Todd Hoffman stands beside his combine in one of his fields along CR 400N outside Rochester. He’s an organic farmer. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

ROCHESTER — Organic farming means “trying to make those organisms work together and create a good home for that seed,” said Todd Hoffman.

The Rochester man has grown corn and soybeans without chemicals for “seven or eight years,” he said.

He and his wife, Lisa, own or cash-rent about 2,500 no-till acres in Fulton, Kosciusko, Miami and Marshall counties. Todd noted about 40% of that ground is in Fulton County.

Todd’s been farming since he helped his father growing up, but he started on his own after he graduated from Tippecanoe Valley High School in 1982.

“I bought a small dairy,” he noted.

Todd ran that for “five or six years” and then “switched into veal and raised veal clear up until the early 2000s.”

For crops to be considered organic, they have to come from fields that have been free of pesticides for three years, he said.

Cover crops help his corn and soybeans grow, with Todd planting them in the off-season, then putting the regular crops in the midst of them.

Several methods eliminate the weeds, including burning them or shocking them with electricity, said Todd.

He also uses a flail mower to “give the crop a chance to get ahead of the weeds,” he said.

“We dry (our grain) just like everyone else,” said Todd, noting he and Lisa own an elevator at Silver Lake.

He primarily sells grain to Egg Innovations, with it going to the companies’ feed mill in Cromwell for chickens.

Todd is assisted in farming by his son, Seth, and daughter, Shayla Sands. He also has South African migrant workers in the U.S. via the H-2A visa program helping him.

He noted he was grateful for the recent rain.

“The kernels are a little smaller, so I think this late drought has hurt us a little bit,” he said. “Yields are off just a little bit, but still good.”