55 years ago
Three hundred twenty-four counties in 11 states have been designated under drought disaster for emergency grazing. These farmers may obtain feed grain at reduced cost or graze acreage reserve land in the 1956 Soil Bank program.
The nation’s soybean stocks are below last year’s record high stocks by 3.5 percent.

Anita Smith, 10-year-old 4-H member of Jackson Township, topped 10 homemakers to win the first-place ribbon in the Drop Cookies class of the Open Class Baking at the Rush County Fair. Others who received blue-ribbon placing in various classes were Mrs. Forrest McDaniel, angel food cake; Harold Barer, white layer cake; Mrs. Loys Rees, devil’s food cake; Mrs. Thomas Webster, cupcakes; Mrs. Glen Mann, yeast rolls; Mrs. Lewis Lafuse, fruit pie; and Mrs. Theodore Custer, nutbread.

Corn crib frames for sale: 13 feet high in front, 12 feet high in back, 400-bushel capacity, $60, and 800-bushesl capacity, $90 – manufacturing by Klene Pipe Structure Co. of Greensburg, Ind.

40 years ago

Grand Champion Steer at the Hancock County Fair this year belonged to Ray Ramsey of the Eastern Hancock 4-H Club. The steer was purchased by the Cattlemen’s Restaurant in Greenfield for $1.40 per pound, totaling $1,323.
Mexican bean beetle has been inflicting rather heavy damage on soybeans in parts of southern Indiana, from Evansville northeast to Versailles. Fields in Johnson, Ripley and Washington counties have been sprayed to control the beetle.

Used combines for sale: 525 Oliver with corn and grain heads, $5,775; 1160 Case  with four-row head and grain head, 1968 model, $7,750; 3896 Minneapolis-Moline, used one season, $4,750; 1967 Massey Ferguson 300, $4,750 – Eidemiller Machinery of Sidney, Ohio.

G-T grain augers for sale: 6-inches-by-54-feet, $399, less drive; 8-inches-by-48-feet, $549, less drive, includes PTO, electric, gasoline drives, underslung PTO – C.C. Kelley & Son of Shelbyville, Ind.

25 years ago

President Reagan offered to sell the Soviet Union four million metric tons of wheat using an export bonus to fulfill the terms of a U.S.-U.S.S.R. grain agreement.  The current contract calls for the U.S.S.R. to purchase four million metric tons of wheat by the end of September.

Former USDA assistant secretary Don Paarlberg told farmers attending Purdue University’s ‘Top Crop Workshop” that “the old-time family farm is gone, the farm of my father and grandfather. An operator supplying all factors of operation is retreating into history.”

Farmers throughout the Midwest are organizing “haylifts” to help livestock producers in the drought-stricken Southeast of the United States.
Real estate for sale: Rush County, 73.56 acres, bare ground, $110,340; Fayette County, 257 acres with house and barn, $192,500; Franklin County, 84 acres with house, $130,200; Union County, 196 acres, $100,000; Wayne County, 153.7 acres, perfect for livestock, $180,597.50 – Morgan & Assoc. of Rushville, Ind.

10 years ago

The government won’t allow trace amounts of the genetically altered StarLink corn in food, agreeing with scientific advisers who say the biotech crop has not been proven safe for human consumption.

The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the Michigan Pork Producers Assoc. have requested a federal district judge determine the constitutionality of the pork checkoff, in addition to ruling on the legality of the settlement agreement between NPPC and the USDA.

Soybean growers in the Midwest need to be on the lookout for the soybean aphid, an insect that has the potential of causing damage and transmitting disease to soybean plants.

Used equipment for sale: 1990 Ford 4630 MFWD, new engine, $13,750; 1999 NH 1920 with loader, like new, $15,750; 1994 Gehl 3825 skid-loader, $7,250; NH 275 square baler, $2,250 – Heartland New Holland of Pendleton, Ind.