Seminar to Help Horse Businesses Better Manage Operations
The Horse Business Seminar, for those who provide services to horse owners, will be Nov. 7 at the Purdue Calumet Conference Center in Hammond.  "These are challenging times for everyone," said Mark Russell, Purdue University Cooperative Extension Service equine management specialist. "Many stables and horse businesses are finding that their customers can't afford to pay regular boarding and service fees, but at the same time, feed and other input costs are escalating."  Russell said Indiana has more than 34,000 operations that house more than 160,000 horses, generate more than 9,000 jobs and have an economic impact of more than $207 million in the state.
Seminar to Help Horse Businesses

Indiana Corn Website Helps Growers get Help
The Indiana Corn Marketing Council wants growers to know their website has become a clearinghouse of helpful information on ear molds and storing moldy corn. The communications director for the corn checkoff, Megan Kuhn, says Purdue has done an excellent job with educational materials, and the Indiana Corn website is a good destination for all those links. Kuhn told HAT, "With incorn.org we've pulled together some links to resources that they can just click and go to. The main one is from the Bob Neilson, the corn specialist at Purdue. His Chat 'n Chew Café website really has a great compilation of articles that he has done himself and with his co-workers at Purdue and all over the Midwest. We've put all the websites together and that allows guys one place to look to find all the information."
Indiana Corn Website

 Rain Forces Indiana Farmers to Abandon Corn, Soybean Harvests
Indiana farmers were making good progress harvesting both corn and soybeans early in the week until rain forced them out of the fields on Thursday, according to the Indiana Field Office of USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service. As of Oct. 20, a new record low harvest pace had been set for soybeans with only 34 percent harvested. The old record low for that date was 39 percent harvested in 1990. Corn harvest is running about 23 days behind the 5-year average pace and soybean harvest is about 15 days behind average.
Rain Delays Farmers

 

MidWest Indiana Economic Development Initiative To Help Rural Economy
More than 100 people gathered at Ivy Tech Community College's Lafayette campus on Friday morning for the MidWest Indiana Economic Development press conference featuring Lt. Governor Becky Skillman and business and community leaders from a nine-county region. Lt. Governor Skillman announced Benton, Carroll, Cass, Fountain, Montgomery, Pulaski, Tippecanoe, Warren and White Counties have formed a regional economic development organization to coordinate marketing efforts that highlight the region's assets. "MidWest Indiana will help these counties pool their resources to better sell the region to growing companies," Lt. Governor Skillman said. "As Indiana ramps up its emphasis on regional economic development, this group of nine counties is positioned to be a leader."
Rural Economy