Now, Indiana's Department of Agriculture posted its strategic plan here. You can download the PDF version and search for terms. Nothing turns up for wine or artisanal. Compare this plan with Pennsylvania's agricultural plan (which is in Microsoft Word and one I am just pulling out of the air for comparison).Iowa Finds Itself Deep in Heart of Wine Country
ADEL, Iowa — Stan Olson used to grow corn and soybeans on hundreds of acres here on the Raccoon River west of Des Moines, but no more. These days, Mr. Olson’s empty grain silo is useful only as a rustic image to promote his new vineyard and tasting room.
The Penoach Winery, in Adel, Iowa, is in the heart of corn country.
Mr. Olson’s Penoach Winery is a tiny operation in a red barn behind his family’s farmhouse, next to a small grape nursery. It does not have much of a customer base yet or any vintages that go beyond last year, but Mr. Olson is thrilled nonetheless.
“I will make as much selling grape plants off of two acres this year as I did many years on 1,000 acres of corn and raising 3,000 head of hogs,” said Mr. Olson, who makes much of his money selling cuttings to other aspiring vintners.
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Other Plains and Midwestern states are also producing grapes, and uncorking more of the bottles they produce.
In South Dakota, for instance, the number of wineries has more than doubled recently, to 11. In Indiana, the local wine industry has added $34 million to the economy annually. And Ohio is spending $900,000 to promote its local vintages, competing with more established regions in California, the Goliath of American wine.
If you wonder why "artisanal", then try this quick and dirty search on Google: artisanal agricultural products economic outlook. For my purposes here, artisanal agricultural products are high-end products. These products lend themselves more to the family farm operations than large scale, industrial operations. The state's Agricultural Plan contains a table of the farms by yearly income. Most Indiana farms are at $100,000.00 per year or less in yearly income. I put wine production in the category of artisanal agricultural products.
Not that the state lacks information about Indiana wineries. The state government fosters the Indiana Wine Competition. This is the third largest wine competition in the nation. Already, the Oliver and Easley wineries have begun expanding their sales internationally.
So what is the problem with just focusing on large scale hog production? These come to mind:
- It ignores the majority of farms and farmers in the state in favor of large corporate farming operations.
- It ignores the health and environmental problems of CAFO's.
- From #2 comes the opposition by local groups to CAFO's which may make the Governor's plan untenable.
Or, I could be cynical, and suggest that the Governor figures it is more profitable selling the state to these big CAFO operators than working with all levels of the state's farming businesses. Sort of like turning the proposed new toll road to Bechtel. So he turns Indiana into a giant stockyard. Taking Down Words has a post on the Governor's drive to make a profit for his ventures with private business here. Profit need not be a dirty word but with this Governor, we got to wonder who exactly profiting from his plan.
I cannot think of no reason for the state's agricultural plans to ignore new products or processes that could make smaller farms more profitable except one. It is so much easier to deal with a big, industrial corporation than to keep and build up what we possess already. Such a policy possesses nothing new or visionary but is completely backward looking and myopic. Indiana followed this same commitment to big industrial outfits for most of the last century. If you are not from the Gas Belt area, I suggest that you come to Anderson and take a look at the Fisher Guide or the Delco Remy plants. There ought to be enough room for both the high end and the industrial in our farm policy. To concentrate in one or the other will not work. Our mass-production automotive industry continues to disappear while we can find our high end automobile makers in museums. Indiana needs an agricultural policy that - to maintain the automotive metaphor - keeps both Auburn Cord and General Motors equally viable.
Here are some links to wine in Indiana:
The Indiana Wine Organization
Indiana Business has a video on the Indiana Wine Grape Council here.
Indiana Wine trail
Purdue's Wine Grape Action Group
Business Planning and Economics of Midwestern Grape Production(PDF)
Indiana Wine Grape Establishment and Suitability Atlas with Economic Impact Analysis (PDF)
The New York Times also published a review of Midwest wines (none from Indiana)
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