T HE PAPER July 25, 2012
Proudly Serving Wabash County Since 1977
Severe drought leaves farmers to wonder about crop condition as critical stage approaches by Brent Swan In what has become the worst drought on record since at least 1988, many farmers have been left to wonder what shape their crop is as August rolls around. From April 1 to July 15, only 3.05 inches of rain had fallen at the Fort Wayne Weather Station; the lowest totals in the state of Indiana. The most recent rains, July 1819, yielded nearly one inch in the Wabash area according to The Weather Channel. In that given time period, Wabash County is more than nine inches below normal. “Farmers are now starting to be able to get out into their fields and see what impact this drought is starting to have on their 2012 crop,” Wabash County FSA Director Eric Armentrout said. “A lot of our farmers are coming in here and asking what programs we have to offer for relief from
this disaster and the answer is not much.” After the current Farm Bill was passed in 2008, no relief was written into the legislation for the 2012 crop year. “When this Farm Bill was passed, we had a variety of relief programs available to farmers in 2008 through Sept. 30 of last year,” A r m e n t r o u t explained. “For this year, we have none of those programs available despite the current situation.” Armentrout went on to say two of the only relief programs available to Wabash County farmers are the release of CRP grounds for haying and grazing, and the issuance of USDA low interest loans. Both programs come with stipulations, however. “If you are a livestock producer, and you need hay or pasture, Wabash County currently has 3,600 acres of CRP ground that can be hayed and/or grazed. We so
DROUGHT STRICKEN CORN such as this found in a field off of Bryan Avenue in Wabash are becoming much more widespread as Wabash County sinks into a Severe Drought. Most forecasters have Indiana’s drought continuing into October, but as of press time, there is a chance of rain nearly each day this week. (photo by Brent Swan) far have had three landowners come in to the FSA office and filled out the paperwork, so that interested farmers can bale that ground. We are anticipating that we might get two or three more,” Armentrout said. “However, you
Takin’ It To The Streets Sidewalk Sales
by J.D. Sparks ‘Takin’ It To The Streets’ is the theme for the first annual downtown sidewalk sales in Wabash. Stores will participate in a sidewalk sale beginning on Friday, Aug. 3. Diane Morris, co-owner of Borders and Beyond, spearheaded getting the businesses to participate. “It started with Amy and I finding treasures and just cleaning out our second floor. We decided to see if other businesses would like to participate and make this an annual event,” Morris told The Paper. “Personally, we’ve never had this type of sale in the 10 years of owning our business. We have artists bringing in items and we have most items marked down 20 to 75 percent. ” She said the businesses chose Aug. 3 as the sale date to continue to promote our First Friday’s event. “We thought it would be a good idea to get the other businesses involved and we haven’t done much in a while to promote First Friday’s,” she said. “There are so many things happening in Wabash that weekend, starting with Jazz on the Lawn Thursday night at the Honeywell House, concerts Friday and Saturday nights at the Honeywell Center, and the Wabash Hoosier Salon has their annual Paintout. “With so much going on, we thought the sidewalk sales would be an added attraction.” On First Friday’s, the first Friday of each month, several downtown shops extend their business hours to 8 p.m. The sidewalk sale will go on during business hours on both Aug. 3 and 4. “It’s exciting to feel the energy and see people downtown. We’ve had good participation from the businesses for First Friday’s since before Christmas. We want to welcome people downtown and make sure they know downtown is the place to be,” she said.
can only bale half of your CRP acreage. For example, if you have 50 acres, you can only take hay off of half of those acres. If you are grazing, then you can only utilize 75 percent of that CRP ground for grazing.” In addition to restrictions on the amount of CRP ground truly available to farmers, CRP landowners will also take a 10 percent deduction on their annual CRP payment. Armentrout said for most landowners, that deduction equates to approximately $8 to $9 per acre. On July 23, the FSA announced the haying and grazing of CRP ground can be sold, unlike in years past. “By allowing those who have CRP ground to bale it and sell it, we are hoping to get more people interested in getting that hay out there to those that are going to end up needing it,” Armentrout said. The other relief available to local farmers is a low-
Index Classifieds ......................26-30 D&E ..................................9-10
Weekly Reports ................9-14
MICHAEL SCUSE (right), Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service, visited Wabash County on July 18 to discuss the ongoing drought with local farmers. Pictured alongside Scuse is Wabash County Farm Service Agency Director Eric Armentrout. (photo by J.D. Sparks) interest USDA emergency loan. “Because Wabash County has been declared a disaster area, producers are eligible for a USDA loan that has a 2.25 percent interest rate,” Armentrout said. “The problem with that is, you must first be turned down by a
local lender in order to apply through our office.” In an effort to survey the drought conditions throughout Indiana, Michael Scuse, Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural Service, visited Wabash County on July 18.
In Memoriam Sally Begley, 75 Genevieve Cochley, 86 Mary Coe, 85 Melba Custer, 65 Mary Davis, 86
Evelyn Faurote, 94 Bonnie Hettmansperger, 80 Gladys Holycross, 97 David Huffman, 54 Ombra Keffaber, 94
While meeting with local farmers, Scuse fielded a variety of questions including the prospect of reopening the crop insurance enrollment period, which he said is not in the works. With no real programs to aid farmers, Armentrout said the (continued on page 6)
Vol. 35, No. 19 A. Josephine Kline, 87 Erma Petry, 105 Barbara Russell, 92 Norma Slack, 85 Gary Whitener, 66
PO Box 603, Wabash, IN 46992 (260) 563-8326