By LINDA McGURK
Indiana Correspondent

BROWNS VALLEY, Ind. — As grain farmers in Indiana are preparing to plant more corn acres than they have in the last 60 years, betting the ethanol boom will push corn prices to new heights, one Hoosier farmer is doing the opposite.

Sure, livestock producer and meat processor Adam Moody of Montgomery County occasionally feels the temptation to cash in on one or two field crops. But that’s not what he’s about.

Instead, he promotes farming the way it was done a couple generations ago, staying local, diversified and sustainable.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that our farms are not as healthy as they were 40 years ago,” Moody said.

“When you have people just counting bins and bushels, something is bound to go wrong – $5 or $6 corn will just be a big money grab. Forget about the land.”

In Moody’s case, providing farm products “from gate to plate” is more than a catchphrase. The meat-processing plant in Ladoga, Ind., which he bought in 2000, was the first to become certified organic in the state last year.

He processes livestock from other farmers as well as his own broilers and cattle, and retails the meat in butcher shops in Avon and Ladoga.

Although his 250-acre farm is not certified, Moody said he runs it according to principles that meet, or even exceed, USDA’s definition of organic farming. His stocking rates are lower than in conventional farming, enabling all animals – including the feeders
– to graze on pasture, naturally fertilizing the soil.

None of the animals receive antibiotics or growth hormones, “and I haven’t had a vet on my farm for 15 years,” Moody said.

In lieu of pesticides, crops are frequently rotated to manage weeds and insects, and the crops and hay produced on the grounds keep the animals fed year-round.

As the organic food trend is gaining ground in Indiana, Moody’s longtime dedication to sustainable farming practices has pushed him into the spotlight.

Last fall, he represented Indiana’s organic/sustainable farming businesses when a trade delegation headed by Lt. Gov. Becky Skillman visited Taiwan and Vietnam, and this year the buzz about organics keeps him busy doing farm tours and serving in various advisory capacities.

“There’s a big wave (of organics) right now and it’s important that those who are interested get on top of the wave, or it’s going to pass them without people getting any influence over it,” Moody said.

Even though Moody embraces the public’s increased interest in organics, he cautioned that, as organics are taking the leap from farmers’ markets and local food co-ops to supermarket giants like Wal-Mart and Whole Foods, the ideals of the movement’s founders will inevitably suffer.

“When people think of organic meat, they think of farms like mine, where the cows forage in pastures,” Moody said. “But then the big corporations said they can’t do that, so now there are organic feedlot animals that have no access to grass.

“That’s not what the original people thought organics should be about.”

Because he thinks the big corporations, or “industrial organics,” cut corners and take advantage of loopholes in USDA’s regulations for organic farming, Moody is instead trying to educate people to think “beyond organics.”

For the organic trend to continue thriving, he believes farmers need to change the game completely by keeping their farms small and diversified, and by becoming better CEOs.

“To bulletproof this thing, we’ve got to stay local and have a one-on-one relation with the customer,” Moody said. “We owe it to the people who have been doing this for years, and we owe it to our grandchildren.”

Moody has obviously spent a lot of time pondering the catch-22 of organics – that as they grow in popularity and scope, it becomes harder for producers to stay true to the movement’s ideals – but he’s optimistic about the niche’s potential in Indiana.

“I’m not saying everybody should do it (go organic/sustainable) tomorrow,” Moody said. “If they did, people would be starving.
“But if we can get 15 to 20 percent of the food sold in Indiana, I think it would be phenomenal. If it gets to be bigger than that, we’d have to start dumbing it down.”

In the meantime, he’s hoping to serve as an example of somebody who’s created a lucrative niche by thinking outside the box of conventional farming, and mixing modern business savvy with wisdom from the old days’ agrarian society.

“I’m not a finger-pointer or a crusader. I’m just showing that there is a different way,” he said.