There are six Indiana farmers who will have something extra to look back on other than drought when they reminisce about 2012. In the middle of the driest summer in decades the new Master Farmer class was honored in Plymouth back in late June. Brothers Kent, Kerry and Kim Ames of Putnam County, Bill Schroeder from White County, and Gene Schmidt of LaPorte County were honored.
Joining the group as a new honoree is Ed Carmichael, Jr.
“It feels great. It’s a great honor to get it and I really feel good about it,” he told HAT.
Carmichael farms in Sullivan in Sullivan County.
“Well it’s basically a grain operation and my rotation is corn, soybeans, wheat, double crop beans and back to corn. That way I keep a lot of trash on top of the ground to hold the erosion down.”
Asked what the biggest key is for success in farming, he zeroed right in on conservation.
“To make the land better than when you came,” he said. “Anymore we use all the high tech things we can get a hold of and try to keep on top of technology. My dad always did that and I try to follow in his footsteps to do the same thing. You just have to take care of the land and it will take care of you.”
No-till and strip-till planting are employed on his farm, and in recent years he has tiled more than 200 acres of land.
Farming is what Carmichael has done his whole life and when we spoke the night of the banquet he said he had never seen it so dry so early in the year.
This Master Farmer loves to travel and if you ever get the chance, ask him about farming in South America. Then sit back and relax because he’ll have a lot to tell you.[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/10/Carmichael-among-master-farmers.mp3|titles=Carmichael among master farmers]
The Master Farmer annual awards are presented by Indiana Prairie Farmer and Purdue Extension.
Click play for the full HAT interview:[audio:https://www.hoosieragtoday.com//wp-content/uploads//2012/10/Ed-Carmichael-Master-Farmer.mp3|titles=Ed Carmichael Master Farmer]