Ferguson, who milks 60 head on Spencer Hollow Road, said the Lockwood auction meant that there are only four dairy farms left his farm in Spencer Hollow, Richard and Ray Moore's Mooreland Farm, the John Augustinovich farm on Elm Hill, and the Mike Dolloph farm, off Skitchewaug Trail. Ferguson, who milks 60 head on Spencer Hollow Road, said the Lockwood auction meant that there are only four dairy farms left his farm in Spencer Hollow, Richard and Ray Moore's Mooreland Farm, the John...

Throughout history civilizations expanded as they sought new soil to feed their populations, then ultimately fell as they wore out or lost the dirt they depended upon. That process is being repeating today, but in a new book a University of Washington geomorphologist argues the results could be far more disastrous for humans because there are very few places left with fertile soil to feed large populations, and farming practices still trigger large losses of rich dirt. That process is...

The competition is among agricultural students, and the sport is tractor pulling and performance with quarter- scale tractors. One reason the MJC team can compete on the same level as the prestigious four-year universities is that the tractor units used by all teams must have the same power plants, and be built to strict weight and size specifications. They have to be installed in the tractors just the way they come from the factory. Local businesses in the communities near Modesto and the...

This marked the third consecutive year the school set aside a day to allow students to drive tractors to school. High school science and agriculture teacher Kate Feuerstein thought it was important that the school support the activity. Without agriculture, people would lack the everyday services of food and clothes, she said. It means that somebody cares that agriculture is here. This is a small way to pay tribute to those people involved in such an important endeavor as family...

What does the future hold for farming? Most people who are farmers do it because they love it. The farm was the wrong shape to increase the herd, which we would have had to do to make it viable. We dispensed with our dairy herd in June 2004 because of falling milk prices. We escaped it here but we had a total restriction on movement of livestock because a lorry was here the day after it had been at an infected farm. For me it is looking better because my 16-year-old grandson has indicated...

CNH is one of the largest makers of agricultural equipment and ranks third in construction equipment manufacturing globally. Its farm equipment division, comprising 60 per cent of aggregate sales, includes tractors, harvesters, sprayers, and hay balers. The company also makes light industrial and construction equipment including backhoes, excavators, forklifts, miniloaders, and telescopic handlers. In order to invigorate its brands and better respond to customers' needs, the company took...

The class, sponsored by the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department, Lafayette County FFA advisors and agriculture educators, University of Wisconsin-Extension and Lafayette County Fair, required the youth to spend 24 hours in instruction and written and driving examinations. The class, sponsored by the Lafayette County Sheriff's Department, Lafayette County FFA advisors and agriculture educators, University of Wisconsin-Extension and Lafayette County Fair, required the youth to spend 24...

Quite often I write about very low-hour tractors or various types of farm equipment in exceedingly good condition, a lot of late-model stuff. If you read my column here online or in print in Successful Farming magazine, you'll probably recall I've been yakking about how used equipment values have shot up 10 to 20% since late November 2006. Earlier this week a sale price report was faxed into our office from a farm sale held Tuesday (April 10, 2007) in north-central Iowa. Quite often we...

At least 5,000 gallons of diesel fuel is pilfered every year from dozens of small, privately operated irrigation stations that control water flows to more than 535,000 acres of agricultural land in the county's western reaches, according to the county Sheriff's Office. They also are goldmines for thieves who are using rigged-up devices to siphon off the fuel and sell it at cut-rate prices to truckers or keep it for their own vehicles. Irrigation-pump fuel thefts hurting farmers as prices...