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SATURDAY, SEP TEMBER 19, 2020 • KOKOMO TR I BUNE PROGRESS EDI T ION
BY JAMES WOLF JR.
FOR THE KOKOMO TRIBUNE
T
here’s a new historical marker on
North Indiana 29, just over the
Carroll County border.
In early August, dignitaries such as
Gov. Eric Holcomb and Rep. Jim Baird
(R, District 4) and farmers from around
the country came to Fouts Soyland
Farms to celebrate the 100th anniversary
of the creation of the American Soybean
Association and unveil a marker.
On one side, the marker recognizes
the founding of the American Soybean
Association, and on the other recognizes
the Fouts family, which helped start the
association in 1920 and were also instru-
mental in making soybeans a viable crop.
The organization has grown into a
national organization, based in St. Louis,
that advocates and lobbies for water rights,
overseas sales and other farmer concerns.
“It’s appropriate that we’re meeting on
this exact soil,” Holcomb said.
The original intent of the Three Fouts
brothers — Taylor, Finis and Noah — was
to hold the “First Corn Belt Soybean
Field Day” on Sept. 3, 1920, where about
1,000 farmers talked about marketing
and selling this new kind of crop.
Representatives from the Purdue
University Extension Service, Indiana
Experiment Station and the U.S. Depart-
ment of Agriculture were also there
The meeting was such a success, the
farmers decided to form the association,
called National Soybean Growers Associ-
ation until 1925, and Taylor Fouts became
the first president.
The Fouts brothers were pioneers in
soybean growing.
The three brothers had attended
Purdue, and when they returned, their
father, Solomon Fouts, gave each 160
acres, said Noah’s great-great-grand-
daughter Elisha Modisett Kemp.
People made fun of their “college ideas”
and their planting soybeans, which origi-
nally had two uses, forage for livestock
and nitrogen for corn.
However, when the brothers’ corn grew
higher and greener than their neighbors’
crops, and their livestock each put on
about 2 pounds more, the interest came.
The process wasn’t easy, though.
“It took them a good 10 to 15 years to
make a go of it,” she said.
They had to make their own equipment,
some of which is in the Smithsonian
Museum.
The family is the land’s original settlers
and is about 150 years old, Modisett
Kemp said.
The original cabin is at Canal Park
in Delphi; however, the original barns
burned down in the 1940s, she said.
In the barn at the event, the exhibits
included a family photo of the Fouts
around the start the soybean association
and a panoramic photo of the 1920 gath-
ering, as well as historic ads, Bibles, labels
and equipment.
There were a few copies of the trade
magazine, which began in 1940, the same
year the association hired its first paid
executive.
There were also modern touches at the
program, including a table for “Movin’
The Pile,” a farming podcast.
Outside the barn, under a tent next
to the speakers’ tent, were antique
tractors, and in the field beyond that were
heirloom soybean varieties that people
toured through.
Those heirloom seeds went as far back as
the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s, said Dave Blower,
Indiana Soybean Alliance spokesman.
Modisett Kemp Fouts said that Fouts
Soyland Farms continue to grow soybeans
today.
BY CARSON GERBER
KOKOMO TRIBUNE
F
ive local farms families have been
honored with the Hoosier Home-
stead Award, which recognizes
farms owned and maintained by the
same family for 100 years or more.
Families were eligible for three differ-
ent award distinctions based on the age
of their farm – the Centennial Award for
100 years, Sesquicentennial Award for
150 years or Bicentennial Award for 200
years of ownership.
In Howard County, two farms received
the honor. The White family established
their farm in 1899, and the White-Rine-
hart family established their operation
in 1917. Both received the Centennial
Award.
In Tipton County, three families were
given the Centennial Award: the David
family, which established farms both in
1905 and 1920; The Ratcliff–Wittkam-
per–Rinker farm, established in 1910;
and the Gasho–Crawford–Snyder farm,
established in 1919.
To be named a Hoosier Homestead, the
farm must be kept in the same family for
at least 100 consecutive years and consist
of more than 20 acres or produce more
than $1,000 in agricultural products per
year.
This year, over 150 farm families
were awarded the Hoosier Homestead
Award, by Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch and
Indiana State Department of Agriculture
Director Bruce Kettler, in recognition of
their commitment to Indiana agriculture
“Heritage and endurance are two
words that come to mind when reflect-
ing on our great state,” Crouch said
in a release. “This award captures the
essence of Indiana and the many individ-
uals that help ensure Indiana agriculture
perseveres.”
Kettler said it was a “tremendous feat”
to keep a farm working and in the same
family for over 100 years.
“Agriculture has always been at the
core of Indiana and of these individuals,”
he said in a release. “Recognizing our
longstanding Hoosier farming families is
always an honor.”
Two Indiana families this year also
received the Bicentennial Award:
the Paul E. Henry farm from Fayette
County was established in 1819; and the
Ferguson farm from Lawrence County
was established in 1820.
Since the program was established
in 1976, more than 5,800 families have
received the award.
BY CARSON GERBER
KOKOMO TRIBUNE
C
rop analysts are forecast-
ing a record-setting
soybean harvest and solid
corn yields this year in Indiana,
but area farmers say they still
aren’t expecting to bring in
huge profits.
The U.S. Department of Agri-
culture projects that soybean
yields will be 61 bushels per
acre, up 10 bushels from the
2019, setting a new state record.
Total production across the
state is forecast at 346.5 million
bushels, up 27% from last year.
That would also be a record
high.
“This is over 15 percent above
the yield trend,” said Shaun
Casteel, an associate professor
of agronomy at Purdue Univer-
sity, during a webinar. “2020
is shaping up to be a banner
year with significant yields for
soybeans.”
But some area farmers are
holding off on the optimism
until the crop is harvested.
Kent Chism, a lifelong farmer
in western Howard County who
serves on the Howard County
Farm Bureau board, said his
soybeans look decent right now,
but he’s waiting to get into the
fields before calling it a bumper
crop.
“Beans are funny,” Chism said.
“You can check them and count
pods and beans, and they may
look good, but by the time you
get them combined, they might
not be there. Beans are really
hard to do yields checks.”
For corn, the USDA forecast
expects a yield of 188 bushels
per acre in Indiana, which is
up from 169 bushels per acre in
2019. As of Aug. 30, 63% of corn
was rated good to excellent.
Chism said he anticipates his
corn harvest will be decent, but
the drawn-out dry spell in June
and July in Howard County
hampered the development of
higher yields.
“I think the heat and dryness
took some of the top end off our
yields, but I still think it will be
good,” he said.
According to Purdue Exten-
sion, a dry and moderately
temperate spring led to good
planting conditions for farmers
across the state. Despite a freeze
event in early May, and dry
conditions in June and July,
Indiana’s major cash crops of
corn and soybeans are still both
projected to be above trend for
bushels harvested this fall.
“All in all, the 2020 growing
season has been more ‘normal’
than many recent years,” said
Purdue agronomy professor Bob
Nielsen. “We are hopeful that we
will have a good harvest season,
which would be a welcome relief
compared to the statewide late
harvest last year.”
While harvest projections
range from good to excellent,
Purdue economists warn of
troubles in the market that could
hurt farmers’ bottom line.
James Mintert, a professor
of agricultural economics at
Purdue, said soybean exports
were down significantly in the
2019 crop year. He said even
though the USDA is forecasting
a 29% rebound in exports for
this year’s crop, he’s still con-
cerned about global economic
growth and the weak demand
for ethanol hurting corn prices.
“This is largely a result from
COVID-19 and the reduction
of fuel usage and corn usage
for ethanol,” Mintert said in a
webinar. “USDA is expecting
ethanol production to rebound
during the 2020 crop marketing
year, but that will be dependent
on how rapidly the economy
recovers.”
Soybean prices have climbed
substantially compared to
last year, and corn prices also
recently bumped up. Chism said
he attributes the price increases
to more demand from China,
which is buying more U.S.
exports.
“It’s nothing really splashy,
but the prices have come up a
little bit, and that’s good news,”
he said.
But even with higher prices,
Chism said, he doesn’t anticipate
this year’s harvest leading to
huge profits.
“It’s not going to be a bin-
buster, but we’ll have enough
revenue overall that we’ll have
something to work with. It will
be a good year, but it might not
be as good as it looks on paper
right now.”
FARMERS SAY YIELDS WILL BE GOOD, PROFITS NOT
USDA PROJECTS RECORD SOYBEAN HARVEST IN INDIANA
CELEBRATING A MILESTONE
A ‘TREMENDOUS FEAT’
NATIONAL SOYBEAN ORGANIZATION
RECOGNIZES ITS 100TH YEAR
5 LOCAL FARMS HONORED
AS HOOSIER HOMESTEADS
AGRICULTURE
SPOTLIGHT
A farmer on a tractor
sprays
pesticides on a soybean field in this file
photo.
The history of soybeans
was detailed throughout the American Soybean
Association exhibit.
(Photos by Tony Walters, For the Kokomo Tribune)
Soybean fans
from all over gather at
the celebration in Camden.
