The Indiana Soybean Alliance Glass Barn that will debut this summer at the Indiana State Fair is also making a cameo at Commodity Classic in Kissimmee, Florida. Trade show visitors can see renderings of the glass barn at the ISA booth and learn more about the purpose of the soy checkoff funded project.
“The most important message that we want to get across is how clear and open we are as soybean farmers. We want consumers to know that we use good quality products when we’re growing their food and we take time and effort to do as good a job at producing that food as possible in a clean, sustainable manner. The food that I grow on my farm I eat and my family eats and I want them to realize that it’s safe and nutritious for their family too.”
Evansville farmer Joe Steinkamp is an ISA director and will be one of 3 farmers providing a look inside his farm.
“My role in the Glass Barn is that they’ve interviewed me on my farm, and brought the movie cameras out and the film crew has been out to document what we’re doing on our farm. Then my next role is that it’s going to be an interactive display at the Glass Barn at the state fair and if you come to the state fair and you’re in the Glass Barn during cutaways I’ll actually be on the overhead screens and you can talk to me live on my farm. You can ask me questions about what you might have learned and ask me what I’m doing today.”
Construction crews actually installed the glass this week and it will be open in plenty of time to get all of the technology bugs worked out before August and the start of the Indiana State Fair.
Commodity Classic is a busy event for Steinkamp who also is a board member for the American Soybean Association and the Soy Transportation Coalition and both boards are meeting in Kissimmee.