Pennsylvania's famed Star Barn will probably be saved from destruction, but traditional barns across the country are disappearing. Rural areas are dotted with the skeletons of round  barns, bank barns, crib barns, tobacco barns, rice barns and just about any other kind of barn you can think of. They've been replace by by big sheds, silos and steel-sided storage structures. Writing last week in The Economist, a reporter told of a visit to Thorntown, Indiana, where a local FFA chapter had spent part of their week restoring an old barn for the Dull family. It was one of the lucky structures. Iowa, for example is losing 1,000 barns a year, according to ag preservationists. If you'd like to read the story, you can find it here: http://www.economist.com/world/united-states/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15954270


     Meat industry trade groups have convinced the inspection arm of the USDA to extend the deadline for comments on tough new rules that would hit processors with higher costs and vague guidelines. Jay Wenther, executive director of the American Association of Meat Processors, said the proposed rules were "...widely vague and widely interpretable." Lancaster Farming staff writer Chris Torres wrote a report on the situation, which appears in our current edition. You can also read it here: http://www.lancasterfarming.com/node/2921
  
     Farmer John is a little wacky. But I think I'll rent the movie.
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/the-real-dirt-of-farmer-john/a2fe5d6bddf188828521a2fe5d6bddf188828521-1650461967629