Banner Graphic, Volume 16, Number 145, Greencastle, Putnam County, 29 January 1986 — Page 5
farm
Lyng named to head USDA
By MICHAEL PUTZEL AP White House Correspondent WASHINGTON (AP) - President Reagan today named Richard E. Lyng, once the No. 2 official in the Agriculture Department, to succeed John Block as head of the agency. Reagan, introducing Lyng at a brief Oval Office ceremony, said the nation’s farmers “are going to have a sound and solid friend in Dick Lyng” as they work to overcome the economic problems that continue to plague the farm belt. Acknowledging that “we have a farm problem,” the president said Lyng, in implementing the new farm bill adopted last month, “will help get farming more into the market economy and rectify some of the things that have been wrong” with federal farm programs. Lyng, 67, served as California secretary of agriculture from 1967 to 1969, during
Meat Week accents positive
WASHINGTON (AP) - It’s National Meat Week, time for everyone to enjoy a juicy hunk of steak or ham, or maybe a lamb chop or two, says the American Meat Institute, which represents the meat industry. But some animal welfare groups and nutrit on advocates say Americans eat too much meat and that the mass production techniques of turning out cattle, hogs, lambs and poultry are too cruel. The industry counters with its own messages, claiming Americans prefer meat, and that pot roasts, chops and hamburgers are essential to balanced diets. “It started off about three and a half years ago when some public relations people decided to create an event for the industry, to help the industry fight back,” says Sara Lilygren, the institute’s
Pork Producers prepare checkoff funds survey
The National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) has begun working with the USD A Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) in formulation of a final order that will implement the 100 per cent Pork Producer Investment Plan recently signed into law by President Reagan as part of the Farm Bill. A timetable for implementation of the plan is being discussed and the AMS staff has expressed its intent to respond as nearly as possible to producer desires within the framework of the new law. The best current estimate is that the new checkoff plan will be in effect late this year.
Winter wheat acres decline
WASHINGTON (AP) Farmers who produce winter wheat apparently took the hint that they had too much grain already and that the government would come up with acreage curbs for the 1986 crop. The Agriculture Department said Parke County farm will be honored A Parke County Couple are among 22 Indiana farm families invited to the State Capitol in Indianapolis Thursday to receive Hoosier Homestead Awards. Nathan and Mary Stanley, Rockville, will participate in the 10 a.m. ceremony recognizing those farms which have been owned by the same family for 100 years or more. The Stanley farm has been an ongoing family operation since 1851. The Hoosier Homestead Awards are a program administered by the Indiana Department of Commerce, Division of Agriculture. More than 2,400 families have been honored since the program was begun 10 years ago. To be considered for a Hoosier Homestead Award, the applying farm property must produce at least SI,OOO worth of agricultural products or be a minimum size of 20 acres. Proof of a relationship must be established between the present owner and the owner of 100 years ago. More information is available by contacting the Division of Agriculture, Indiana Department of Commerce, One North Capitol, Suite 700, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204-2288.
Reagan’s tenure as governor and in 1980 headed the Reagan-Bush campaign effort among farmers and ranchers. He had served four years as an assistant secretary of agriculture under President Nixon, and Reagan brought him back to Washington as deputy secretary. Lyng left the administration a year ago to become a private consultant. With the announcement three weeks ago that Block planned to resign and return to farming, speculation immediately centered on Lyng as his most likely successor. Asked why he didn’t chose “a working farmer” for the post, Reagan said Lyng “has been a pretty hard-working farmer most of his life.” The new secretary-designate, who faces Senate confirmation proceedings, has spent most of the last two decades involved in agricultural marketing.
National Meat Week coordinator. Lilygren said National Meat Week has no official sanction from the government, although the Agriculture Department’s Extension Service helps with some of the educational work. The meat industry has been stung for years by allegations that its product particularly fatty meat —may cause heart disease, cancer or other disorders. So, a more positive approach has been developed. Meat should be included in diets “because it provides generous quantitites of high-quality protein” for body building, the institute’s latest consumer booklet says. Meat also includes “the most readily absorbable form of iron” and contains “significant amounts of other essential nutrients like B vitamins and zinc.”
The NPPC has launched an extensive effort to acquaint the nation’s pork producers-whether or not they are members of NPPC-with the new checkoff plan and its contents. All U.S. pork producers will participate in the 100 per cent checkoff, along with all importers of foreign hogs and pork products. The NPPC is urging all pork producers to take part in a survey to determine how they would like to see the new checkoff funds invested. Results of the survey will be an important consideration for eventual investment decisions. The producer survey will be included in
Friday that farmers planted about 54 million acres of winter wheat last fall for the 1986 harvest, the smallest planting in seven years. According to the USDA report, planted acres were down 6 percent from a year ago in the Great Plains.
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Six Indiana Angus breeders were honored during the 1986 Indiana Angus Futurity in Indianapolis for being major contributors to the Certified Indiana Angus Steer Program. They are (from left) Don Watkins, Beaver Ridge Farm, Middletown; Judy Brown, McClarnon
Best of limes, worst of times...
WASHINGTON (AP) - According to one way of figuring by the Agriculture Department, 1984 was a banner year for farmers, with net farm income rising to a record level from a severe slump the year before. But other USDA figures for 1984 showed farmers remained heavily in debt, while land values continued to shrink. The department’s Economic Research Service has put all the figures together in a new report, the National Financial Summary for 1984. Released on Monday, the report is part of an annual series called Economic Indicators of the Farm Sector. “Net farm income in 1984 was a record $34.5 billion, slightly above the previous record of $34.4 billion of 1973 and more than double the sls billion of 1983,” the report said. That compares with preliminary figures showing net farm income in 1985 dropped to a range of $25 billion to $29 billion and that another decline is expected in 1986, perhaps to a range of $22 billion to $26 billion. One reason for the large surge in 1984 was a return to bumper crop production following drought and the government’s
the February issue of National Hog Farmer magazine, and the February issue of NPPC’s own monthly member publication, Pork Report. The survey form also is available from state pork producer associations or NPPC headquarters at P.O. Box 10383, Des Moines, IA 50306. Pork producers also are being urged by the NPPC to call a special toll-free phone number at NPPC in Des Moines if they have any questions about the 100 per cent checkoff plan or any NPPC program. The toll-free number, which is 1-800-255-2255, code 7675, may be dialed between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., CST, Monday through Friday.
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Stock Farm, Greenfield; Bill Wilson, Premier Angus Inc., Cloverdale; Gary Brost, Brost Angus Farm, Oxford; Dale Grubbs, Grubbs Angus, Hillsboro, and Darle Dawes, Dawes Angus, Urbana.
Farming second most hazardous job
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (AP) - Agricultural production is the second most hazardous occupation in the United States, according to National Safety Council statistics. In Indiana, Purdue extension safety specialists reported recently that more than one of every nine farm families suffers a farm-work accident
PIK acreage program in 1983, when farmers reduced planting sharply in return for free government-owned commodities as payment-in-kind. Under the agency’s method of bookkeeping, various allowances are made for the value of inventories from year to year, and the value of farm dwellings. For example, a big reason for the jump in 1984 net income was a rapid buildup in the value of farm inventories from a decline of $10.6 billion in 1983 to a plus of $7.8 billion in 1984. But “higher average prices contributed
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annually, and about 60 percent of the injuries require medical treatment. Between 45 and 50 Hoosiers die each year while performing farm-related tasks. Purdue is sponsoring 16 farm employee safety training programs at the university and seven other sites between Feb. 5 and April 9.
to the rise in net farm income” in 1984, also, the report said. “Prices were higher for both livestock and crops. Both red meat and poultry prices were higher, dairy prices were slightly lower. Prices rose for feed crops, oil crops, cotton, fruits and vegetables. Prices declined for feed grains and tobacco.” As the report noted, net farm income in 1984 edged slightly above the previous record of $34.4 billion in 1973. There was no adjustment for inflation. Some other comparisons are in order. In 1973, American agriculture was in a boom, with exports rising and the future rosy.
PARTS VALUE OF THE MONTH.
January 29,1986, The Putnam County Banner Graphic
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Markets By PAUL A. DRISCOLL Associated Press Writer Grain and soybeans futures prices were mixed on the Chicago Board of Trade Tuesday. Wheat settled % cent lower to 3*/4 cents higher with the contract for delivery in March at $3.25 3 /4 a bushel; corn was 2% cents lower to 2 x k cents higher with March at $2.43% a bushel; oats were % cent to 3% cents higher with March at $1.24 a bushel; and soybeans were 1% cents lower to 1% cents higher with March at $5.40 , £ cents a bushel. Livestock and meat prices were mixed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. Live cattle settled .58 cent lower to .05 cent higher with the contract for delivery in February at 59.82 cents a pound; feeder cattle were .40 cent lower to .10 cent higher with March at 66.85 cents a pound; live hogs were unchanged to .60 cent higher with February at 45.22 cents a pound; and frozen pork bellies were .05 cent lower to .13 cent higher with February at 63.55 cents a pound. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Hogs 500. Barrows and gilts very slow, uneven and mostly steady. US 1-2 35 head 235 lbs 46.75. US 1-3 220-260 lbs 46.00-46.50. US 2-3, mostly 3,275 lbs 44.75. Sows: active and steady. US 1-3 365630 lbs 36.00-37.00. US medium 350 lbs 35.00. Boars lot 225 lbs 24.00. Cattle: 700. Slaughter steers and heifers unevenly steady with Monday. Slaughter cows 1.00 to mostly 2.00 higher in forced trade on light supply. Supply good and choice slaughter steers 35 percent heifers and 10 percent cows. Slaughter Steers: Choice 2-4 9201280 lbs 58.00-61.50, mostly 59.00-61.25. Mixed good and choice 2-3 1070-1325 lbs 57.00-60.00. Good 1-3 1020-1300 lbs 54.50-58.50. Holsteins good and choice 2-31250-1390 lbs 54.00-54.50. Slaughter Heifers: Lot choice and prime 3 1090 lbs 60.75; Choice 2-4 9101110 lbs 57.50-60.00, mostly 58.00-59.50; 860-910 lbs 55.75-58.00. Choice 3-4 9151170 lbs 55.00-57.00. Mixed good and choice 2-3 1000-1035 lbs 56.00-57.25. INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Grain prices Tuesday at Indianapolis area elevators: Corn No. 2 yellow shelled 2.26-2.37; new 1.98-2. Soybeans No. 1 yellow 5.16-5.37; February 5.16-5.38; new 5.15-5.19. Wheat No. 2 soft red 3.08; new 2.48-2.49.
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