The Hackman family will be featured July 11 during the 90th annual Purdue Farm Management Tour.
Submitted photo
One is known for its Jackson County watermelons and other produce.
The other is focused on soybeans and non-GMO popcorn.
Hackman Family Farm Market in Vallonia and Rowland Farms in Campbellsburg will be featured July 11 during the 90th annual Purdue Farm Management Tour as it visits Jackson and Washington counties.
Purdue University’s Center for Commercial Agriculture and Purdue Extension sponsor the tour. Each tour includes an interview session, where farm operators provide an overview of their farms.
Host farmers also will share successful farm management tips, discuss how the management of their operations is changing in response to the agricultural economy and evolving family circumstances and share reasons behind their recent innovations in production practices and adoption of new technology.
This is an opportunity to ask questions and learn from the experiences of Indiana’s best farm business managers, according to a news release from Purdue.
The tour is free and open to the public, but registration is required by July 5. Register online at ag.purdue.edu/commercialag/home/program/pfmt-2023. For information, email [email protected] or call 765-494-7004.
The day will start at 9 a.m. at Hackman Family Farm Market, 6077 S. State Road 135, Vallonia. Then at 1 p.m., it will be at Rowland Farms, 9826 W. Posey Chapel Road, Campbellsburg.
The event will end at 4 p.m. with a Master Farmer reception and panel discussion at Cornerstone Hall, 1500 E. R.C. Morris Drive, Salem.
The Master Farmer program, sponsored by Purdue University’s College of Agriculture and Indiana Prairie Farmer, is a long-standing tradition in Indiana and honors individuals who have contributed to Indiana agriculture and demonstrated success in their farming operation, stewardship of natural resources and community service.
The presentation of awards will be followed by a panel discussion with the honorees, moderated by James Mintert, director of the Purdue Center for Commercial Agriculture.
Preregistration is required to attend the free reception and panel discussion. No day-of tickets are available.
Jacquelyn Jasinski, who handles human resources and is retail manager for Hackman Family Farm Market, said the family is looking forward to being part of this tour.
“It will be a few different talks about hot ag topics, like succession, bringing the next generation back to the farm, food safety and diversification,” she said. “If you want to see anything we are doing in the fields or high tunnels, stay after and we will take people out to see that, as well. We would love to have you join us.”
Jasinski and her sister, Megan VanLiew, who handles wholesale and is the food safety manager, recently discussed their roles on the farm with Mintert on a podcast in anticipation of the upcoming tour. That can be viewed online at purdue.edu/commercialag or youtu.be/neCFlcH_Ync.
Tom and Ruth Hackman’s home farm has been in their family since 1911, and they are the sixth generation of their family to farm in Jackson and Washington counties. The Hackman farm has always been a diversified farm operation, but the enterprise mix has changed over time as crop operations have become more important with less emphasis on cattle.
Hackman Family Farm Market opened its doors in 2012 as a retail business to serve up fresh quality produce. The produce operation expanded when VanLiew, Jasinski, their brother, Victor Hackman, and Jasinski’s husband, Klayton, returned to the farm.
The Hackmans currently raise corn and soybeans and augment their row crop operation with produce, including sweet corn, watermelons, cantaloupes and several other produce crops.
In addition to supplying several major retailers with watermelons, the Hackmans market directly to consumers via locations at the farm and at Darlage Custom Meats in Seymour. Their newest enterprise is a subscription-based fresh produce home delivery service, Veg2Table.
The Rowland family’s farm has been in operation since the late 1930s with Greg and Jenny Rowland taking over the operation in 1988. With their crop operation, they are keenly interested in improving soil health via cover crops to boost their farm’s long-term productivity.
In 2018, their son, Jacob, joined the operation and recently put into operation a new commercial scale cage-free layer house. The highly automated poultry operation features a manure storage system that helps ensure the Rowlands achieve maximum value from the poultry litter applied to their cropland.
At this tour stop, attendees will learn about the evolution of cover crop technology and how adding a new enterprise to the farm operation can facilitate bringing the next generation back to the farm.
If you go
What: 90th annual Purdue Farm Management Tour stops in Jackson and Washington counties
When: July 11
Where: Hackman Family Farm Market, 6077 S. State Road 135, Vallonia, at 9 a.m.; Rowland Farms, 9826 W. Posey Chapel Road, Campbellsburg, at 1 p.m.; Master Farmer reception and panel discussion at Cornerstone Hall, 1500 E. R.C. Morris Drive, Salem, at 4 p.m.
Who: Open to the public
Cost: Free, but registration is required online at ag.purdue.edu/commercialag/home/program/pfmt-2023 by July 5
Information: Email [email protected] or call 765-494-7004