55 years ago

Neighbors recently came to the assistance of farmer Lowell Neff and harvested his corn for him. Neff was injured recently in a corn shredder accident and unable to work. In addition to the farmers who harvested the corn, some women volunteers brought food and helped prepare it.

Rush County had two land judging teams in the State 4-H and FFA Land Judging Contest, that was at the Purdue Forage Farm near Jasper, Ind. The Arlington team was coached by Paul Potts, with Philip Hester, Bill Earnest, Jim Emmons and James Hinners as members. The Rushville team was coached by Harold Clifton, and the team included John Kirkpatrick, Tom Halterman, Randal Messer and Joe Booth.

The world’s largest livestock show, the International Livestock Exposition, will celebrate its 56th anniversary in Chicago this month. Plans are being shaped for an action-packed, eight-day program filled with interest to both farm and city visitors.

40 years ago

Robert E. White, a resident of the Carthage community in Rush County, was elected the new president of the Indiana State Fair Board, which will then return control to the rural element. White succeeds Joseph L. Quinn, Jr. of Terre Haute.

The feeder pig auction was down with the average price per cwt. at $20.91, and the average per head was $12.79.

Dr. Earl Butz of Purdue will be the featured speaker at the Rush County Soil and Water Conservation District meeting next week.
By a vote of 48-35. the Senate approved a new, three-year farm bill. The bitter political battle over the shape of the nation’s agricultural policy was sent to the White House for President Nixon’s signature. The bill limits subsidies to $55,000 on each crop of wheat, cotton, corn and other feed grain lands held from production. The Senate supports a $20,000 limit. There was no limit in previous laws.

25 years ago

Rick Nagel of Rensselaer, Ind. will seek the task of obtaining a national office in the FFA organization at the National FFA Convention in Kansas City, Mo. Nagel served as President of the Indiana Assoc. during the 1983-84 year and was selected to be the Indiana candidate by the State FFA committee. Nagel is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Nagel.

The Shelby County Beef Cattle Assoc. will host a membership and beef management dinner meeting at the St. Vincent Hall southeast of Shelbyville, Ind.

The USDA announced it will pay indemnity for cattle and swine destroyed because of brucellosis only if the animals are destroyed as part of a total herd depopulation or part of an approved action plan to rid known, infected herds of the disease.

10 years ago

The 10 producers who registered the most Angus beef cattle in Indiana were recently recognized. These are: Wilson Cattle Co., Cloverdale; John Wagner, Lafayette; Maple Lane Angus, LaGrange; Stewart Seeds, Greensburg; Cabin Creek Angus, Anderson; Dale Grubbs, Hillsboro; Oesterling Angus, Batesville; Paul Hirt and Family, Greensburg; Aluminum Co. of America, Chandler and Triple E Angus Farms, North Vernon.

Indiana’s pseudorabies virus (PRV) eradication effort has taken another step forward with the state’s approval to split Stage III/IV status, the Indiana State Board of Animal Health announced last week. All but four counties have moved to the national program’s fourth level, which focuses on surveillance. Indiana counties have had no new breaks of PRV in the last 12 months; most of the state was eligible for Stage IV. Clinton, Carroll, Tippecanoe and White Counties are still classified as Stage III.

Scott Downey is named associate director for the Center for Agricultural Business. He joins Purdue University on a full-time basis after spending many years in the financial services industry and teaching undergraduate and graduate-level marketing and finance courses.