Spring Valley Farm’s third annual Boar & Gilt Sale of High Productive Yorkshires will be held at the farm northeast of Knightstown, Ind., of Darrell White and Myron Strattan.

Mr. & Mrs. George Newman of Straughn have built a slat floor for their chicken house. The design is to keep the chickens out of the litter, thus protecting them from disease; and food is kept clean in automatic feeders. The building will accommodate about 5,000 laying hens.

A grass and brush fire burned more than six acres on two farms south of Smith-Esteb hospital in Wayne County. The fire started on the William Knott farm in Richmond and spread to the Russell Hunt farm. The fire burned for nearly two hours before it was extinguished by Richmond fire departments.

Real estate for sale: 400 acres in Shelby County, 337 tillable, four Harvestores, cattle lot for 700 cattle, 40 hog farrowing stalls and six-room house south of Waldron; only $500 per acre through the Theobald-Lux Agency Realtors, Shelbyville, Ind.

Used farm equipment for sale: IHC 403 with 428 WN corn head/grain head and full equip., $7,200; 324 NI picker 12-roll, $2,800; 311 NI picker 8-roll and 314 sheller, $2,200; 722 Uni sheller, $900; 726 Uni husking bed, $750; 720 Uni corn head, $550; AC 63 plow, $200 – Briggs Equip Co., Greensburg, Ind.

Used trucks for sale: 1971 Chevy Cheyenne half-ton, PU, 350 cubic-inch V-8 engine, turbo trans pwr., str. pwr., brakes, step bumper and all the chrome, $2,995; 1970 Chevy 3/4-ton, 350 V-8 engine, auto, trans, pwr., str. low mileage, $2,595; 1968 Int. 3/4-ton PU, V-8, auto, trans, pwr., str., big bed, heavy duty tires and springs, custom cab, $1,795 – Tom Sibbitt, Greensburg, Ind.

Used combines for sale: 1986 JD 7720 hydro 30.5 L, 300 hours, one season, $61,500; 1983 JD 7720 hydro 30.5 L, 1,300 hours, Harvestrak monitor, $47,500; 1977 7700 D hydro 28L tires, 1,850 hours, $17,500; 1976 6600 D monitor air conditioning, 2,000 hours, sharp, $16,500; 1973 AC KKS Gleaner, sharp, 13-foot float, two-row wide, $6,150 – Steffen Hardware and Implement, Bluffton, Ind.

Sheri Coffman of Muncie, Ind., has been chosen for Delaware County Farm Bureau’s Farm Woman of Achievement Award. Coffman’s family farms 3,000 acres of corn, soybeans, tomatoes and popcorn.

About 17 percent of the U.S. corn crop is used for human food or industrial products. Ohio State University agricultural economists say 7 percent of that goes for corn sweeteners, 4 percent for ethanol and 5 percent for other food and drink products.

Manure from 3,000 cows at the Fair Oaks Dairy Farm in northwestern Indiana will be converted into methane gas for electricity, generating power for the dairy farm and as many as 350 homes.

Dry summer weather that is damaging corn and soybeans crops is raising an unwanted crop in southern Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky. A new variety of giant ragweed is choking farmers’ fields in these areas. It is expected to reduce corn yields by 37 percent and soybean yields by 52 percent.

Reynolds Equipment, Fishers, Sheridan and Muncie, Ind. – JD 5205 MFWD demo with 60 hours, $22,500; 1998 JD 8400, 18.4x46 duals, 1,800 hours, deluxe cab, $77,800; 1999 JD 9510, 663 sep. hours, 30.5 tires, big engine, deluxe cab, JD chaff spreader, Maurer ext., $82,800; JD 250 skid steer, 975 hours, $15,800; 2002 JD 4x2 Gator, base unit only, $5,149; 2001 JD 9650, 434 sep. hours, deluxe cab, Grn. Str., yield and moist, chopper, dual 20.8 tires, bin ext., $125,000.