By NANCY VORIS
Indiana Correspondent

EDWARDSPORT, Ind. — Don Villwock’s grandfather owned a hardware store when he decided to take up farming in 1907 and settled 80 acres near Edwardsport. Within a few short years, around 1914, a power plant came to the neighboring farm and for decades Villwock Farms and the forerunners of Duke Energy co-existed.

Villwock’s father took over the farm after World War II, and Don joined the family operation after his graduation from Purdue. The farm has grown to 1,400 acres and was named a Hoosier Homestead in 2007.

Now president of Indiana Farm Bureau, Inc., Villwock marvels at the changes since the farm began, when his grandfather ran a steam engine threshing ring for neighboring farmers. “Now we have auto-steering, GPS – evolutionary changes – and add to all that, yields that were 30 to 40 bushels are now 200.
But as the farm has evolved, so have the needs of the power industry. The massive power lines originating from the plant – known as “The Grid” – was the hub of energy in Indiana and hooked up to the Midwest Grid. In 2006, Duke Energy needed to expand, and another location would have meant a new grid and the loss of thousands of acres.

The Villwocks were informed of eminent domain and the company’s intent to take 160 acres of the farm, including his parents’ house and that of Don and his wife, Joyce; a new shop barn, outbuildings and grain system. The process was agonizing for the family, and during that time Don’s mother died from stress-related causes.

They went to a couple dozen nearby farms with an offer to buy, but the answer was always no.

“Our farm is scattered, so we’re used to traveling with machinery,” Villwock said, “but our goal was to have our farmstead centered.”

They finally found acreage about five miles from their original homestead. Because eminent domain allowed the company to buy at market value and give only one-third on replacement costs, the Villwocks found that moving the two homes to the new location was a more sound economic decision than to rebuild.

On the 2011 Purdue Farm Management Tour, visitors will hear and see firsthand how the Villwocks navigated the process and rebuilt their farm operation from scratch.

The tour takes place June 28 and 29 in Daviess, Knox and Sullivan counties. All farm sites include mini tours of specific operations and an interview with the hosts about their farm management practices.
Sites on Tuesday are:

•Del Unger Farms, Carlisle, noon with lunch: Corn, wheat, double-crop corn, double-crop soybeans, seed soybeans, sweet corn and green beans. They also operate a cow-calf operation on some of their rolling land.

•Melon Acres, Oaktown, 3 p.m.: Produce on 1,000 acres and cash grains and green beans on an additional 1,500. The Horralls are trendsetters in technological investments such as forced air cooling and their asparagus, cantaloupe, and watermelon packing lines.

•Indiana Prairie Farmer Master Farmer Banquet, Vincennes University’s John Deere Building, 5 p.m. Fee: $20. To register, e-mail debby@purdue.edu or call (765) 494-8593.

Wednesday sites are:

•T.S. Boyd Grain, Washington, 8 a.m.: 7,500-acre farm produces double- and single-crop soybeans, earlage, popcorn and continuous corn. Operation also includes a 100-truck freight and warehousing business and two grain elevators.
•Carnahan & Sons, Vincennes, 10 a.m.: Quarter horse farm with prescription farming practices.

•Villwock Farms, Edwardsport, Agricultural Outlook Update with Dr. Chris Hurt, 12:45 p.m.; interview at 1:30 p.m. Navigating eminent domain, succession involving their farm manager, antique tractor barn, grain handling.
The tour is free and open to the public, but registration is required to participate in either or both sponsored lunches. Registration and additional information is available at http:// www.agecon.purdue.edu/extension/programs/farm_tour.asp or call 765-494-4310 or 888-EXT-INFO (398-4636).