By JIM THOMSON 



Aas't. tdlter, lAA Record 



HEN I asked Chester McCord, 

 lAA director from Jasper county, 

 to show me some of the ribbons 

 his Jerseys had won in cattle 

 shows I wasn't quite prepared 

 for what happened. 

 He and Mrs. McCord started bringing 

 in ribbons from every part of the house 

 till the dining room floor was almost 

 covered. There were still plenty more 

 in the attic, they advised me, but I sug- 

 gested that perhaps we already had 

 enough. 



All the pride and satisfaction McCord 

 has in his career as a farmer is embodied 

 in those ribbons. Because they represent 

 A good measure of success, hard work, 

 and years of planning. 



Director McCord has won many 

 honors during his 25 years of dairying 

 and raising pure bred Jerseys. But 

 strangely enough, his most prized posses- 

 sion has nothing directly to do with his 



DIracter McCord markets a high grade of 

 milk in nearby Newton whore ho hauls It 



" JtRSEVS 



Jerseys. It is a modest scroll presented 

 to him in 1941 by the Newton chapter 

 of the Future Farmers of America nam- 

 ing him the outstanding farmer in the 

 community and conferring upon him 

 honorary membership in the FFA. 



On the lAA board for the past 12 

 years, McCord represents the counties of 

 Jasper, 'Crawford, Richland, Lawrence, 

 Wabash, Effingham, Fayette, Marion, 

 Clinton, and Jefferson. 



He was born on a farm in Jasper 

 county and finished his education at 

 Charleston Teachers College. He then 

 taught rural school for two years. His 

 third year was interrupted when he en- 

 listed in the army. 



While recovering from illness in an 

 army hospital, McCord decided to make 

 a career of dairy farming. On returning 

 home he married the former Marie Hal- 

 terman and started farming with 100 

 acres and three heifers. 



Today, Director McCord farms his 

 own 340 acres and 160 acres besides. He 

 maintains a milking herd of 24-34 cows 

 which he has culled over a long period 

 of years and has brought to a high state 

 of perfection. Altogether he had 60 

 head of Jerseys during my visit to his 

 farm. 



Editor's Note: This is the ninth of a 

 series of articles to acquaint you with the 

 men who represent you on the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association hoard of direc- 

 tors. 



Headline Hluttratlon shows lAA Director 



Chester McCord and his son-in-law, Harold 



Heady, with a pair of the McCord prize 



Jerseys. 



He has had 13 cows qualify for the 

 "Ton of Gold" rating. To qualify a 

 cow must produce 500 pounds of butter- 

 fat for four consecutive years. McCord 

 was the first in Illinois to receive the 

 Gold Star Herd Award and the first in 

 the state to win the Constructive Breeders 

 Award, an honor he has received six 

 times. 



He has bred 28 five-star bulls and has 

 had a herd production average for the 

 past 16 years of 457.9 pounds of butter- 

 fat per cow. It is no wond.r that buyers 

 come from nine states to get the McCord 

 Jerseys. 



The lAA director from the 23rd dis- 

 trict has built his soil as he has built his 

 herd — methodically and always with an 

 eye to the future. Care of the soil and 

 care of his herd, he says, together arc 

 the keystone of his succ^s. 



The entire farm except 20 acres has 

 been limed and 180 acres have received 

 phosphate application. Potash and 

 nitrates also nave been applied sys- 

 tematically. Manure all goes back to 

 the fields. 



His soil building is paying off with 

 yields of 40 bushels of oats and 50-70 

 bushels of corn to the acre, well above 

 average for the surrounding commu- 

 nity. 



McCord is assisted with the man- 

 agement of the farm by Harold Heady, 

 a recently returned veteran who is mar- 

 ried to Mr. and Mrs. McCord's only 

 child. Marietta. 



Sixty acres of the farm are in timber 

 and an average of 100 acres are in 

 corn, 100 acres in soybeans, 75 acres in 

 oats and the rest in pasture and hay. 



Over Olrodor McCord's desk con bo 

 seme of tiM ribbons won by his Jerseys 

 icut year. 



'■rl 



