Banner Graphic, Volume 9, Number 250, Greencastle, Putnam County, 27 June 1979 — Page 18

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The Putnam County Banner Graphic, June 27,1979

The Homesteader

A clean earth: Everyone's prized possession

By STEVEN HUNTER Special Correspondent A sad fact of life today is that the homesteader and the environmental fanatic are considered interchangeable parts, both dedicated to wiping out the big farmer, the big company and the big government. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. The homesteader usually has time for only one true fanaticism: his farm. It usually occupies any time he might have otherwise devoted to storming college campuses and holding sit-ins. The homesteader believes in the concept of doing everything he can for himself, doing it cleanly and properly and, wherever possible, with naturally available materials. AS AN ORGANIC farmer, I don’t believe that all the herbicides and insecticides should be cast into the depths. Anyone with a clear view of the world situation must realize that man could not exist long today as a civilized organism without the aid

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Roger Earley (left) displays his plaque after placing first in the Indiana F.F.A. Ag Mechanics demonstration at Purdue University. Shown with Roger is Tress Good, owner of Barrett Implement, Greencastle.

Earley places first in FFA mechanics demonstration

Roger Earley, son of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Earley, Greencastle recently placed first in the Indiana Future Farmers of America Ag Mechanics Demonstration. Earley, a 1979 graduate of North Putnam High School, has also placed second in the district Ag Mechanics demonstrations and third in the district contest in Sales and Service.

Farmers begin feeling shortage

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) Most of Indiana’s farmers have enough fuel to meet their needs, but supplies are tightening up just as the wheat harvest goes into full swing, Purdue University agriculture experts say. About three-quarters of the state’s farmers have adequate supplies of diesel fuel and gasoline, Purdue statistician Henry Castle said Monday. A few are reporting a surplus, he added. A week ago, a statewide survey, based on unofficial estimates from farmers, county agents and farm-related businessmen, indicated about 90 percent had sufficient supplies. “That’s really not a whole lot of change, but it (the shortage)

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Roger received his award June 20 at Purdue University, West Lafayette. His 5-10 minute demonstration was on proper maintenance and service of tractor air cleaners. Gayle Osborn is the F.F.A. sponsor at North Putnam. Roger is currently employed at Barrett Implement, Greencastle.

is beginning to show up,” Castle said. Fuel supplies last week were “generally adequate, but some tightness is developing for diesel and gasoline,” according to the weekly crop progress report from Purdue. About a quarter of Indiana’s farmers either experienced delays in field work because of inability to get diesel and gasoline or had to seek additional supplies because of slow or late deliveries from their usual sources, Castle said. Since nearly all spring planting is complete, the highest demand for farm fuel is past. But this is wheat harvest time and progress is lagging because of slow-maturing crops.

of chemical research, which has given us a chance to at least feed a part of the hungry mouths on our globe, though not nearly enough. But we do believe in a clean earth. We do believe in everyone treating our earth as though it were a friends’ prized possession, because it is not ours, and it is not yours. It belongs to my daughter, and your son, and the ones after them. We don’t have another to give them after we use this one up, and all of us involved with the organic farming movement are trying to save a small piece of mother earth for later use. We aren’t trying to push everyone else into dedicating their lives to saving one too. We’re just asking that no one ruin the part we’re on, and we’ll keep the same bargain. OF COURSE, hydrocarbons, sulphur, and other atmospheric pollutants don’t do our land, or our families, any good. Neither does migrant radiation, spilled chlorine gas, or red dye number 2.

Double crop reminders

WEST LAFAYETTE - Conditions appear to be excellent for successful double cropping of soybeans into wheat, according to Kim Polizotto, Purdue University extension agronomist. Favorable wheat and soybean prices, fairly good weed suppression in wheat, good soil moisture, and expected normal wheat harvest dates, make the prospects for successful double cropping excellent, Polizotto said. The wheat crop has been rated mostly good throughout the year, he said, and crop development is near normal. High moisture (18-22 per cent)

Bowling enters Yorkshires

Ralph D. Bowling of Route 3, Greencastle, has entered his Yorkshire hogs in the 1979 Yorkshire Type Conference in Austin, Minn, on July 18,19, and 20. They will be competing with a record number of 612 entries from 164 breeders representing 25 states, according to Glenn Conatser, Yorkshire Secretary. The conference gets underway on July 18 with the weighing and numbering of all the entries and then a family get-together that afternoon at Blooming Prairie, Minnesota with golfing, swimming, and

Greeson Herefords exhibited

Dale and Steven Greeson, Fillmore, will be among some 517 exhibitors from 35 states and Canada showing Polled Hereford heifers at the 6th National Junior Polled Hereford Heifer Show in Springfield, Mo., July 9-13. A record breaking 870 heifers have been entered in this event

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wheat harvest will probably start the week of June 25 in southern Indiana. Polizotto offers the following reminders for persons considering double cropping this year. 1. Be timely in wheat harvest. Soybean yields improve with earlier planting. Even two or three days can make a difference in yield. 2. Manage the wheat straw so that soybeans can be planted successfully. Shred the straw or chop it and spread it evenly on the field. The straw can be baled, but if it is, its mulching effect will be lost.

just plain getting together. Minnesota Night is Wednesday night with good food furnished by the Minnesota Yorkshire Breeders and entertainment by the fabulous Four Guys direct from Music City. Thursday, July 19 is show day, where breeders have entered 276 boars and 290 purebred Yorkshire gilts, along with 46 tested boars to compete for the coveted Championships of the conference. The Conference Banquet is scheduled for Thursday night, July 19, where the awards will

that has come to be recognized as the largest show of its kind in the world. Nationally-known cattle authbrities judging the show will be Dr. Erskine Cash, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pa.; Chester Gullikson, Gullikson Polled

So, occasionally, we are inclined to get a little opinionated about the operations that are striving to ruin our little piece of Eden. They are inclined to inform us of their opinions too, so we have, at least, what the politican calls “grounds for diplomatic relations”. This is inferior to outright debate, but greatly preferable to dead silence. BUT WE DON’T WAVE signs, we don’t insult our neighbors, and we try to keep a reasonable perspective. We like to talk about problems, and we are often delighted at the reception we get from people who also want our earth to keep its technicolor cast, rather than assume a shabby, lifeless gray. So, if you’ve just come in from spraying your beans and are a little tired of all the uproar in the media about the new environmentalist, we want you to know that we are, too. And, if you feel the need to understand a little more about how to live with the earth, rather than off of it, or if you can help us understand a little more about the same thing, drop us a line, and let’s talk about it

3. Establish a uniform soybean stand. Use a midseason variety for your area and increase your seeding rate 1.5 to 2 times normal (especially in no-till.) 4. Use narrow rows. Rows should be 20 inches or less. 5. Kill weeds quickly. 6. Conserve soil moisture in all of your operations. Successful double cropping depends on adequate soil moisture. 7. Consider no-till planting. No-till planting of double-crop soybeans has shown a consistent yield advantage over conventional seed-bed planting.

be presented to those who show the Champions. The National Sale of breeding stock will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 20, at the Mower County Fairgrounds in Austin, Minn. A special feature of the conference sale is a 20 per cent discount to 4-H and FFA members who purchase Yorkshire breeding stock for their project work. Judges for the conference will be Roger Hale of Carthage, Ind. and Dr. Jerry Hawton of the University of Minnesota.

Herefords, Bath, S.D.; and Art Timberlake, Pilot Wheel Ranch, Mauckport, Ind. Sponsors of the show are the American Polled Hereford Association, Missouri * junior and senior Polled Hereford associations, Missouri Pollettes and the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

Judging school set WEST LAFAYETTE - The 87th Indiana swine judging school will be conducted Fridday, July 6, at the Purdue University Livestock Pavilion and in the Purdue Animal Sciences Meat Laboratory. The wivestock pavilion is located about 1 mile north of U.S. 52 By-Pass on County Farm Road. Buses will be available to transport participants from the livestock pavilion to the afternoon program on the Purdue campus. The program is scheduled from 8:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the livestock pavilion and from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. on campus. During the afternoon program, certificates will be awarded to those in the top 20 per cent of the placings in 1977 and 1978. Trophies will be given to the winners of the 1979 placing classes and the 1978 winner in carcass evaluation.

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Extension calendar June 27 ~ Swine Seminar at Kokomo - 4-H Council meeting, 7:30 p.m. Fairgrounds. June 28 - 4-H Demonstration County Contest, 6:30 p.m. Community Building. - Swine seminar at Brownstown. - Putnam County Junior Beef Day and Junior Swine Day, 6:30 p.m. Fairgrounds. All Putnam County residents interested in the beef or pork industry are welcome. June 29 - Are judging contest for 4-H members placing at the Putnam County Judging Contest, Vermillion County starting at 1 p.m. This will be at the South Vermillion High School. July 4 -- Extension Office closed. July 5 - Mini 4-H Meeting, 1:30-3:00 p.m., Community Building. If you missed the first welcome, you may still join and attend this meeting. July 10 - Area 4-H Demonstration Contest for those placing at the Putnam County Contest will be held in Vigo County. -- Midwestern Lamb Pool at Terre Haute. July 15 -- State Fair Open Class entries are due at the State Fair Office in Indianapolis. Entry forms may be picked up now at the County Extension Office. July 16 -- Junior Leader meeting, 7: 30 p.m. July 29-August 4 - Putnam County Fair. Parking stickers are available at the County Extension Office or at Coan’s Pharmacy. Market reports INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - The Indiana hog market Tuesday at 70 yards and plants: Demand good, barrows and gilts .50 to mostly 1.00 lower. U.S. 1-2 200-240 pounds 41.00-42.00, many 41.50-42.00, a few 42.25-42.50 ; 240-250 lbs. 40.25-41.00; 1-3 250260 lbs. 39.25-40.50.

MINIMUM TILLAGE BARTLESVILLE, Okla. (AP) By the year 2000, an estimated 85 percent of America’s farmland will go unplowed, according to Phillips Chemical. Crops on this land will be planted using a method called “minimum tillage,” the company says, adding that 10 percent of the nation’s farmland employs minimum tillage today. Minimum-tillage machines, expected to have wider use in the 1980 s, have knife-like

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prongs which slice into the soil, leaving a protective blanket of crop stubble behind. The same machine then fertilizes the soil, drops in seeds and presses the earth closed. Today, farmers plow up their fields two or three times a year, to radiation. Rich topsoil is being blown to dust at a rate of 4- to 6-billion tons a year, compared, with the Dustbowl Era of the 19305, when the nation’s soil was blown away at a lion tons annually.

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