Hancock County residents swept three of the top four placings in the Indiana State Fair Professional and Junior sheep shearing contests. Don Kennedy, Greenfield, garnered the Professional title, while Danny Strahl, also of Greenfield, took Junior honors. Tom Watkins, Greenfield, was runner-up in the Junior Division.

Eight registered Charolais 15/16 yearling bulls for sale; weight gains 2.5-3.8, $400 up – Litton Ranch Stock, Caryl Dobbins, Maxwell, Ind.

Stilesville Implement Auction Co., one of the largest farm implement auctions in the United States, sale first and third Wednesdays of each month, sale starts at 10 a.m. 25 miles west of Indianapolis on U.S. Highway 40. Consignments welcome from farmers and dealers 5.5 days a week; 200 good late-model tractors, 1,000 pieces of equipment, sale held in heated arena-lunch room – Jim Vaughn, Auctioneer.

Scott Johnting has become the first member of the Randolph Southern FFA to receive the American Farmer Degree, which is the highest degree an FFA member may obtain, and only 1/10 of 1 percent of all FFA members in the United States will receive this degree this coming November at the annual convention in Kansas City, Mo.

As Congress and the White House grapple with a deficit-reduction agreement, it’s becoming more clear that federal farm programs will be taking an estimated $8 billon cut, and if a budget agreement is not reached by Oct. 1, across-the-board Gramm-Rudman federal budget cuts of more than 30 percent will occur.

Kentucky Commissioner of Agriculture Ward "Butch" Burnette announced the referendum held at the request of the Kentucky Corn Growers Assoc. passed by a 56 percent majority of those voting. The statewide referendum called for an assessment of one-fourth of 1 percent of the payment to corn producers.

Winner of the Kentucky State Fair Rooster Crowing Contest was a Ginger Red Old English Game rooster belonging to R.T. Dowell of Webster in Breckenridge County, Ky., whose bird took top honors by crowing 83 times in 30 minutes.

Good Earth Equipment of London, Ohio, recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for its grand opening as the newest Case IH dealer in Ohio. The dealership is owned by Grover and Becky Johnson.

The merging of John Deere dealerships Leffeld Implement, Inc. of Coldwater, Ohio, Kennedy-Kuhn, Inc. of Van Wert, Ohio, and East Allen Ag & Turf of Woodburn, Ind., deemed the organization could be better as a group than they could individually, to serve their customers.