Gary Wilson, 15-year old high school sophomore at Wilkinson, exhibited the 4-H Grand Champion Barrow at the 105th Indiana State Fair. His 207-pound Poland China entry was the second 4-H Grand Champion Barrow he has won, with the first being two years ago. Kingan’s paid $4.50 a pound for the barrow, for a total of $936, which topped last year’s price paid.

Frank Braswell, 53, of rural New Castle, was taken to the hospital after he was kicked by a cow in a barn on his farm. He sustained back injuries and his left leg was broken at the knee. The animal’s kick threw Braswell on his back against a post.

Members of a group of agriculture leaders from other countries toured the Herman Bogue Farm and Orchard near Spiceland and the Luther Pidgeon farm in the same area. N.S. Hadley of Purdue University accompanied the group.

The highly contagious swine disease of hog cholera has been confirmed in two herds from White County. Some 2,000 hogs, either infected with hog cholera or exposed to the disease, have been destroyed, according to State Veterinarian Dr. David Smith and Dr. L.R. Barnes, federal veterinarian in charge of the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service in Indiana. It is believed the disease was transmitted to Indiana by way of importation of swine from Horse Cave, Ky.

Tri High School FFA member Tim Hamilton caught a 52-pound greased pig in the Indiana State Fair Greased Pig Contest during the Farmers Day Parade. A total of 1,000 boys were entered but only 18 took pigs home with them. Catching a pig is not easy. Pigs are greased and contestants must dip their hands in oil treatment before the contest begins.

Knightstown Sale Barn: ewes and lambs, $26; fat lambs, $29.10; feeder pigs, $25.90; fat hogs, $27; sows and pigs, $93; dollar calves, $71-$156; Hereford cow and calf, $396; 500-pound steers, $38.25; bulls, $32.90.

Grand Champion Steer at the Indiana State Fair this year is owned by Drew Miller of Logansport, with his crossbred steer. The steer weighed 1,225 pounds. Reserve Champion Steer, another crossbred, belonged to April Wilcox of Bedford.

Ronald Wenger of Valley Set Guernsey Farm, Goshen, Ind., received the American Guernsey Assoc. Double Gold Star Breeder Award. This prestigious award recognizes an individual’s herd 305-day, two-time, lactation average that exceeds the breed’s national milk or butterfat average by 25 percent.

Real estate for sale: Bartholomew County, Ind., 13 acres, 9 tillable, $11,500, and 67-acre farm with 46 acres of crop ground and 20 acres of woods, $59,800. No buildings on either acreage; Federal Land Bank property.

Mann Chevrolet-Buick, Flora, Ind., used trucks for sale – 2001 Ford F350SD crew cab Lariat 4x4, long bed, 7.3 powerstroke, auto, leather, full gauges, 6-disc changer, Rhino liner, 23,000 miles, $33,900; 2000 Chevrolet K3500 regular cab long bed, LS pkg., 350, 4x4 auto, full power, locking diff., gooseneck hitch, compass mirror, 14,000 1 owner, $20,995; 1996 Chevrolet K2500 extended cab long bed, 4x4, Silverado, 454 auto, full power, DC and cass., new tires, 64,000 miles, $18,995.

Corn forecast for this fall is expected to be down 7 percent from last year, with yields to average 125.2 bushels per acre. A market year average price between $2.30-$2.70 per bushel is expected.

VAMTech LLC, located in Lansing, Mich., has begun distribution of the new product Myconate. Myconate, developed by researchers at Michigan State University, safely and effectively stimulates colonization of plant roots by beneficial mycorrhizal fungi, greatly enhancing uptake of nutrients and water. Because Myconate stimulates colonization by naturally existing mycorrhizal populations, it is less expensive and easier to apply than inoculum.