Youngest Director 



DIRT FARMING 



By JfM THOMSON 



Au't. tdltor, lAA RECORD 



As a farm •cenemlst Hughs* has to do a grocrt dool of reading 

 to kaop up wHh the nowost farm program proposals, otc. Hero 

 he roads the latest copy of the Journal of Farm Economics. 



YOUNGEST member of the Illinois 

 Agricultural Association board of 

 directors is 40-year-old Earl M. 

 Hughes of Woodstock in McHenry 

 county. Since 1946 he has repre- 

 sented Cook, Lake, Kane, McHenry, Du- 

 Page and Will counties. 



This area is possibly the most diversi- 

 fied farming area in Illinois. It leans 

 heavily to dairying, cash grain, beef and 

 pork production, truck gardening, and 

 flower farming, and other minor agri- 

 cultural activities. 



Farmers in this area are an unusually 

 practical lot. Closer to Chicago, the farms 

 are small. Every cost item is closely 

 scrutinized. Every activity must pay its 

 way. Director Hughes operates the same 

 practical way. 



Like most college educated farmers, he 

 likes to have scientific proof for what 

 he does. If he doesn't get it or isn't sure 

 of the proof offered, he will go out in 

 the fields and experiment himself. If 

 a practice shows up well on the account 

 book, he uses it. If not, he discards it 

 and looks for something better. 



Hughes was born and reared in the 

 area he now farms four miles northwest 

 of Woodstock. Following his graduation 

 from the high school at Woodstock, he 

 attended the University of Illinois and 

 was graduated in general agriculture in 

 1929. 



Returning home, he operated a dairy 

 farm four years then took up graduate 



work at Cornell University where he re- 

 ceived the degree of doctor of philosophy 

 in agricultural economics in 1938. 



He was an assistant professor of agri- 

 cultural economics at the University of 

 Illinois until 1941 when he moved to the 

 farm and became first field man with the 

 Northeastern Illinois Farm Bureau Farm 

 Management Service. He resigned from 

 the Farm Management Service in 1943 to 

 devote full time to the farm. 



Director Hughes operates 836 acres 

 with his father. Of this 836 acres, 166 

 acres are owned by the lAA director, and 

 430 are rented. The rest is owned by 

 his father with whom he operates the 

 farm in partnership. 



Hughes also owns a 471 -acre farm 51/2 

 miles away which he rents out. He is 

 thus an unusual combination of owner, 

 operator, landlord, tenant, and partner. 



The Hughes farm has shifted over 

 more and more to the production of cer- 

 tified seed until it is now the most im- 

 portant activity. A herd of 40 Holstcin 

 cows is maintained, and production of 

 pork averages 40,000 to 50,000 pounds 

 annually. The farm also has a laying 

 flock of 500-600 Leghorns. Egg pro- 

 duction averaged more than 200 eggs 

 per hen last year. Twenty-five of his 



This is the \4th in a series of articles 

 to further acquaint you with the men 

 who represent you on the Illinois Agri- 

 cultural Association board of directors. 



Duroc Jerseys are being crossed with 

 Minnesota No. 1 boars as an experiment. 



Last year 300 acres were sown to Qin- 

 ton oats for seed; 85 to corn, and 125 

 to soybeans. Eighty acres of corn were 

 grown for home use, and 20 acres addi- 

 tional were in corn for silage. Eighty 

 acres were in permanent pasture and 65 

 were in hay and tillable pasture. This 

 grain program was heavier than normal. 



Crop rotation on the Hughes farm 

 normally runs corn, corn or soybeans, 

 oats, alfalfa for hay, and alfalfa for pas- 

 ture. Three to four tons of limestone 

 per acre have been spread throughout the 

 farm. 



Director Hughes is a firm believer in 

 liberal applications of plant foods to his 

 fields. His records show that it pays. 

 Planting check plots against fields re- 

 ceiving applications of triple superphos- 

 phate, ammonium nitrate, and straight 

 potash, Hughes said the additional yield 

 of corn per acre was 20 bushels and of 

 oats, 15 bushels. 



The soil is a brown silt loam under- 

 lain with deep gravel beds. A minimum 

 of erosion control is necessary because of 

 the level land and small runoff. Hughes 

 has been a pioneer in his area in the use 

 of weed killer. Spraying his oats last 

 year was extremely profitable, he said, 

 because of the higher yields. 



Director Hughes was married in 1932 

 to the former Mildred Shuman of Sul- 

 livan, a sister of lAA President Charles 

 B. Shuman. They have three children: 



1 





Left: Swedish visitor to Hughes farm Magnus Fransen points to better known as "Happy," and Dean Thompson, Hughes em- 

 fertllizer attachment used while sewing oats, something "we don't ployee. Center: Using electric welding outfit. Right: loading 

 have in Sweden," he said, looking on ore Hughes, son Earl Jr., Clinton oats seed grown on the Hughes farm. 



