PLYMOUTH, Ind. — The 80th annual Indiana Farm Management Tour, set for June 20-21, will be centered on Plymouth, the seat of Marshall County, and will feature a variety of farming operations. The public is invited and there is no fee for the tour.

Next Wednesday will start with a 1 p.m. interview at Homestead Dairy/Legacy Dairy, home to 3,800 dairy cows and 4,000 replacement heifers. Operated as a single farming operation by Floyd and Deb Houin, Floyd’s sister-in-law, Tana, their son, Brian, son-in-law, Joel Gawronski, and niece, Lindsay, the farm uses technology to optimize management of the dairy.

Although the farm now consists of 3,500 acres of corn in addition to the dairy operation, there were only 560 acres and 110 cows when Floyd and his late brother, Dan, bought the farm from their father in 1979. They kept adding cows and buying more land to comply with confined animal feeding law requirements for handling their own manure.

The focus of this stop will be the innovative use of information technology, crop and forage management, milking operations and cow housing. The multigenerational operators can also explain their division of labor: Brian and Joel oversee the dairy operation, Matt and Ryan focus on crops, Floyd tends to financial matters and Deb keeps books.

At 3 p.m. the tour will move to the Indiana Berry and Plant Co. of Plymouth, where owner Sam Erwin will talk about how he turned a high school FFA project into one of the state’s largest fruit, berry, vegetable and horticulture businesses.

His story is unique in that although he grew up on a farm, he did not want to grow crops such as corn and soybeans. Instead, in 1969, he planted blueberries and established a U-pick operation to complete an FFA requirement. Within 10 years, he had incorporated and begun expanding into other fruit and vegetable crops.

He continues to operate the U-pick farm along with businesses that sell supplies to specialty crops operation and machinery for horticultural production.

Craig Dobbins, a Purdue University agricultural economist and tour stop host, said of Erwin’s operation, “This is the story of how an individual assembled his strengths and those of people around him to do successful things. His story is about identifying opportunities where other people see problems. It demonstrates the importance strategy has in running a successful business.”

At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the Indiana Prairie Farmer Master Farmer banquet at Christos’ Banquet Center, 830 E. Lincolnway, Plymouth, will recognize outstanding agricultural producers and community members. Cost is $25; it is co-sponsored by the Purdue’s College of Agriculture. Interested people should call 765-494-8593 to see if reservations are still being accepted.

June 21 will kick off at 8 a.m. with a visit to Stackhouse Farms, 6808, Plymouth. There, Brad and Jo Stackhouse and their son and daughter-in-law, Kyle and Rachel, own and operate separate farm businesses that work together. They market non-genetically modified and identity-preserved grains for specialty markets around the world.

The Stackhouses will describe the farms’ business structure, land ownership trusts for farm succession and pivot irrigation. They were among the first in Marshall County to use these and now have 22 center pivots.

Another focus will be on the farms’ use of Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and grant funding to make improvements on their operations, which continue to expand and diversify every year. EQIP is voluntary and provides financial and technical assistance to agricultural producers through contracts up to a maximum term of 10 years.

These contracts provide financial assistance to help plan and implement conservation practices that address natural resources concerns, and for opportunities to improve soil, water, plant, animal, air and related resources on agricultural land and non-industrial private forestland. In addition, a purpose of EQIP is to help producers meet federal, state, tribal and local environmental regulations.

The Stackhouses will lead a tour of their geothermal-heated and -cooled shop building where visitors can examine farm equipment they have renovated. “We don’t farm for show,” the hosts said. “Our equipment may not be fresh off the assembly line, but it is late-model and certainly more than sufficient to operate our farm.”

The farm’s maintenance program keeps equipment in top shape and helps lower overhead expenses.

Marvin Houin Farms: Mini tours of the 3,000-acre corn and soybean operation located near Bremen will begin at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The focus here is on technology and use of data to manage resources, intergenerational transfer planning and comparison of alternative cropland lease arrangements.

Father and son Marvin and Charlie each take responsibility for different aspects of the farm’s operation. They will talk about how family relationships and resources have helped them expand their farm through land acquisition and cutting-edge crop technology. Specific emphasis will be given to the challenges of farming on the fringe of a suburban area.

Lunch, sponsored by Farm Credit Services of Mid-America and the Marshall County Dairy Assoc. and Pork Producers Assoc., will be served at noon. An interview with the Houin family is set for 12:45 p.m., followed by Dr. Chris Hurt’s agricultural outlook at 1:30 p.m. Guests may pre-register for the lunch by calling 765-494-4310 by June 14.

Participants needing lodging should contact the Marshall County Convention and Visitors Bureau at 800-626-5353 or visit www.visitmarshallcounty.org