55 years ago
There are 600,000 fewer farms today than in 1950 in the United States, the farm census report states.  Most of the decrease occurred in the 10- to 100-acre size farms. The census also showed that the number of farmers owning all or part of their farms was the greatest since 1880.

Mrs. Joe Lunsford is the new president of the Milton Home Demonstration club and was installed at a Christmas party at the home of Mrs. Ralph Jenkins, east of Milton. Mrs. Howard Kirlin is vice-president; Mrs. Homer Bertsch, secretary; Mrs. George Doty, treasurer; Mrs. Charles Kirlin, reporter. Members received their Christmas gifts and revealed mystery pals.

Most farm markets were depressed by continued heavy receipts, according to Paul Mitchell, Purdue agricultural extension economist. Hogs and cattle have suffered most, bringing prices to new low levels for the season and for the entire post-war period.

Six Knightstown freshmen received the Green Hand degree during a meeting of the Knightstown Chapter of Future Farmers of America. They were Duane Elliott, Dale Shell, Jack Walker, Dennis Clark, Melvin Hughes and Jack Avery. Chapter Farmer degrees were awarded to Joe Irwin, Larry LeMay and James Young. Kenneth Masters, president, was in charge of the meeting.
40 years ago

“No-tillage,” which can reduce soil erosion 65-95 percent, is taking off faster than any agricultural practice since hybrid corn. That’s the assessment of the Soil Conservation Service, which says the once-across-the-field method of plowing and planting was used on seven million acres this year, compared with three million planted in 1969.

Bill Kuhfuss, Mackinaw, Ill., was elected president of the American Farm Bureau, succeeding Charles Shuman, who resigned.

Thieves stole 18 head of cattle from the Davis-Purdue Agriculture Farm north of Farmland recently, according to Monte Alderfer, manager of the experimental farm. Cattle stolen included seven Hereford cows, four Red Poll-Hereford cross heifers and seven Hereford calves. Loss was estimated at $3,000.

Indiana’s 1970 corn crop, victim of disease and drought, was 18 percent smaller than last year’s crop. State yield average was 74 bushels an acre. Soybeans turned out 3 percent smaller than last year’s crop, with a yield average of 31.4 bushels per acre statewide.

25 years ago

President Reagan signed the $52 billion 1985 farm bill into law yesterday accompanying mixed reviews from both Hoosier and national ag leaders.
Callahan Seeds’ private research program has now developed and released three new soybean products for 1986 planting – including the first proprietary Group III soybean ever offered in the industry with two genes to resist phytophthora root rot.

Used farm equipment for sale: Case 2590s, $23,500-$32,000; IH 1460 combine, $30,000-$47,000; IH 800 Early Riser 8-30s planter, $13,000, at Case Power & Equipment, Huntington, Marion, Wabash, Ind.

Newly elected officers for the 1986 Indiana Horned and Polled Shorthorn Assoc. are: Glenn Merson of Thorntown, president; Steve Hiatt of Cicero, vice president; and Robert House of Cambridge City, secretary/treasurer. New directors elected are Rex Tribbett of Linden, Gerald Webb of Greenfield and Tom Richey of Cloverdale.

10 years ago

Two groups of investors who spent nearly $12 million for more than 4,100 acres of central Illinois farmland said they plan to keep using the land for agriculture. Approximately 2,171 acres of the Allerton Farm was purchased for $2,630 per acre by Chicago area investors and 2,005 acres near Bement was purchased for $3,042 per acre by a couple from central Ohio.

Dow Agro-Science LLC unit and a Danish partner have agreed to form a 50/50 joint venture to develop and market insecticides. Dow is based in Indianapolis.
National Pork Producers Council President Craig Jarolimek recently announced that following years of concerted effort, U.S. pork producers are now free to ship their product into Argentina. The certification initially covers boneless pork products; the approval to ship bone-in pork cuts is pending.

A drug-resistant strain of stomach worms in Kentucky is killing goats, the voracious eaters with reputations for devouring everything from cardboard to tin cans. An unknown number of goats – perhaps hundreds – have died from so-called barber-pole worms that have grown resistant to traditional medications.