Purdue University agricultural statisticians reported that Indiana’s smallest corn crop since 1950 is in prospect. The average is forecast to be 9 percent below last year and 12 bushels under last year. The prospective yield of 50 bushels per acre is the smallest since 1952. Wheat yield of estimated average 28.5 bushels per acre is 2 percent under last year’s average.

Real estate for sale: 69 acres, 15 miles west just off U.S. Highway 52, approximately 40 acres tillable, 4/10 acre tobacco base, fair buildings, $8,500 – Walter R. Smith, Realtor, Brookville, Ind.

Egg prices begin an upward trend. Top-quality eggs were bringing 41 cents a dozen in Chicago on the wholesale market. This represents a jump of 13 cents from the 16-year low and is expected to continue to climb.

Used equipment for sale: Case 6-foot off set disk, $150; used 303 with 13-foot platform and two-row corn unit, $3,500; used 329 corn head, 30-inch rows, $750; 8-foot Freeman 3-pt. blade, $125; and IHC 403 Combine with 13’-foot platform and four-row corn unit, $7,500 new – Hope Equipment Co., Hope, Ind.

A three-year agreement to sell $750 million of grain to the Soviet Union has been announced by Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz. This large purchase will make the Soviet Union the second largest buyer of U.S. grain.

A delicious “Walnut Glory Cake” won Grand Champion honors at the Rush County Fair for Colleen Crane of Anderson Township. Colleen is in Division VII Foods and is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Crane of Milroy. Lynn Ricker of Rushville Township won Reserve Grand Champion with a butter cake.

Now could be a good time to buy farmland, according to Ohio State University agricultural economist Warren Lee. Land prices today are worth $1,000 per acre and at 10 percent interest, the payment is $80 per acre. Rent has also declined to an average of $65 per acre. These figures are compared to farmland prices during the 1970s.

Post frame specialist garage sale: 24-by-24-by-9-foot eave, painted steel sides and roof, one 30-by-27-inch window, one walk door, one 9-by-7-foot overhead door, tax included, erected, $3,495 – call Blitz Builders, Inc.

The Indiana Hampshire Sheep Assoc. held its third annual Junior Show and CIH Wether Show at the Tipton County Fairgrounds recently. Champion Yearling Hampshire Ewe and Grand Champion Ewe was shown by Billy Nash of Sharpsville, the Champion Ewe Lamb was shown by Andy Carnahan of Sullivan and Champion Wether was shown by Suzy Cunningham of Kempton.

Used trucks for sale: 1999 Chevy K3500 dually crew cab, 4x4, 34,000 miles, $23,995; 1999 GMC K2500 4x4 ext. cab 6.0 VS, short bed, 61,000 miles, $1,995; 1997 Ram 1500 club cab, 4x4, SLT 360, 360 V8, 85,000 miles, $12,995 – McCreary GM-Chrysler, Fowler, Ind.

The winter wheat harvest is 65 percent complete in Indiana and the condition has been rated 50 percent good-to-excellent, below the 69 percent of last year. July wheat prices closed at $3.14 per bushel at the Chicago Board of Trade. Wheat prices are expected to go up in the next few weeks due to a weaker U.S. dollar and low world supply.

The Indiana Sheep Assoc. received $52,375 in grant money to establish an Indiana farm-fresh lamb project. It plans to develop a centralized lamb processing system to increase consumption of Indiana lamb products. Producers will be able to have lambs processed at a central location and sell the fresh product to local restaurants and groceries, according to Stan Poe, a Hampshire sheep breeder from Franklin.