Curtail Hemp Program 

 In Illinois for 1944 



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ILLINOIS hemp production program 

 for 19j4 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 1-4,000 

 acres in U mill areas in 19*3, accord- 

 ing to Fred E. Butcher, Chicago, presi- 

 dent O'/.the War Hemp Industries, Inc. 



Hen>p mills in Illinois for which 

 acreage will be planted in 19 it include 

 Kirklartd and Shabhona in DeKalb 

 county; Polo in Ogle county, and I-.arl- 

 ville in La Salle county. The Polo 

 plant is the only one that has started 

 operations. 



The other 7 mills during 19it will 

 process the 19*3 crop as soon as the 

 plants are completed and will be kept 

 in operating condition for possible use 

 in 19-i5. 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, henne(.|uin and sisal from 

 Yucatari and other Cientral 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 19i3 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 i i,0()0 acres 

 planted in Illinois in 19(3, there was 

 approximately -I200 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 II vari- 

 ous mill areas. Kirkland and Shab- 

 bona were reported to be the highest 

 production areas in 19*3. 



Returns for the average grower ran 

 in the neighborhood of S75 per acre 

 for the 19i3 crop with some realizing 

 as much as S200 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 Si a ton or 

 $78 1 ; machinery for harvesting, $5 per 

 acre or S200, and SI » an acre for seed 

 or $560 to make total costs $154-1. 

 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 DcEorest 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 

 194-J as compared with the program 

 calling for -12 plants with contracts for 

 185.000 acres in 19)3. 



On or about Sept. 1, 1944, the War 

 Production Board will again review the 

 fiber situation and determine the c(uan- 

 tity of fiber recjuircd from the crop 

 planting of 19 i5. If, for any- i-eason, 

 an expanded program is found neces- 

 sary, the VI plants in Illinois and the 

 ones in other states will be available to 

 meet that need. Butcher reported. 



Lyon New Diiectoi Foi 



Young People's Activities 



Ellsworth D. Lyon. -* 1. who has served 

 as a rural pastor in Iroquois. Eord., Pulas- 

 ki. Winnebago, and Nfadison counties, 

 and whose primary interest has be6n with 

 young folks and i-H groups, started work 

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

 tivities for the Illinois Agricultui^il As- 

 sociation. He succeeds Frank Gingrich 

 who resigned May 31. 19)3. 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 ser\ing on a home missionary pro- 

 ject for 1 1 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 marriei^ 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 (bounty 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. 





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