The Community Foundation of Jackson County and Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service will serve up an economic forecast at the 19th annual Farmers Breakfast.

The event is set for 7:30 a.m. Feb. 9 at Pewter Hall in Brownstown. Doors open at 7 a.m. Admission is free. To attend, call us at 812-523-4483.

The event was canceled last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we remain hopeful that the breakfast can safely take place next month.

Michael Langmeier of Purdue University will be the keynote speaker, and Denise Connell of Lorenzo, Bevers, Braman and Connell will present a brief program about the foundation’s work and its relationship to estate planning.

Langmeier is a professor and extension economist in the department of agricultural economics and serves as associate director of the Center for Commercial Agriculture.

He joined Purdue University in July 2012. His extension and research interests include cropping systems, benchmarking, strategic management, cost of production and technical and economic efficiency.

Most of his research has focused on the efficiency of farms and ranches, and crop and livestock enterprise production costs and efficiency. He also has conducted research related to tillage systems, biomass crops and the tradeoff between crop rotation profitability and water quality.

Before arriving at Purdue, Langmeier worked 22 years in the department of agricultural economics at Kansas State University.

Langmeier has conducted workshops and given presentations in Australia, China, Ecuador, Ireland, Germany, New Zealand, Russia, South Africa and Tanzania. He is currently involved in agribenchmark, an international benchmarking group centered in Germany.

He received a bachelor’s degree and master’s degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, and his doctorate is from Purdue University. His family operates farms in eastern Nebraska.

The Farmers Breakfast program is free of charge and reservations may be made by contacting the foundation by calling 812-523-4483 or by emailing [email protected] .

The farm sector is an important part of the Jackson County community, and the foundation supports those involved with farming through funds such as the Bob Myers Memorial Scholarship Fund and the C.B. Hess 4-H Memorial Scholarship Fund.

The foundation also offers farmers an opportunity to donate to those and other funds that benefit the community through the annual Giving the Gift of Grain program and the annual Giving the Gift of Livestock program. We also conduct a light-hearted fundraising competition, the Head to Head: Green vs. Red contest.

Currently, the Green Team is in the lead with 63 percent of the vote. Votes may still be cast through cash donations or gifts of corn or soybeans. The deadline is Feb. 1.

Joining the Foundation and Purdue Extension Jackson County as sponsors of the Farmers Breakfast this year are a number of area businesses and service providers involved with the farming community.

They include Premier Ag and Rose Acre Farms, which underwrite the cost of the buffet meal, allowing farmers to enjoy the breakfast at no cost.

Other sponsors include The Andersons, Aquatic Control, BW Agri-Products, Beacon Ag, Beatty Insurance, Blue Co., Bob Poynter GMC, Brownstown Veterinary Clinic, CPC, Darlage Custom Meats, Donaldson Capital Management, Edward Jones, Farm Bureau Insurance, First Financial Bank, German American Bank, Grindlay Grindlay and Hackman Show Feeds.

Also serving as sponsors are the Ivy Tech Foundation, JCBank, Jackson County Co-Op Credit Union, Jackson County Insurance Agency, Jackson County REMC, Jackson County Tire, Jacobi Sales, Kova Farm Supply, Lorenzo, Bevers, Braman and Connell, Montgomery Elsner Pardieck, Old National Bank, Newkirk Crop Insurance, The Peoples Bank and Royalty Companies.

Other sponsors are Schneck Medical Center, Seymour Animal Hospital, State Bank of Medora, Surface Insurance, Tampico Grain, The Tribune, Vision Financial Group, Wischmeier Trucking and Wright Implement.

The foundation appreciates our sponsors’ support of the local farming community, which provides valuable jobs and income to area residents, as well as the support that they offer to the Foundation and our community.