It was 10 years ago that the Indiana Soybean Alliance opened the doors of The Glass Barn on the northeast side of the Indiana State Fairgrounds. Current and past farmer directors of the Indiana Soybean Alliance gathered last week to celebrate the special birthday.
ISA CEO Courtney Kingery says the impact The Glass Barn has made over the last 10 years is incredible.
“There have been over 150,000 people play the ‘Bean-go’ game here at The Glass Barn. Through that game, they have to answer trivia questions to learn more about agriculture. And we’ve had over a million people come through The Glass Barn over the past 10 years.”
Kingery says many of those visitors would have had no idea about soybean production, but this Checkoff funded venture brought that education and will continue to do so for a very long time.
“They can actually climb up and climb into a combine. They can do virtual reality and act like they’re combining soybeans on the field and really get that firsthand experience. They can see our new pollinator garden that has been built around The Glass Barn to understand and learn about the conservation practices that soybean farmers take really seriously here within Indiana.”
Also celebrating this year is the delicious Hoosier Ribeye sandwich! Brian Shuter, executive vice president of the Indiana Beef Council, says they’re celebrating 40 years of the Cattleman’s Club Ribeye Stand at the State Fair.
“We’re approaching 1.5 million ribeye sandwiches that we’ve sold. It started as a promotion to help consumers learn more about where their food comes from, connecting those consumers with the beef product that our producers raise, and it’s really grown. It’s an amazing event.”
Grab a ribeye, visit The Glass Barn, and find plenty of other fun at the State Fair, open Wednesday through Sunday now through the end of the fair on August 20th.
