55 years ago
Hogs last week went past $17 and Chicago meat men now are predicting that hog prices will keep right on climbing, probably reaching $20 by mid-summer.
The new farm bill passed the U.S. Senate by a voice vote and now appears near to becoming law. The bill went back to the House to iron out differences between the House and Senate before it passed in its final form.

The farm home of Mr. and Mrs. Hollis Williams near Knightstown had an unusual caller one evening last week. A lady drove up in a horse and buggy and inquired if she could put her horse in the barn. She explained she was a schoolteacher and on her way home to Warsaw, Ind., after teaching the past 11 months at Creeksville, Ky. She said she would be glad to sleep in the barn with the horse, but the Williams invited her to stay in their home.

Indiana’s total cattle population ranks 16th in United States; Texas ranks first, Iowa second and Nebraska third. Illinois was sixth and Ohio was 14th.

40 years ago

Corn planting is about 80 percent complete in Indiana, almost double the average for this time of year. About half of the corn has emerged, with plants averaging two inches in height. There is no evidence of Southern corn leaf blight in Indiana so far this spring.

Floyd “Bud” Beitman was host to seven French mayors at his showcase hog farm north of Greenfield, Ind., recently. The mayors were in the 12th day of a U.S. tour, which has primarily focused on urban housing projects, when they decided to inspect an agricultural site as a change of pace.

The largest tractor on the market has made its way into Union County, Ind. It was delivered to Allen Creek in Harrison Township, who has one of Union County’s largest farm operations. The tractor was sold, readied and delivered by Ray’s Farm Sales of Liberty. The mammoth implement is an Oliver 2655 equipped with 800 bushels in LP gas engine rated at 235 hp, with a four-wheel drive with 3-point hitch and 1,000 RPM PTO.

Ohio farmers are finishing the most expensive planting of corn they have ever made. Besides about $25 million worth of seed corn into the soil, other costs amounted to about $1.3 million, including gasoline and oil, equipment costs, fertilizer and other out-of-pocket costs. Overhead costs are not included. A record number of acres are estimated to have been planted – 3,285,000, up from 3,014,000 last year.

25 years ago

Biologists with the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and representatives of Peabody Coal Co. have reached an agreement to establish a 900-acre pheasant management area on reclaimed mine lands in Knox County, according to DNR Director Jim Ridenour.

The area, to be known as the Hawthorn Pheasant Management Area, is located near Westphalia.

The National Pork Producers Council has called for an immediate suspension of all agricultural imports, including meat, from all eastern and western European nations that have been subject to unusually high radioactive fallout from the recent Soviet nuclear power plant accident.

Because of the erratic weather in parts of Indiana this spring, some farmers may be facing poor corn stands and a decision on whether to replant.
Advance deficiency and diversion payments are now being paid to producers participating in the 1986 feed grain and wheat programs. One-quarter of the estimated deficiency payment and the 2.5 percent diversion payment are “in-kind” rather than in cash.

10 years ago

Michigan’s war against bovine tuberculosis is focusing on a four-county area that appears to be the source of the problem. It is confined almost entirely within the northeastern Lower Peninsula counties of Alcona, Alpena, Montmorency and Oscoda. The disease has also been found in herds of deer in the state, which is a main source of spreading the disease to cattle.

Stewart Seeds, Inc. Greensburg, Ind., consigned the top indexing sire group to the 2001 Indiana Beef Evaluation Program Bull Test and Sale, held recently in Springville, Ind. Sons of S S Krugerrand 111H were in the top indexing sire group.

A new federally funded beef cattle initiative in Kentucky has hired a two-person team. The team will develop and oversee activities for the state’s Integrated Resource Management program and will work with local beef producers and county extension agents. The new team consists of Jim Akers and Jennifer Hunter.

The comeback of the wild turkey in Illinois is at least the equal of the whitetail deer success story. Trees are a key part of the turkey habitat because the birds use them for roosting. Ideal turkey habitat is 50 percent timber and 50 percent open land that can be grasslands, pastureland, cropland or even waste-grain fields.