MARCH 25, 2015

AGRIBUSINESS PROGRESS
A Special Supplement Section

Farmers Advance: Your Farm & Auction Weekly for over 115 years!

CAMDEN, MI One of the longestrunning publications in the business, Farmers

Advance, is over 115 years old and still going
strong!
Starting out as The Camden Advance, we
got our roots as a local paper, serving
Hillsdale County and the outlying areas,
including portions of Ohio and Indiana. Over
a century later, we are now hailed as the leading agricultural weekly newspaper in
Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana, and also circulate into several states in the Midwest and
Canada.
Camden Publications, where Farmers
Advance is produced, is owned by Gannett
Company, Inc. In addition to Farmers
Advance, Camden Publications also runs an
extensive printing company, Camden Printing.
Ag Sourcebook, the companys agricultural
directory geared toward farmers, is also print-

ed annually.
As agriculture has changed throughout the
years, Farmers Advance has also seen many
changes. Publishers, editors and managers
have all come and gone, but the paper that
farmers look forward to arriving in their mailbox every week has been steadfast in delivering the latest in agricultural news, a plethora
of auctions and has even come to inspire the
hardworking farmer and his family.
Auctions have been a mainstay for the
paper for years, but classifieds seem to be a
section that satisfies not only the buyer, but
the seller of farm equipment. Everything from
planters to hay rakes to corn stoves can be
found in Section C of Farmers Advance, and
farmers have testified to not only selling their
equipment quickly, but for the right price.
Another favorite that can be found in our third
section is Sam Hatchers column, Tales From

the Farm.
The Farm & Livestock Management section includes weekly livestock and grain markets, and has been a helpful tool for agricultural enthusiasts.
Other farm favorites include the
Inspirational Thoughts page, offering encouragement of all kinds and a peek into what the
daily life of farmwives can hold. Regulars of
the page include Gail Malick, Pastor Don Lee,
and the Seeds From the Sower column.
The Ag Calendar lists programs, seminars
and other helpful events for producers and
farm educators alike, and the 4-H & FFA
Calendar offers items of interest to youth all
around our distribution area. Gardening, cooking and antiques information is also included
throughout the paper.
Our sales representatives are located
throughout the tri-state area and are always

happy to meet new customers. Mike Oehmen

continues to serve central Michigan out of
Portland, MI. Mike Wettstein, hailing from
Marlette, MI, takes care of the Thumb portion
of the state. Indiana territories are covered by
Lanna Lee, Churubusco, IN; and Jim
McNeiece covers parts of Michigan and most
of Ohio from his office in Defiance, OH.
The main Farmers Advance office is
located in the heart of Amish country in
Camden, where the paper is edited and composed before being sent to press in Howell,
MI.
Julia Hite, Operations, Sales & Print Shop
Manager, is commander in chief, overseeing
workflow in the Camden office as well as
assisting the sales staff. If you make a call to
Farmers Advance, most likely youll talk to
Serena Newton and Lisa Kuszmaul, who handle ad placement and customer service.
Sara Bryner is our Print Shop/Press
Operator, and Erin Robinstine oversees editorial, systems, layout and graphic design for the
papers and Camden Printing. Doug Hite
serves as our deliveryman and occasional
handyman.
We thank all of our advertisers and subscribers for your many years of patronage, for
without you, we would not have been able to
not only survive a rocky economy, but steadily grow over the years! Thank you for making
us YOUR Farm & Auction Weekly!
Camden Publications is open 8 a.m.-4:30
p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m.-4
p.m. on Fridays. For more information on
Farmers Advance or Camden Printing, call
800-222-6336, email jhite@gannett.com, or
visit
us
on
the
web
at
www.farmersadvance.com.

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MARCH 25, 2015

FARMERS ADVANCE

www.farmersadvance.com

1-800-222-6336

Williams County Maple Syrup Festival is March 28

MONTPELIER, OH Its that time of
year for the Annual Maple Syrup Festival on
Saturday, March 28. The fun begins at the
Williams County Fairgrounds in Montpelier,
OH. Bring your family and friends to see a
sugar shack in operation and enjoy pancakes
with real maple syrup.
Events start at 8 a.m. and continue until
noon in the Gillette Building with pancakes
and sausage prepared by the Williams
County Fair Foundation topped with real
maple syrup provided by the Northwest Ohio
Maple Syrup Producers. Breakfast will be
served starting at 7:30 a.m. and there will be
2 serving lines to better serve those attend-

ing. Handicap parking will be available on

the west side of the Gillette Building. Both
the east and west entrances will be open.
This years event will once again highlight the sugar shack. Horse drawn wagons
(weather permitting) will be on hand for rides
across the covered bridge to the sugar shack.
The sugar shack is complete with a stainless
evaporator, holding tank and filtering unit.
See both the tree tapping process of gathering
the sap and the boiling process in the evaporator until the sap becomes syrup.
The Northwest Ohio Maple Syrup
Producers will have real maple syrup that can
be purchased along with maple cotton candy,

fudge and candy, and other maple products.

Poppin George will have fresh popped kettle corn to purchase.
John Mueller and Joe Puperi, Division of
Forestry, will be available to answer all your
tree and forestry questions!
Other events and demonstrations will
also include a local taxidermist, an exhibit of
pelts and animal mounts, local beekeeper,
and updates on the restoration and hunting of
wild turkeys from the National Wild Turkey
Federation. Visit and learn from them all.
Representatives from the Williams
County Master Gardeners and Montpelier
Tree Commission will have displays, be

available to answer your questions and each

have a raffle.
The Williams Soil & Water Conservation
District will have tree seedlings for sale during their annual seedling sale.
So bring your family and friends to the
Williams County Fairgrounds in Montpelier,
Ohio, on Saturday, March 28, for a fun-filled
day while enjoying real maple syrup, pancakes and sausage! There is no charge for the
events or entry to the fairgrounds. There is a
charge for the breakfast.
If you would like more information, contact the Williams Soil and Water
Conservation District at 419-636-9395 x 3.

Calling all farmers! Start your pickup trucks and head to the Rosseels & Friends 6th annualspring auction, held on Saturday, March 28. Bidding starts at 9:30 a.m. at the
auction location, 3839 M-53 (Van Dyke), 1/4-mile south of Marlette, MI.

Thanks for making Farmers Advance

the areas leading ag publication!

1-800-222-6336

www.farmersadvance.com

FARMERS ADVANCE

MARCH 25, 2015

PAGE 3-D

Holstein breeders gather in Ohio for annual meeting

By Melissa Hart
Freelance Writer
LIMA, OH Western Ohio was the
hotspot as Holstein breeders from around
the state met for their annual Ohio
Holstein Convention Sale and Annual
Meeting in Lima, OH.
The Convention sale, held on March
13 was hosted by Quietcove Holsteins of
Wapakoneta, where they enjoyed a great
sale of 77 live lots with an official average of $3273. Six embryo lots averaged
$1529.
Topping the sale at $18,000 was PineTree 4233 Mogu 5488-ET, a Very Good
85 two year old with a GTPI of +2499,
from the Rudy Missy family, sired by
Mountfield SSI Dcy Mogul and making a
nice record, she sold with contract interest. She was purchased by Jason
Lehman, Jonestown, Pennsylvania, and
was consigned by Matt Steiner,
Marshallville, OH.
Lot # 1 Lindlaur Gabor Annette was
the first animal in the ring to start the sale.
This fancy four-year-old show winning
Willow-Marsh- CC Gabor daughter from
an Excellent Advent dam was already

classified Excellent 91and had recently

calved. She sold for $8200 to Brian
Gunkelman Perrysville, OH and was consigned by Matthew Steiner, Marshallville,
OH.
Selling for $8000 was Lot # 3, S-S-I
Platinm Marke 9050-ET, a bred heifer
due in May with an ultrasound heifer calf
by Seagull Bay Sheriff-ET. Sired by
Seagull Bay Platinum-ETS from a Very
Good 86
Shamrock dam, she has a
GTPI of +2439. She was consigned by
Select Sires Inc. Plain City, OH and purchased by Pete Spike, Delaware, OH.
Ohio ladies proved that they know a
good one when they see it, as Lot # 17,
MS Apple MS Adra-Red, a fall calf, was
purchased for $6700 by Laurie Menzie,
Judy Wolford, and Lisa Kerr, McClure,
OH. A daughter of Ladys-Manor
Olympian-ET and the well-known AppleRed, she was consigned by Apple
Partners LLC Durango, Iowa.
Lot # 44, L-Maples Armani CatrashaET, a winter calf, sold for $5500 to
Graisson Schmidt, Mandy Brazil, and
Nathan Johnson, Melrose, Wisconsin.
Sired by Mr Apple Armani-ET and from
an Excellent 91 2E Advent dam, she was
Please See Holstein, Page 4-D

The 2015 Ohio

Holstein Queen
is Emma
Mathews of New
Vienna, (right).
The former
queen Allison
Mangun of
Burbank, was
there to crown
here successor.
Photo by Melissa
Hart.

PAGE 4-D

MARCH 25, 2015

FARMERS ADVANCE

www.farmersadvance.com

1-800-222-6336

Holstein breeders gather in Ohio for annual meeting

Holstein From Page 3-D
consigned by Tom Lyon, Jr. Westfield,
Wisconsin.
On Saturday, March 14, breeders convened for their annual business meeting
and awards luncheon. From the judging
contest to the queens contest, outstanding Holstein enthusiasts were recognized
for their efforts in breeding and promoting Ohio Holsteins.
The Buckeye Breed Builder award
was given to the Steiner brothers of PineTree Dairy of Marshallville, while the

Distinguished Buckeye Breeder went to

Dick Endoe of Lodi.
Retiring association president Dallas
Rynd of Ashville was honored with the
Distinguished Service Award after taking
on the leadership of the association in difficult circumstances. He was greeted with
a standing ovation as he received his
award.
The Ohio Woman of the Year award
was given to very surprised Marlene
Steinke of Anna, OH. While the award
was being presented her family silently

entered the back of the room and were

there to greet her when she faced the
audience.
Each year a judging contest is held
and this year it was held at Quietcove
Holsteins. The winners for the senior
division were First was Rachel Topp and
there a tie for second place with Scott
Carle and Julie Renner. The Junior division winners were first, Maggie
Mathews, second Aaron Carle, third
Louie Liming.
Emma Mathews of New Vienna was

crowned the 2015 Ohio Holstein Queen.

And the day concluded with a fun auction
sponsored by the Ohio Holstein Women.

Did You Know...?

It was a wise man, Will Rogers,
who observed, Half our life is
spent tring to find something to
do with the time we have rushed
throuh life trying to save.

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FARMERS ADVANCE

MARCH 25, 2015

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MARCH 25, 2015

FARMERS ADVANCE

www.farmersadvance.com

1-800-222-6336

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Ag industry
loses pioneer of
liquid fertilizers

The ag industry has recently lost a pioneer in the liquid plant food and fertilizer
agribusiness sector. Allan L. Farrow, of Port
Elgin, Ontario, Canada joined his lord and
savior on December 14, 2014 in his 88th
year on earth. Allan was the owner and president of INSTA-GRO Liquid Plant Foods
Company, of which he started in 1975.
Allan Farrow was an innovator of the InFurrow, 2 x 2 placement of nutrients, and
Foliar Feeding technologies, of which he
discovered while a salesman for Nachurs,
back in the late 50s. He also worked with
Dr. Tukey from Michigan State Agriculture
College in the development of foliar feeding.
It was then that they discovered that leaf
spraying could reach the root system in
plants within 6 seconds of the application,
allowing the plant to utilize over 80 percent
of the application material, versus less than
20% of a soil applied material. Allan also
developed soil amenity products that the
INSTA-GRO Company continues to market
today that provides the ability to raise the
organic matter in the soil and digest plant
residue into plant food stored in the form of
humus.
Allan grew up on his family farm in the
Port Elgin area where to this day there has
never been any applications of dry fertilizers
or lime on the 2500 acre farm. The farm has
maintained near 200 bu. yields of corn and
70 -80 bu. yields of soybeans year in and
year out. His INSTA-GRO Company will
become more and more visible to the
Midwest States as Allan had never wavered
from the concept of placing nutrients in the
right place, at the right rate, at the right time,
with the right source. Of course all of these
attributes are known today as the 4R
Nutrient Stewardship programs.
Allan was enthusiastic about the soil and
his mission to maintain the soils with sustainable and sound stewardship practices
was his passion and continues to be the passion of his company representatives.
Allan will be missed by the industry as
he was able to share and maintain his plant
and soils wisdom up to his very last days on
the precious soil he cherished so much.

FARMERS ADVANCE

MARCH 25, 2015

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MARCH 25, 2015

FARMERS ADVANCE

www.farmersadvance.com

1-800-222-6336