Stay Informed

Five county Farm Bureaus have been exploring innovative programming with the help of grants from Indiana Farm Bureau.

The grants support new or expanded programs or events that promote education and networking with diverse segments of agriculture. Receiving financial assistance for programming in 2021 were Farm Bureaus in Benton, Clinton, DeKalb, Floyd and Rush counties.

Benton County Farm Bureau was awarded a community grant to expand upon the annual Historical Conservation Agricultural Tour of Big Pine Creek Watershed. The county Farm Bureau hopes to partner with the Benton County Soil and Water Conservation District to expand a program that helps farmers and local residents learn about the agronomic and conservation history of the watershed, which includes 209,000 acres that join Benton, Warren, Tippecanoe and White counties.

“There are bald eagles, historic sites and so many ecosystems thriving just beyond our rural roads. You could live your whole life here and never know about these places,” said Lana Wallpe, Benton County Farm Bureau president. “We want to help preserve the native lands and help educate farmers to keep them safe for future generations to discover.”

The tour was planned for fall 2021, but because of a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases within the community, it has been postponed until fall 2022, Wallpe said.

Clinton County Farm Bureau received a community grant for an enclosed trailer to be used for an interactive display where children and adults learn about different animals that are exhibited at the Clinton County Fair. The program was led by the Clinton County Farm Bureau Young Farmers & Ag Professionals.

“It’s going to be a self-contained educational trailer but designed so that it will be effective if used in conjunction with actual livestock,” such as a petting zoo or county fair livestock barn, explained Lyle Burkhalter, the county YF&AP representative who is coordinating this effort. The trailer has been purchased, but Burkhalter is still making necessary modifications, with the hope of having it ready before the next Clinton County Fair. The county also hopes to bring the trailer to local schools, he added.

DeKalb County Farm Bureau was awarded a community grant to host a virtual screening of the feature film Silo, which tells the story, inspired by real events, of a teenage boy who becomes the victim of grain entrapment. The virtual screening, which took place during the 2021 National Grain Bin Safety Week, raised awareness of the dangers of grain entrapment. The program provided an educational and impactful look at a significant ag safety issue and brought together several audiences, including farmers, FFA chapters and first responders, to start a dialogue about grain bin safety.

The original idea was to host an in-person screening, said Sarah Delbecq, DeKalb County Farm Bureau president, but when that became difficult due to COVID-19 restrictions, the film company started offering virtual screenings. “You’d register on the company’s website, get a link and then watch from home,” Delbecq explained.

The screening drew 100 individual registrations, but Delbecq estimated that around 200 people watched the movie.

“I don’t know that we would have done much better in person,” she said. “It’s very possible that this was our way to get the biggest audience.”

Floyd County Farm Bureau received a community grant to provide growing kits to Floyd County public school students and their families. In partnership with Purdue Extension Floyd County, the county Farm Bureau supplied growing kits to every fifth grader in the public school system. Each student received a 3-gallon fabric pot filled with soil, seeds and a tomato or pepper plant, along with plant tags, a drip tray and a water spritz bottle. Extension educators worked with school officials to create lessons that teachers used in the classroom to educate students on agriculture. The goal of the program was to fight food insecurity by providing students and their families with the tools to grow some of their own food.

Rush County Farm Bureau was awarded community grant funds for a campaign to collect internet speed test data in Rush County, designed to showcase areas that are underserved when it comes to reliable broadband access. The program focused on a targeted campaign to drive awareness of the project and collect speed tests in the county and served as an example of the need for reliable broadband in unserved and underserved communities, which was one of INFB’s top 2021 legislative priorities.

INFB’s program development grants are issued quarterly with one application submitted per county per calendar year. All Indiana county Farm Bureaus are eligible to apply for up to $1,500 in funding each year. Find out more about INFB’s grant and scholarship programs at www.infb.org/scholarships.