Here Are Two Ex-GI's 

 Who Have A Good ; 

 Chance To Enjoy a Rich^ 



PROFITABLE 

 FARM LIFE 



See the article on preceding page for 

 standards for successful farm life. 



THE big problem for Ralph Lammle, 

 26, who farms near Fisher, lay in 

 finding a farm to rent. Farms are 

 at a premium in this rich corn and 

 soybean country. This was solved when 

 he bought out his father who had been 

 on the same rented farm for 39 years. 



Lammle spent between six and seven 

 thousand dollars in livestock, machinery, 

 and grain. His father backed him. He 

 also received help under the GI bill as 

 a self-employed veteran. This entitled 

 him to a maximum of $90 a month. 



Two years of bumper crops and high 

 prices have put Lammle on top finan- 

 cially. His GI classes have given him a 

 chance to mix with other young farmers 

 and learn new ideas quickly. 



"Ralph has farming on his mind so 

 strongly it wakes him up in the middle 

 of the night," his wife, Darlene, a pretty 

 city girl from Chicago Heights, said re- 

 cently. 



Young Lammle is lean, hard, and 

 quick. In the army he advanced from pri- 

 vate to a first lieutenant platoon leader in 

 a light tank outfit. He saw months of 

 hard fighting, was wounded once, fought 

 from Normandy across Europe to Ger- 

 many. 



The biggest change Lammle has made 

 since he took over has been to switch to 

 a three year corn-oats-hay rotation. He 

 plants on the contour even though his 

 land slopes very gently. 



Other changes, Lammle contemplates, 

 most of them first discussed in the GI 

 class at Fisher, include an expanding live- 

 stock program, 50 acres planted to the 

 new Mindo oat variety, 20 acres of la- 

 dino-alfalfa-brome pasture, hay stored in 

 wire bins shaped like a silo (for air 

 drying and curing.) 



Top. Ralph Lammle 

 proves ex-G.I. farm- 

 er* aren't |ust loaf- 

 ing. Here he Is busily 

 hauling manure with 

 help of brother Henry, 

 riglit, plus two trac- 

 tors, spreader, and 

 loader. Bottom. Wayne 

 and Ann M e i s t e r 

 proudly show Mar- 

 shall Scott, left, voc. 

 ag. teacher at Fisher, 

 litter of 14 Yorlcshire 

 pigs from registered 



WAYNE Meister, 26, who also farms 

 near Fisher, was resting in his 

 bunk in a quartermaster outfit here 

 in the states (he never got across)*, 

 paging through a copy of a midwest farm 

 magazine, when he lit on an article about 

 raising Yorkshire hogs. 



"Right then I got interested. I guess 

 I must have been tired of so many people 

 around always sounding off!" 



Meister had everything against him. 

 He had little farm experience, was reared 

 in the city, and didn't have the money to 

 make a start. His immediate problem 

 was to learn the intricate business of 

 farming. 



His wife, Ann, came to the rescue. 

 She grew up on a farm and her father 

 was willing to help. 



When they started on the 100 acre 

 farm near Fisher owned by Ann's father 

 they "really pioneered", at least as far 

 as Ann is concerned. The house, small 

 and in poor repair, had no conveniences 

 except electricity. 



Young Meister, a husky six-footer, 

 started from scratch. He has learned al- 

 most all he knows about farming from 



the GI on-the-job training class in Fisher 

 and from his father-in-law, an exp>e- 

 rienced farmer. 



Ann and Wayne now have a herd of 

 60 Yorkshires, a bacon breed popular in 

 Canada, which Meister believes will grow 

 in numbers in this country. 



Meister plans to concentrate on his 

 hog enterprise. His sows are all from 

 advanced registery stock and are entered 

 in the Illinois Swine Herd Improvement 

 Association. 



He got his backing from his father- 

 in-law who employs him on a regular 

 salary, the pay being in feed grains rather 

 than cash. From his GI classes Meister 

 got his ideas for row cropping and con- 

 tour farming. He is also starting on a 

 three year rotation, still new on many 

 com belt farms. 



Meister praised the way the GI school 

 has been directed at Fisher bv Marshall 

 Scott, the vocational agricultural high 

 school teacher there. Meister feels, as 

 do many veterans, that the public is often 

 unaware of the value veterans have re- 

 ceived from well-run GI classes. 



JUNE, 1948 



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