Minden man ahead of his time on farm equipment

MINDEN, Neb. (AP)--As farmers get busy planting their crops for the 2008 season, many use equipment and technique to conserve water and fuel.

H. Bruce Villars of Minden was ahead of his time about 45 years ago when he developed equipment to help farmers do so.

Villars used what he learned earning an agricultural engineering degree from University of Nebraska and his experience in farming to develop the equipment.

As early as 1963 and 1964, Villars developed a cultivator capable of ridging through large amounts of field trash. "The hillers would throw out (trash gathered) the first time through (then throw dirt) in the next trip," Villars said recently. He said he developed the machine because "regular cultivators would not go through the trash."

The May 1964 issue of Nebraska Farmer included an article that Villars wrote explaining how the cultivator was put together.

"Eventually, everybody went to that type of equipment," Villars said, and 20 years after he developed his cultivator, John Deere came out with similar equipment, though he believed it was not made as well.

Villars said some farmers have switched to wider rows and they do not even cultivate much anymore. "It's no-till farming. With pivots, farmers don't have to cultivate."

Villars cited a lack of time and money as reasons he did not pursue a patent on the cultivator. He has recently been asked to donate the original cultivator to the Antique Farm Machinery Museum.

Villars thinks he has made an even greater contribution to ag equipment with his development of a livestock grooming chute.

"This is my pride and joy," he said. "They can be seen at all the big shows. Everybody has one. It's quite a contribution."

Villars said he developed the chute "in the late '60s or early '70s." He said he had children in 4-H, and there was always a problem with getting a calf tamed down and someone was always kicked or stepped on by the calf.

As president of the Minden Rotary Club, Villars said, he needed a program for a July Rotary Club meeting. He decided to have 4-H members do a grooming demonstration using the chute he had developed.

Villars said someone who had shown cattle for 35 years was present at the demonstration and was amazed at how effective the chute was. Villars said the man took pictures and measurements of the chute and had a couple made. He said the chutes were light enough to be hauled in the back of a pickup.

Then-Dawson County Extension Agent Harold Stevens had 10 chutes made after seeing Villars' prototype. The chutes went to the Nebraska State Fair.

"Now everywhere you go, you see them," Villars said. "They are even used by those competing nationally."

The Tecumseh native will celebrate his 80th birthday along with his identical twin brother later this summer.

He has farmed in the Minden area since 1955. He earned that degree from UNL in 1952 and spent time in the U.S. Navy Reserve.

Although now considered retired, Villars continues to work with his son, Dan, who farms on the family property near Minden.

8/4/08
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Date: 7/25/08

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