Curtail Hemp Program 

 In Illinois lor 1944 



ILLINOIS hemp production program 

 for .1944 calls for the planting of 

 17,000 to 18,000 acres in the areas of 

 four mills in the state as compared with 

 the planting of approximately 44,000 

 acres in 11 mill areas in 1943, accord- 

 ing to Fred E. Butcher, Chicago, presi- 

 dent of the War Hemp Industries, Inc. 



Hemp mills in Illinois for which 

 acreage will be planted in 1944 include 

 Kirkland and Shabbona in DeKalb 

 county ; Polo in Ogle county, and Earl- 

 ville in La Salle county. The Polo 

 plant is the only one that has started 

 operations. 



The other 7 mills during 1944 will 

 process the 1943 crop as soon as the 

 plants are completed and will be kept 

 in operating condition for possible use 

 in 1945. These 7 mills are located at 

 Wyoming, Stark county; Lexington, 

 McLean; Muncie, Vermilion; Galva, 

 Henry; Ladd, Bureau; Galesburg, 

 Knox, and Minonk, Woodford. 



Reduction in the hemp program 

 came after the War Production Board 

 reviewed the fiber situation in the light 

 of the progress of the war. It is now 

 possible to import sisal fiber from 

 East Africa and North Africa; jute 

 from India, hennequin and sisal from 

 Yucatan and other Central American 

 points. The net result has been that 

 the reserve supply of fiber in this coun- 

 try has not disappeared at the rate ex- 

 pected when the present hemp program 

 was initiated. In addition the War 

 Food Administration has announced 

 substantially increased acreage goals 

 for the canning crops, corn, soybeans 

 and wheat. 



The 1943 production in the 11 Illi- 

 nois mill areas will amount to between 

 90,000 and 100,000 tons of straw of 

 which approximately 18 per cent will 

 mill out as fiber. Butcher estimates. 



Of the more than 44,000 acres 

 planted in Illinois in 1943, there was 

 approximately 4200 acres abandoned 

 because of weather and crop condi- 

 tions. The abandonment ran from 100 

 acres to as much as 1200 acres in some 

 areas. Production ran from 6500 tons 

 of straw to 11,500 tons in the 11 vari- 

 ous mill areas. Kirkland and Shab- 

 bona were reported to be the highest 

 production areas in 1943- 



Returns for the average grower ran 

 in the neighborhood of $75 per acre 

 for the 1943 crop with some realizing 

 as much as $200 per acre. On the H. 

 T. and Lowell Marshall farm. La Salle 



county, 16 miles from the Earlville 

 plant, 40 acres produced 196 tons of 

 No. 1 hemp worth $50 per ton. His 

 hauling costs amounted to $4 a ton or 

 $784; machinery for harvesting, $5 per 

 acre or $200, and $14 an acre for seed 

 or $560 to make total costs $1544. 

 Taking the costs from the gross re- 

 turns of $9800 leaves $8256, or an 

 average of approximately $206 per 

 acre. 



Hemp plants outside of Illinois 

 which will contract for plantings in 

 1944 are: Britt, Eagle Grove, Hampton 

 and Grundy Center in Iowa; New 

 Richland, Mapleton and Blooming 

 Prairie in Minnesota; and Cuba City, 

 Darien and DeForest in Wisconsin. 

 This makes 14 plants in the country 

 calling for contracts of 60,000 acres of 

 hemp to be planted in their areas in 

 1944 as compared with the program 

 calling for 42 plants with contracts for 

 185,000 acres in 1943. 



On or about Sept. 1, 1944, the War 

 Production Board will again review the 

 fiber situation and determine the quan- 

 tity of fiber required from the crop 

 planting of 1945. If, for any reason, 

 an expanded program is found neces- 

 sary, the 11 plants in Illinois and the 

 ones in other states will be available to 

 meet that need, Butcher reported. 



Lyon New Director For 

 Yonng People's Activities 



Ellsworth D. Lyon, 44, who has served 

 as a rural pastor in Iroquois, Ford, Pulas- 

 ki, Winnebago, and Madison counties, 

 and whose primary interest has been with 

 young folks and 4-H groups, started work 

 Feb. 1 as director of young people's ac- 

 tivities for the Illinois Agricultural As- 

 sociation. He succeeds Frank Gingrich 

 who resigned May 31, 1943, to work as 

 district supervisor in the Emergency 

 Farm Labor program of the U. of I. 

 College of Agriculture Extension. 



Mr. Lyon was graduated from the Chi- 

 cago Theological Seminary in 1929 and 

 after serving on a home missionary pro- 

 ject for 11 months in Kentucky and after 

 spending the summer of 1930 at the 

 Seminary, he began work as a pastor in 

 Illinois. From September, 1930, to July, 

 1933, he served as pastor of the Loda 

 Congregational Church in Iroquois coun- 

 ty, and the Clarence Presbyterian Church 

 in Ford county. From this dual position 

 he went as pastor to the Villa Ridge 

 Union Church and the Mound City Con- 



Ellsworth D. Lyon 



gregational Church in Pulaski county. In 

 the latter county he helped in 4-H club 

 work and served as a leader and member 

 of the county 4-H committee as well as 

 helping in Farm Bureau organization 

 work. 



After the 1937 flood at Mound City, 

 Mr. Lyon went to Pecatonica in Winne- 

 bago county where he served as pastor of 

 the Congregational Church until April, 



1941. From April to December of 1941 

 he was in the CCC district of Sparta, 

 Wis. serving as chaplain to camps in 

 northern Wisconsin and the Upper Pen- 

 insula of Michigan. Since February, 



1942, he has been pastor of the Godfrey 

 Congregational Church in Madison 

 county. 



Mr. Lyon has had an interest in the 

 Farm Bureau for a number of years. 

 When he wrote his thesis for graduation 

 from the Seminary he went out to Homer 

 township in Will county and studied 

 rural organizations, including the Farm 

 Bureau, to find out what they were con- 

 tributing to rural life. 



"I found the Farm Bureau there to be 

 a live organization and a constructive 

 force in the lives of the people," Mr. 

 Lyon said. 



Mr. Lyon is married and has four chil- 

 dren, two boys and two girls. His hobbies 

 are folk games, leather-craft, gardening 

 and fishing. He was born in West Vir- 

 ginia and grew up on a cattle farm. 



Patronage to Co-op Shippers 



Champaign County Livestock Mar- 

 keting Association paid $5700 back to 

 its patrons on 1943 business, according 

 to a report made by Harold Davis, 

 manager, at the annual meeting of the 

 Association Jan. 20 held in conjunction 

 with the annual session of the Cham- 

 paign County Farm Bureau. This 

 patronage was in addition to 7 per cent 

 interest paid on preferred stock. 



Outlook for 1944 is not as favorable 

 as 1943, Davis reports, because of the 

 glut in hog marketings. The Associa- 

 tion has 2500 hogs listed ahead to be 

 marketed. 



1 •» 



1" 



4 » 



< » 



( r- 





41 » 



11 :- 



4 * 



4 » 



"i ; 



L A. A. RECORD 



