Carley Elk Farm

FFA Comes To Carley Elk Farm

Approximentally fifty-thousand teenage FFA members came to the Indiana Convention Center on Wednesday for the start of the annual FFA Convention.  The FFA convention is the largest convention held in Indianapolis all year long.
  The convention opened  with all 50,000 plus FFA members, taking over the  Indiana State Fair Grounds, Conseco Fieldhouse, Indiana Convention Center, and the RCA Dome through Saturday.  This year many of the students helped out with Habitat for Humanity and Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, as well as touring many farms, and helping to maintain them by working the farms on National Service Day. 
One of the farms visited, was Carley Elk Farm LLC.  "At least  we had better weather  this year," said Cliff Carley, owner/operator of the farm.  There were two tractors running at all times with groups as small as 6 people to as large as 55.  Approximently 1100 students of the FFA toured the farm Tuesday through Saturday.  All tours included a guided tour around the farm, a sample of elk steak, fresh off the grill, and a complimentary drink.  After a tour of the farm, many of the students decided to hang out for a few and warm their hands by the campfire, or just throwing a football around.  Some of the students went to the store set up where they could purchase anything from elk jerky to T-shirts, to elk-skin gloves.
Some of the comments dropped in the comments box had said, "Thanks for such an informative tour." and "Can't wait to come back next year!"
This year we had some exciting moments...  We had a group that went on a Ranger ride and our driver (Ian) decided to take a detour and drive through our creek.  Unfortunately the creek was up and the Ranger does not know how to swim.  Ha! Ha!   The group that was on the Ranger was a delight, they had a blast and was not upset that they were soaking wet.   Glad they had a good time and their quote was "We will be back next year!"