Senate votes to extend tariff

WASHINGTON, D.C. (AP) — The Senate voted June 20 to maintain and extend a 54-cent-per-gallon tariff on foreign ethanol, discouraging overseas competition for U.S. corn farmers.

The Senate voted 36-56 not to repeal the tariff, set to expire at the end of 2008, as part of a wide-ranging energy bill. Language in that bill would extend the tariff through 2010.

Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) praised the vote in a conference call held with Iowa Republican Sen. Charles Grassley.

“Without that tariff, we would in effect be subsidizing hundreds of millions of gallons of foreign made ethanol, and I think that’s a mistake,” Thune said. “We are going to fight off any efforts to eliminate it.”

Tractor spear strikes, kills truck passenger

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (AP) — A spear on a piece of farm equipment struck a man in the head as the pickup truck in which he was riding drove past, fatally injuring the passenger, police said.

The driver of a tractor was slowly entering a road from a private drive Thursday when a bale spear on the tractor’s front hit the truck. The spear, about four feet off the ground, crashed through the truck’s passenger side, striking Willard Moore, 33, of Franklin in the head, police Lt. Bruce Barnes said. Moore was pronounced dead a short time later at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.

Neither of the drivers was injured, and Barnes said the tractor driver could not see approaching traffic because of a line of trees along the road in a suburban area north of Indianapolis. No charges or tickets were immediately issued. “It was just a freakish accident,” he said.

Mexican teen in Mich. for farm work drowns in Lake Huron

PORT AUSTIN, Mich. (AP) — A 17-year-old Mexican boy illegally in Michigan to work on a farm drowned after jumping into Lake Huron, and five people with him were arrested for being in the United States illegally, authorities said.

Huron County sheriff’s divers recovered the body of Jose Cruz in about 12 feet of water on June 20.

Cruz and five other Mexican citizens were walking along the breakwall when several of them decided to jump. Cruz surfaced and started yelling and waving his arms, but the current took him under, police said.

The five males, ages 16 to 33, told police they worked at a Huron County dairy farm. They were arrested after authorities determined they didn’t have proper permission to be in the U.S. as workers.
The farm where the workers said they were employed is the same farm that was raided by federal agents in May on suspicions that it was employing illegal immigrants. Thirteen workers were arrested in that raid.

Port Austin is located in Michigan’s Thumb region, about 115 miles north of Detroit, and about 15 miles north of the farm.


Girl, 4, dies in farm accident

SYRACUSE, Ind. (AP) — A 4-year-old northern Indiana girl died of head injuries Monday after she jumped or fell from a farm machine driven by her 9-year-old brother, authorities said.

Michelle J. Miller was riding on the front of the skid loader on her family’s farm and was struck by the machine, said Trevor Wendzonka, a spokesman for the Elkhart County Sheriff’s Department.

Several children were tending to trees and plants, using water in the front bucket of the machine.

The accident was being investigated by detectives, Wendzonka said.

Kentucky fire kills 24 horses

SCOTTSVILLE, Ky. (AP) — A barn fire at an award-winning American Saddlebred farm in south-central Kentucky killed 24 horses, the owner said.

Seven colts and 17 mares were in the barn at 3-T Farm in Allen County when the fire broke out the morning of June 19, said Paige Tabor, one of the owners. All but one of the horses were American Saddlebreds, she said.

“When you lose a barn full, it’s overwhelming, but you just pick yourself up and find a way to go on,” Tabor said. The farm has about 300 horses, she said.

A farm worker reported the fire, Tabor said. Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the blaze, Halifax Fire Chief Tim Shockley said.

Tabor’s husband, Randy Tabor, and his father won the American Saddlebred Horse Association’s Breeders Award in 2002. Randy Tabor died in an explosion while working on an oil tank at the farm last year.

Officials: Spill kills fish

COLUMBUS CITY, Iowa (AP) — A manure spill from an abandoned hog confinement flowed in a stream, possibly killing thousands of fish, officials said.

The spill occurred June 18 at a confinement owned by Randy Wood, of Columbus Junction. Jim Sievers, an Iowa Department of Natural Resources environmentalist, said DNR staff was cleaning the contaminated areas to determine how many fish were killed. He said officials had found dead minnows, carp, suckers and bullheads.

“We’re expecting the number of dead fish to be in the several thousands,” Sievers said.

The abandoned building was demolished, but manure was left in a pit and forced out by dirt used to fill it, causing it to run into the stream, he said.

“This case is unusual because manure was still left in the pit. Before these buildings were demolished, it should have been taken care of,” Sievers said.

The investigation was continuing to determine if any enforcement will be taken, he said.

30 dead hogs found in river

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — At least 30 dead hogs were found floating in the Raccoon River near Sac City in western Iowa, officials said.

Department of Natural Resources (DNR) officials said they are interviewing local hog producers to find out how the hogs got in the water and how they died. Tom Roos, a DNR environmental specialist, said the hogs were found June 18 but were likely dumped in the river late the prior week, based on the advanced rotting of the carcasses.

He said initial reports indicated at least 50 dead hogs in the river, but DNR investigators could only find 31. “Overnight, the river rose around a foot, so some may have sunk or washed away,” Roos said.

The agency said the area poses health risks and should be avoided.

Tennessee man charged in theft from cattle owners

CLEVELAND, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee investigators charged a man with swindling cattle owners out of more than $500,000.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation charged John David Owenby, 35, of Cleveland with 11 counts of fraud and theft after an investigation of so-called “backgrounding cattle,” TBI spokeswoman Jennifer Johnson said.

The investigation stemmed from a tip to District Attorney General Steve Bebbs by Jerry Parker of Riceville, who with Owenby owned Riverside Cattle.

“As part of the business, they were to take cattle from depressed areas of the state, transport them to their property, fatten them up, sell them and split the profit with the herd’s original owner,” Johnson told the Cleveland Daily Banner.

She said the “original owners would travel to the farm thinking they were looking at their cattle when in reality, he had already sold theirs.”

Johnson said the case involved a number of victims and the “suspect is accused of stealing more than $500,000 in cattle.” A judge released Owenby on a $20,000 bond.

This farm news was published in the June 27, 2007 issue of Farm World, serving Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Tennessee.