Nutrition In The Field
While farmers nourish their gross- fertilizer tonnage con
crops with over 3,000 grades sumed.
of chemiCal fertilizers, mount- The most striking change in
ing sales of plant nutrients in- the 1956-66 period, however, was
vite a look at the industry’s a rise of 120 percent in use of
supplies. fertilizer’s primary plant nutri
. . , , „ ents—nitrogen, phosphorus, and
America s farmers are reap- p o t assium (tagged N, P, and K,
ing ever-bigger harvests wll h e Uvel ) .
steadily increasing yields. At * . . .
the same time, they’re using Total use of these nutrient ele
more and more fertilizer. ments rose to 9.6 million tons
in the year ending June 30, 1966
Farmers spent nearly $l.B bil- A nd about 5 ml n lo n tons went
lion in 1966 for about 34 million into mixtures alone. These mix
tons of chemical fertilizers of- tures accounted for 57 percent,
fered in close to 3,300 different or 19 4 million tons, of total ton
grades. nage.
These sales represented a 57- By 1980, consumption of plant
percent increase from only a nutrients is expected to be more
decade earlier in the volume of than double that in 1966.
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What and where are the
sources of plant nutrient sup
plies—not only for US. farmers
but also for farmers abroad?
Will stocks be sufficient to meet
the heavier needs and demands?
What developmnts can be ex
pected in the chemical fertilizer
industry?
Nitrogen, for which Nature’s
primary store is the atmosphere,
is available to all countries that
have a facility for converting it
into chemical compounds—nota
bly synthetic ammonia.
North American plants have
the capacity to produce an es
timated 27 percent of the world's
nitrogen supply, and Western
Europe 36 percent U S produc
tive capacity for anhydrous am
monia was an estimated 17 mil-
ANOTHER PEACEOF-MIND PRODUCT FROM..
(Continued on Page 22)
Lancaster Farming. Saturday, April 6.1968
SECOND SECTION
Spring Sends Out A Call
\ _
Even To Stored Corn
When spring creeps north, na
ture puts out an undeniable call
to all living organisms.
Even corn in storage "hears”
and tries to answer the call to
reproduce.
Everyone knows that corn be
gins to sprout when it is plant
ed in the warm, moist soil, but
did you know that even in the
crib, far above the ground, corn
“knows" when spring arrives?
At this time of year, corn
goes through a physiological
change. Even though it is, not
planted in the ground, corn seed
will try to carry out its repro
ductive function It may not ac
tually sprout, but the increased
activity within the kernels will
produce enough heat to spoil the
crop. This can happen even
when the corn has been dried
to 14 or 14V2 percent moisture.
Says John Crothers, Extension
marketing specialist at the Uni
versity of Maryland, “if you
have shelled corn stored on the
farm or in commercial bins,
check it carefully for heating.
One of the first obvious signs of
heating is the odor of sour corn
—but by that time it is too late.”
“You have to be on the de
fensive if you want to beat na
ture at her tricks he adds “If
you don’t have heat sensors al
ready in the bin, you’d better
find some way to take tempera
ture readings at several areas.
Heat sensors on the market can
be installed in most bins ”
Crothers says the heating
problem is likely to be worse if
the corn contains large amounts
of foreign material (weed seed,
pieces of cob, broken kernels)
which forms pockets and may
hold a little more moisture than
the rest of the bin.
“What can you do if the heat
sensors do show hot spots? The
best thing is to turn the corn by
transferring it to another bin.
This will be certain to move
and aerate- all sections of the
bin. It also breaks up any poc
kets of foreign material." Croth
ers adds. “This job should be
done on a sunny day if pos
sible.”
But even after the corn is
moved to another bin, don’t be
complacent, Brothers warns. All
your efforts may be wasted if
the rebinned corn begins to heat
again. Usually you can keep the
corn in good condition if you
aerate it with forced air. Grain
can be kept safely through the
summer if it does not heat or
is not allowed to get damp. But
you have to know Mother Na
ture and her tricks if you want
to stay on the defensive.
Jay Irwin
Speaks At
E-Town FFA
Guest speaker for the Eliza
bethtown FFA Chapter Parent-
Son Banquet held recently in the
school cafeteria, was Jay Irwin,
assistant county agent. Irwin
showed slides taken on his re
cent trip to the Soviet Union.
In the awards program, Dan
iel S. Baum, Kenneth Johnson
Jr. and John Risser were made
Honorary Chapter Farmers, and
a certificate of appreciation was
given to Baum’s Bologna, Inc.
The Chapter Star Farmer was
John Kurtz and the Star Green
Hand was James Kreider.
These foundation awards were
given - Kurtz, Dairy; Steve Al
leman, Livestock, Mike Baum,
Poultry; Gary Dupler, Farm
Mechanics, and Kurtz, Crops
The Swine Trophy was pre
sented to Mike Baum from the
Elizabethtown Kiwanis Club and
the Record Keeping Award went
to Kurtz from the Elizabethtown
office of the Harrisburg Nation
al Bank and Trust Co.
The Lancaster County Bank
ers Award went to Kurtz and
was presented by Dr. Phillip
Metzler, president of the Eliza-
17