Summer Shop Talk season wraps up seven meetings at the end of August 

By Emily McNiff 

The Indiana Soybean Alliance Membership and Policy (M&P) Committee and the Indiana Corn Growers Association (ICGA) finished its 2024 Shop Talk season in the last week of August. More than 300 farmers, ag professionals and other stakeholders attended the seven Shop Talks throughout the state. 

The Shop Talk meetings also provided more than 100 Pesticide Application Recertification Program (PARP) credits to farmers. 

A variety of leaders and policy makers were featured speakers, including ISDA Director Don Lamb, State Sen. Scott Alexander, State Rep. J.D. Prescott, U.S. Rep. Jim Baird, U.S. Rep. Erin Houchin, State Sen. Andy Zay, U.S. Rep. Rudy Yakym and State Rep. Cory Crisswell. 

Shop Talks are hosted by local farmer leaders on their operations. ICGA and M&P staff are grateful to the farmers who opened their shops to members and stakeholders this summer to engage the public in ag policy discussions. 

Farmers hosting Shop Talk meetings include Susan and Mike Brocksmith, Knox County; Ron Hensley, Delaware County; Kevin Kelley, White County; Tim Gauck, Decatur County; Brian Warpup, Huntington County; Joe Stoller, Marshall County; and Mark and Linda Bacon, Rush County. 

ISDA Director Lamb joined the policy organizations at the Brocksmith farm on July 24 talked about how Indiana’s farm organizations work together and how ISDA is a teammate with the other departments. 

“(ISDA) should be in the middle – advocating for safe food and the farmer,” he added. 

During the White County Shop talk on Aug. 9, ICGA President Chris Cherry and M&P Chair Joe Stoller presented U.S. Rep. Baird with the Friend of Farmer Award. 

“Congressman Baird has been a longtime friend and ally to our commodity groups and Hoosier farmers. He has been there for issues important to us, including an early cosponsor of the Next Generation Fuels Act,” Cherry said. 

At the Decatur County Shop Talk on Aug. 12, U.S. Rep. Houchin spoke to more than 40 attendees about a “farm forward” farm bill and projections of its outcome going into an election season. She expressed concerns about how inflation is affecting “food, fuel and fertilizer.” 

Stoller hosted the Marshall County Shop Talk with U.S. Rep. Yakym in attendance to address farmers’ concerns about tariffs. Yakym compared the use of tariffs to being either a blunt force tool or a scalpel being used judiciously. He also answered questions regarding solar farms, the government’s role with decommissioning certain technologies, and addressed how climate issues are often driven by the world stage rather than considering how agriculture can contribute. 

State legislators, like Senators Alexander and Zay, as well as State Representatives Prescott and Criswell, focused on Indiana-specific issues. State Sen. Alexander and State Rep. Prescott spoke together in Delaware County about property tax efforts. State Sen. Zay expressed his support of farmer priorities while visiting the Huntington County Shop Talk. State Rep. Criswell spoke with constituents about state infrastructure and transportation at the Bacons’ farm in Rush County. 

The 2023 Shop Talks were sponsored by Kelley Engineering LLC, Beck’s Hybrids, Keystone Cooperative, WinField United, Farm Credit Mid-America and Bane-Welker Equipment.