice, served under Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War. He received a patent deed for the farm dated Aug. 29, 1818 that was signed by President James Monroe. Around that time, he also acquired a farm on Madison Hill that is now known as the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center.

Today, Walter and his wife, Eloise own 370 acres and along with son, Joe, farm over 600 acres. Crops include corn, soybeans and wheat in a rotation. They have a grain dryer and storage for approximately 40,000 bushels of grain. A gas well on the farm heats three homes; one of which replaces the original ornate brick house which burned to the ground in 1925, a duplex, farm shop, truck garage and dries all of the corn they grow. The big barn once housed 27 Belgian horses, which supplied the horsepower on the farm.

The Wayne County Dairy Quiz Bowl Team will offer milk shakes at this stop and the Wayne Antique Power Assoc. will have their display at this stop.

This farm news was published in the Sept. 27, 2006 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.