Harold Good Triples Silage Tonnage
With Rye Sod-Seeded in Alfalfa
By ERNEST J. NEILL
Highrock, Pa. Balboa rye
seeded m alfalfa sod has tripled
silage yields on the southern
York County farm of Harold
Good s
Usifag a .method that is gam
ing broad acceptance in the flat
Delta lands of Mississippi and
in the fertile'farmlands of-York
and Lancaster Counties, Mr.
Good seeds in dry, hard ground
during the fall months Seeds
and fertilizers are put in place
without destroying the firmness
of the soil. '
Sod-seeding is somewhat new,
but it is producing acres and
acres of winter grazing in the
south, and tripling tonnage that
goes into upright silos in York
County.
Generally Maintenance Tool
“It’s a maintenance tool gen
eially, unless you have a bound
sod condition, 1 ” one man told
of the Pasture Dream that leaves
sod intact, resisting erosion
much better than most other
tillage tools.
Dairymen have found that the
first cutting of combinations is
not too satisfactory for silage.
With Balboa rye, a large, woody,
fibrous chop is produced that
readily absorbs alfalfa juices,
adds carbohydrates to proteins
furnished by the -legume
“Fall seeding gives rye a good
root system, and' by spring it
is able to start on a par with al
falfa. Fertilizers are'applied
0-20-20 or 0-14-14 for the alfalfa
only, and tonnage returns are
astrounding,” Lancaster Faming
was told.
The Pennsylvania State Uni
versity has been experimenting
with the machine that works in
unprepared seedbeds, but as a
rule they have limited tests to
prepared soils. - -
Chicken Numbers
In State at 26
Year Low p oint
HARRISBURG Pennsylva
nia farmers this year are rais
ing the smallest number of
chickens in 26 years, the State
Department of Agriculture re
ported today.
Excluding broiler-fryer chick
ens, the total of chickens raised
this year was given as 22,503.000
or three per cent below the
1955 crop of 23,199,000 head, a
Federal-State survey showed.
The 1956 total is 33 per cent
below the 10-year 1945-54 aver
age. However, with the reduc
tion in numbers the State still
holds its fourth place among all
the states in the number of
chickens raised on farms, the
Department said.
Broiler Output Record
The term “chickens raised” in
cludes fowls intended for re
placements in laying flocks, al
so birds other than those of
broiler type that are sold for
meat, observers said. Also, lay
ing flock numbers have been de
clining in recent years as pro
duction of eggs per layer per
year has been increasing. \
Meanwhile, farmers of Penn
ey Ivama have been advancing
their production of broilers to
meet consumer demand Output
last year reched a record high
of 30,318,000, an increase of
nearly 2 million in the past ten
years
Placements up 20 Per Cent
The Department reported on
increase of 20 per cent in the
numbei of broiler chicks placed
dunng the first seven months
of this year compared with the
same pe. md. in 1955.
Nationally, the number of
ra sad on farms this
' t>-' ( al-, n 472 million,
an me 1 C’i3 of tv o per cent over
1935, h'> '*‘3 pei cent below the
10-year
£ \rn, -j
Rye Combines Well
Rye alone does not provide
too good a silage It furnish „
bulk 'And a limited amount of
carbohydrates. But these com
bine well with legumes and hold
moisture that normally runs
away in silage.
Although Mr Good’s results
have been very satisfactory, he
plans to try oats sometime soon,
to see if an oats-alfalfa combi
nation will equal rye-alfalfa
Right now he has two 50-by-14
silos, olle is full, the other three
fourths full. Exceptionally good
pasture growing conditions this
year have reduced the need for
feeding silage, but there is an
ample reserve fpr all demands
next winter may require.
Mr Good farms 285 acres in
one farm plus another 150 near-
County farmer who moved
across the Susquehana to start
diversified farming operations
Included in his acreage are 35
acres tomatoes, 40 acres or more
of corn, 45 of hay, 15 wheat,
by. He’s a former Lancaster
and 15 acres of oats
“So far this year I’ve put up
8,000 bales of hay,” 'Harold fold,
while showing his' Lancaster
County visitors around his farm
“I’m running a herd of 70
Guernsey cows, milking 40, ,f he
continued
Weeds also Reduced
His procedure of combining
Balboa and, alfalfa* has reduced
weeds When seeding rye, 5-10-
10 fertilizer is applied in the
sod-drill Rye application is ex
tra thick
Silo filling started the last
week of May, while other crops
were progresing rapidly On the
contoured hillsides were fields
of corn being grown .for seed
sale.
Comparing costs, Harold fig
ures the alfalfa-Balboa combina
tion costs about a third that
soybean-sorghum mixtures would
require. “You have your perma
nent stand of alfalfa,” he ex
plained, “and the soybean-sor
ghum planting requires more
fertilizer.”
Feeding of silage will start
when pastures require support;
Harold told, but from prospects
now, pastures will last all sum
mer. “I believe in this combina
tion of Balboa-alfalfa,” he as
serts, “and I’m feeding some hay
to encourage the cows to eat
more grass
He’s producing 4.5 to 4.7 per
cent 'butterfat, marketed for lo
cal consumption through Red
Lion
Detasseling of 30 acres of hy
brid corn for seed was keeping
Harold and his helper, Bill Fans
ler, a former Lebanon county
resident, busy at the time.
No Plowing Required
Reviewing success with- the
Pasture Dreom and pasture seed
ing, he told, “There is no plow
ing, and we are able to plant'
four 20-inch rows simultaneausly.
There’s no land preparation, no
cultivation Fertilization is ap
plied at the same time for alfal
fa, and there’s a deep placement
of fertilizer,” the York Coun
tian reports
■“Potash and phosphorous are
our greatest needs here,” Har
old explained, but his program
of sod-seedmg is combatting
this.
“We use a field chopper
direct cut. The alfalfa-oats are
not wilted, the crop is blown in
to wagons and then into silos,"
this enthusiast said.
Fifteen acres of Canadian
Grass pasture are producing well
in another new venture for this
York County farmer.
Summarizing his program, Mr
Good is sure cereal crop seed
mg doesn’t work too well in fhr
spung. One procedure that has
worked well in the Delta Conn r
•3 being applied in the pioduc
tive lands of Lancaster and Yoik
Counties.
Tripled silage tonnage is the record
stacked up by Harold Good (left) through
s'od seeding of Balboa rye and alfalta.
Here he is shown at the silos on his tarm
Ground beneath this sod-seeded Balboa
rye and alfalfa has little chance to wash
away from the High Rock farm of Harold
i* 1 u (it: t oi u initio-. ppl pasture
on the 0 A Hoxie Farm near Port Gib
son, oats seeded with an FR model Pature
York Countian, Helper
Silage on the Contour
Mississippi and York County
near High Rock with his helper, Bill Fans- t
ler, formerly of Lebanon County. (See ac- *
companying story) (Lancaster Farming
Staff Photo)
Good. Silage yields have heen tripled
described in an accompanying story
this issue of Lancaster Farming.
!«■
Pastille Dream that-is supplying a new/,
means of tripled silage production m , t
Yoik and Lancaster Counties. ! 1
Fancier Farming—l 3
, Friday, Aug. 17, 1956 !
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