VOL. K NO. 26
for the Best Returns, County Agent advises:
Cut Hay at Right Maturity Stage
Now n the time foi faimeis
to begin to considei veiy caie
lully wh>-n to cut then hay and
glass silage. Max Smith, county
agent, said this week
“It’s v»ry impoitant to iccog
nize the conect and piopei stage
ol maturity foi hanesting This
is important to get the most feed
value,” Smith said
Smith explained that if the
ci op is allowed to stand beyond
the proper cutting stage, it act
ually lost' feed value, instead of
gaining, a c many faimeis believe,
bv allowing then hay to matuie
before <M'ting, thev’ie actually
losing. The hay that has lost
some of its feed value doesn’t
pioduce St many pounds of meat
on livestock 01 as much milk
for.the daiiyman as does the
ciop which was cut at the right
time. Smite said
“Too many farmers,” Smith
warned, "permit the crop to ma
ture too mSch 01 get too i ipe.
This lose 1 feed "nutrients includ
ing protein and carbohydrates ”
He also said that two crops
which have the same weight
yield per acie may vary substan-
Comfy Agricultural Leaders
To Discuss Environment Issue
The Lancastei County ASC
Committee has scheduled a meet
ing oi agr,i.iltuial agencies and
gioups m '.he County foi 930
a in. Tuesoay, May 26, in the
Farm and Home Centei
Purpose ef the meeting is to
get suggestions and lecommenda
tions for improvement of ASCS
piogiams to help the American
iaimer do an even moie effec
tive 30b of .anproving the envu
onment while conseiving and
building the nation’s soil and
w ater resources
The objectives aie to assure
emphasis cn clean au and wa
ter, more open space and moie
and better Aildhte habitat, as
sure effectne conseivation ac
complishments and piovide em
phasis on. 'onseivation and en
v 11 onmenta umpi ovement activi
ties having nublic benefits
The mciting will be conducted
by Richard A Pennay, distnet
Farm Calendar
Mcr.day, May 25
300|) m Lancastei County
FFA leadeiship Confei
ence Gaiden Spot High
Sdietl
SOOpm— IiHIA boaid, Faim
and Heme Centei
800 p m —C ounty FF A. Chap
ter ni'-t'ing, Solanco High
Sober'
Tuesday, May 26
3.00 am -5 30 pm Confei
ence cm An Pollution Con
<Contmued on Page 6)
tially in then feed value The
ci op cut at the light stage ot
matinity will have a highei feed
value which will piovide bettei
gams foi livestock 01 gieatci
milk pioduction foi dan \ amm
als, while the oldei ioiage will
consist of moic fibei and less
feed value, theieby pioviding
sniallei pioductive lesults ioi
the faimei
Smith said Lancaster led the
state in hay output in 1969 with
243,100 tons valued at $7,657,500
“Hay is veiy impoitant heie
paiticulaily to daily men,” he
said
But to get the maximum value
out of the appi oximately 85,000
acies of hay in the county, the
faimer must cut his crop in the
pioper stages of matunty, con
dition it pioperly and tiy to get
it under cover without being
rained on, Smith said.
Smith gave the following
guidelines to help the farmer de
teimine when to cut to achieve
maximum feed value
For grasses such as timothy,
01 chard glass, brome and reed
duectoi, Pennsylvania State ASC
Committee
Recommendations of the coun
ty gioup will be foivvaided to the
State ASC Committee and
f luough them to USDA m Wash
ington foi use in development of
ASCS piogiams foi 1971
We Salute Dairying!
Lancaster County dauy fai
mers sold $37,039,000 of milk
in 1969, maintaining dairying
as the most impoitant farm
income produce! for the
state’s most productive agn
cultuial county
Lancastei Farming will re
cognize the county’s dynamic
dauy industiy in its June 6
Special Dauy Issue
Lancaster Fanning extends
a special invitation to daily
groups and oiganizations to
submit ai tides and news on
danying foi the Dany Issue
Adveitiseis aie invited to
make then own appeal to a
large segment of the South
eastern Pennsylvania dau\
maikel
To be suie to make the
Dauy Issue, please submit all
mateiial by Wednesday. June
Call us at 394 3047 oi 626
2191 Oi write to Lancastei
Fanning, Bo\ 266 Lititz, Pa
17543.
Lancaster Farming, Saturday., Ma\ 23. 1970
canai y glass maximum teed
\a.ue will be obtained ln
vesting at “heading time’ Thais
when the seed head stalls to
emeige iiom the lop ot the plant
Alfalfa cutting time \aues toi
o’dei, estbhshed stands and fi'it
yeai alt all a
Foi established alfalfa cut in
the bud stage This is uist puoi
to the bloom
Alfalfa being cut the fiist time
v ill last longei it 10 to 20 pet
cent ot the plants aie allowed to
leach the bloom stage beto‘e
cutting. Smith said
Later cuttings of Alfalfa
should be made e\eiy 35 days,
according to the latest reseaich
Red, alsike and ladino clovei
are all at then peak leed \alue
when cut in the early blossom
stage with 20 to 50 pei cent
blooms.
Small grains such as winter
wheat ot winter barley and oats
may, be cut tor silage and then
top feed value would be from
blossom to early milk stage.
“These grains do not make high
quality hay and are therefoie
suggested for use as silage only
Smith advised
He continued, “All the above
ci ops cut loi eithei hay 01 sil
age, should be conditioned in the
field immediately aftei mowing
This includes the use ot a cum
pei 01 a ciushei to m?sh the
stems to permit moie lapid dry
ing of the plant ”
Asked to explain ciushmg,
ci imping and conditioning and
how it’s done, Smith gaye the
iolloyving mndoyvn
Conditioning can include eithei
a crusher which mashes the stem
completely 01 a camper which
mashes the stem at intervals of
about one-inch
“Either one will do the job of
expediting the diying process in
the field by exposing the plant
juices to evaporation This makes
hay drying much faster
“This (conditioning) enables
the faimei to get the hay into
the bain much faster and helps
avoid getting it wet
“Normally, (with condition
ing) it takes tyvo days to dry the
fust cutting sufficiently, but lat
er cuttings can sometimes be put
into the bam the same day ”
Smith estimates about 90 per
cent of county farmers condition
their hay, a process which has
just gained wide acceptance
yyithin the past 20 yeais
The conditioning is done in
this aiea by one of two methods.
Some farmers use a hay bine,
yvhrch cuts, conditions (either
camping oi ciushmg) and wind
ioyvs all in one operation For
hear ler stands it s sometimes
necessaiy to trim these wmdroyvs
oroi befoie gathering to allow
pioper dicing But essentially
the haybme combines three oper
ations cutting, conditioning
and windrow mg into one
The other widely used method
nnolves a sepaiate moving ma
chine to cut the ciop, followed i
immediately by a sepaia'e tup
o%ei the field with a conditione 1
(eithei a cumpei 01 ciushei), <
followed by a hay lake to win - .- ]
We Begin Local Grain
Prices in Graph Form
Lancaster Farming this week
introduces a new feature to as
sist local fanners
It is a presentation in graph
form of the local giain prices
we began in January
The graph presentation, we
hope, will make it easier to see
not -only the gram pi ices at a
glance, but also to see what
those prices were last week and
the week before
The graph also will help
make it possible for farmers
to spot trends in the gram
prices and possibly' to base buy
mg and selling activities in part
on these trends
The local gram prices Lan
caster Farming carries are ac
tually the aveiage of prices
quoted to us each Thursday by
six local feed and gram con
cerns
We carry both the bid price
(the price at which the In ms
will buy from faimeis delueied
to the mill) and the offeied
Chicken Barbecue
The Lancastei County Semoi
Extension Club will sponsoi a
chicken baibecue fiom 11 am
to 6 pm Satuiday. June 6 at
Stauftei s Maikci. Roh-eislown
The chaige is SI 25 and pio
ceeds go to Heai t Haven
Anyone with questions should
contact Jane Wenge- at 464-2372
dter 4 pm.
$2.00 Per Yew
iow the uop foi the pick-up bal
ei 01 field choppei
The pi inciples toi making both
ha\ and silage die the same ex
cept that the dijmg piocess is
longei foi ha> Smith said
price (the puce at which the
dealer will sell at his null).
We cany the bid and offered
prices on five grams ear corn,
shelled corn, oats barley and
wheat The prices this week
are as follows
Bid Offered
Com (eai) $36 67 $4133
Corn (shelled) 146 1.63
Oats 74 .81
Bailey 101 1.18
Wheat 136 157
In the future we plan to carry
in graph foim both the bid and
offered prices of one of these
five grams each week on a
rotating basis We begin this
week with wheat.
The graph shows that on the
average, the six mills in our sur
vey are paying SI 36 for wheat
at the mill this week and they
are selling it for $157 While
the buying puce by dealers is
down four cents fiom last weelc
at $1 40, the selling price to faf<
meis has dropped two cents
from last week Foui weeks ago,
on April 23, local farmers were
getting an average ol $1 44 for
then wheat, but the average
cost at the mill also was higher,
$1 64
Since we began keeping the
data on wheat, the high bid
(price to farmei) and offered
(cost to farmei) both reached
highs on oui Feoruary 19 ro«
pott At that time.'-the bid was
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