The Indiana State Department of Agriculture is looking for new ways to make Indiana specialty crops competitive. They'll divide more than $380,000 from the USDA's specialty crop block grant program among research and marketing projects for fruit, vegetables and more.
Bob White helps farmers break into specialty crops for the state Farm Bureau. He says Indiana's biggest crops remain corn and soybeans, but more people are getting into growing other produce on fewer acres.
"You're also seeing a whole new crop of millennials that are wanting to get into the grow-their-own-food business and marketing to the wholesale," White says.
In the past, the state has divided its federal grant money across farmer's markets, local crops like tomatoes, melons and maple syrup, and brands like Indiana Grown and the Uplands wine region.
White says hops have been a big crop too. That's because craft beer producers have gone looking for local hops.
Last year, Purdue University got specialty crop funding to study how best to grow the plants in Indiana soil — and White thinks they might be in the spotlight this year, too.
The state is accepting proposals for specialty crop funding through June 6.