In Business

Tending to the herd

(Photograph by John Luke.)

Word has been buzzing around that 32,000 dairy divas are “Living the Life of Riley” on Fair Oaks Farms—and executives are not keeping silent.

In fact, they’re so proud of what they do to maintain the health and beauty of their beloved black-and-white spotted Holsteins, the visitor center includes Diva Cow Hall. Just ask Diva, the swinging animatronics talking cow.

“It’s all about her,” says Julie Basich, the dairy farm’s General Manager. “Cow comfort is our number one priority and they get treated very well.
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A trade group from Taiwan signed a letter of intent Friday to buy Indiana corn and soybeans, according to the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman and delegates from Indiana agricultural trade groups and the Taiwan Agricultural Trade Goodwill Mission met in Indianapolis to sign the agreement. The multimillion-dollar deal is part of a larger by Taiwan from the Midwest over the next year. The value of the deal wasn’t disclosed.

Taiwan is the seventh-largest export market for U.S. agriculture, the news release said. Since 1998, the county has bought more than $5.5 billion in corn and $4 billion in soybeans from the United States.

A new generation of leaders stands poised to take Northwest Indiana into a future full of promise, according to one of the region’s longtime leaders.

“We need a new generation of leadership who are even more effective, who come to leadership not by default, but by design,” said Regional Development Authority Chairman Leigh Morris during his keynote speech Thursday night at The Times BusINness magazine’s “20 Under 40″ reception. A former hospital administrator and mayor of La Porte, Morris is also deputy commissioner for the Indiana Toll Road.

Hosted by The Times’ publisher Bill Masterson Jr., the gala event at the Innsbrook Country Club honored 20 individuals from business, government, social service and the law who contribute to the betterment of Northwest Indiana.
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From the BusINess inbox—in response to a comment from a local resident worried that the farmers’ market will put local grocers out of business, Sandra Rodriguez of the Miller Beach Farmers’ Market cites the benefits of buying fresh fruits and vegetables from local growers. The concerned resident writes,

Many of our local folks who have lived here for some time either own or employ citizens at grocery stores. I appreciate the farmers’ market, but I would hate to see these business go away because we don’t shop at them. We don’t have to pray for it not to rain or wait until Sunday to shop. Let’s take a more positive approach to our community and try to support both. —Megan

Rodriguez responds,

Megan, thanks for the comment, but I really don’t think grocery stores are going to suffer because of our twice a month farmers’ market. Here is a quote from Michael Pollan: “Today in America there is soaring demand for local and regional food: farmers’ markets, of which the USDA estimates there are now 4,700, have become one of the fastest-growing segments of the food market. The local food movement will grow with no help from the government, especially as high fuel prices make distant and out-of-season food, as well as feedlot meat, more expensive.”

Part of the mission of our market is to bring the community together for a fun, friendly way to socialize here in Miller Beach and welcome folks who come for a visit. Look what has happened with Chesterton’s Market—they have over 100 vendors, and they are not worried about putting grocery stores out of business! The beautiful thing about our market is it is a ministry—we are trying to help those struggling to make ends meet, we are trying to bring in holistic healing, fitness and nutritious alternatives so people can figure out how to eat a healthy meal and get healthy IN SPITE OF the fast food and sugar and salt laden junk food that corporations are trying to pass off on us, IN SPITE OF lazy doctors and pharmaceutical companies trying to push the next pill off on us.
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