The recent donation of a 226-acre farm near Peru, Indiana will provide Michael Fields Agricultural Institute (MFAI) the opportunity to broaden the organization’s reach and impact. Short term, for 2014 – 2016, the farm has been rented to a young farmer from nearby Wabash who will farm it organically and grow alfalfa on the acreage. This will result in the institute being able to USDA certify the land as organic in early 2017. If the alfalfa stand is good at the end of three years, the same farmer will grow and sell organic alfalfa for the next two years.

In 2013 the Institute received a gift of prime conventional farmland in Indiana from Betty Phelps Refior, a resident of Whitewater, Wisconsin. A passionate environmentalist and supporter of organic agriculture, Betty has attended the MFAI’s Whole Farm Workshops for many years. Her recent interests and projects include habitat security for bees and birds.