SARE 1996 Highlights

Bringing Chefs to the Farm Raises Profits

An Indiana grower's use of integrated pest management and shrewd direct marketing have attracted a bevy of new customers for his consumer-oriented crop farm. In 1992, Brian Churchill began using IPM on some of Countryside Farm's 100 acres of sweet corn, melons, tomatoes and other produce. Last year, with a SARE producer grant of nearly $3,000, Churchill used pest scouting and other IPM strategies on all of his horticultural crops. He cut insecticide costs by two-thirds, saving at least $4,000. A single, well-timed insecticide application managed corn earworm effectively on all 60 acres of sweet corn, compared with five sprays previously. To help publicize results, Churchill held a summer "expo" that brought 50 chefs from top restaurants in nearby Louisville, Ky., to the Depauw, Ind., farm. "We showed we can produce the volumes they need in as good or better a quality as they can get anywhere," says Churchill. The marketing strategy is paying off. Churchill expects to triple his restaurant sales in 1996, to more than $18,000, partly because two chefs now use the farm's name on their menus. Another has given out free ears of Churchill's low-input popcorn as a promotion. Other specialty marketing efforts to promote Countryside Farm's low-pesticide crops include a customer newsletter, farm tours for school groups, talks at regional horticulture conferences and serving as a location for a television station's gardening show. (North Central Region project FNC94-58)

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