Kosciusko Leadership Academy members who learned about Agri-Business at Creighton Brothers are shown, from left, are, Stephanie Scott, Mindy Truex, Rick VanPuffelen, Ryan VanPuffelen, Kelly Easterday, Ron Truex, Kristin Whitacre.

By JONI TRUEX
Public Information Director, Kosciusko Leadership Academy

Kosciusko Leadership Academy met at Creighton Brothers to learn about Agri-Business in Kosciusko County. President of Creighton Brothers, Ron Truex, began the session by welcoming the KLA class to Creighton Bothers, a family farm in operation since 1925. With the decline in family farms, there is a need to education people where their food comes from. Creighton Bothers produces eggs in the shell. Crystal Lake produces the wide variety of other egg products, liquid, frozen, and hard cooked.

Sales and marketing manager of CTB Inc., Rick Van Puffelen, spoke on the equipment provided for the industry. The Corporate headquarters for CTB Inc. is located in Milford. This growing global company has $1 billion in sales annually. With 2,700 employees, the goal is to efficiently produce protein while helping to keep down the price of food. In the United States, according to Rick Van Puffelen, 6 percent of income is spent on food. This is the lowest percentage among countries.

Purdue Extension Educator, Kelly Heckaman, explained the definition of a farm has not changed in many years. Any place from which $1,000 or more of agricultural products are produced is considered a farm. The average age of a farmer is currently 54.3 years old. 34 percent of those in the farming industry are over the age of 65. The high cost of entering this industry is one reason there aren’t more young farmers. Volatility in production and in pricing is another reason. 2015 prices for grain are expected to be low.

KLA is a not for profit organization devoted to serving Kosciusko County by encouraging leaders and future leaders to dream and create a better community through white paper projects.