Ag Tour
2024 SPOTLIGHT: LARGE SCALE AGRICULTURE
Are you an agriculture professional or landowner interested in large scale agriculture? Join us for the 2024 Greene & Warren County Ag Tour! Participants will have the opportunity to visit four farms (Finch Creek Farm, Warren McCarren Farm, Schappacher Farms, and Beam Springs) and hear the stories of these operations first-hand from owners/producers. Lunch will be provided.
WHEN:
Saturday, August 17th
8:30AM - 3:00PM
WHERE:
This tour is a guided bus tour. Check-in and bus loading begin at 8:00AM at Greene County Career Center at 532 Innovation Dr., Xenia, Ohio 45385.
This program is free but space is limited and registration is required. Register by Friday, August 9th. Questions? Contact Amanda McKay/Grace Smith at 937-347-8124.
ABOUT OUR TOUR STOPS:
Finch Creek Farm
Finch Creek Farm is operated by the Finkes Family, Reinhold and Melissa and their children Karl and Katie. The family raises cattle organically and prioritizes conservation of the land. The farms organically raised cattle operation focuses largely on rotational grazing practices, which allows for better forage utilization and limits runoff.
McCarren Farm
Warren and Jonda McCarren live in Warren County and together they farm and own McCarren Farm Excavating, LLC. Warren and Jonda began farming in Sabina, OH in 1998 where they installed numerous conservation practices including tile, filter strips along drainage ditches, grass waterways, a 3-acre wetland, cover crops, and no-till/reduced tillage.
In 2017, they moved to their current farm in Warren County where they practice systematic tiling, cover cropping, and no-till practices. In 2022, Warren worked with Warren Co SWCD to secure a grant from the Ohio EPA for the construction of a cascading waterway on their farm, this one of the first of its kind in Southwest Ohio. This site will serve as a research site for Central State University, providing valuable comparative data to help evaluate the effectiveness of cascading waterways. The McCarren's farm also hosts a traditional grass waterway and a pipe drop structure, and will host a wetland in the near future.
Schappacher Farms
What once started as a hobby, Butch and Sherry Schappacher began Schappacher Farms in 1994 located in Mason, Ohio. In the summer of 2016, Butch, Sherry, their son AJ and his wife Bethany purchased what was formerly known as "Oak Lawn Farm", a picturesque 50 acre farm located directly on State Route 73 just outside of downtown Wilmington in the heart of Clinton County. Schappacher Farms opened their barn doors at the new location in the fall of 2017. AJ and Bethany reside in the 1861 farmhouse located on the property. Schappacher Farms is dedicated to providing affordable fall activities for friends and families.
Beam Springs
Beam Springs is a 4th and 5th generation family farm, run by Joe and Mike Beam. The farm has been no-till for over 30 years. In addition to no-till, the pathway to enhancing the soil health includes improving drainage with systematic tiling, increasing organic matter with cover crops, making manure and compost applications, as well as transitioning to a three or more crop rotation schedule. Beam Springs strives to do as many good things to the soil as possible, while avoiding common farm practices that are harmful.