- Lancaster Farming. Saturday. May 23.1970
28
Delaware Farm Pushes lor Efficient Land, Labor Use
Today’s farming operations
lequne top management know
how find .in efficient pi eduction
piogiam Bill Hans Jr, of Mid
dlctown. Delaware, has made
maximum use of these two in
giedienls in developing one of
the top vegetable entci puses
in the state
Fanning in partneiship with
his fathei. F W Haas Si . the
34>eai old faimer pioduces
moie than 500 acies of vege
tables foi piocessing Theciops
include 200 acres of peas 200
acies of Inna beans 60 acies of
tomatoes. 45 acies of aspaiagus
and 20 acies of cucumbets
Fiorn planting to hanest the
1 not iop vegetable piogram
piomotes the most elfieient use
of land and laboi
We stait out cutting aspara
,u> and planting pea> in Apnl."
exp Luis Haas Aftei the peas
aie in then we have to plant
tor . toe? and cueumbeis and
..et tea civ to lurve-t the peas
Once the pe.iS aie finished,
we plant lima be.in> and b> the
time the uop is in tomatoes aie
> ead> to be haivested ’ he
points out Thus we keep 0111
help busv thioughout the grow
ing season thei e is no slack
penod dining which laboi can
become dissatisfied ” ,
Although he has not e\pen
enced many pioblems in ob
taming laboi to handle his ciop
pioduction. Haas feels faimeis
will have to mechanize then
opeiations to stay in business
The using costs of faim la
boi is a senous pioblem in ag
ncultuie Wages paid faim la
boi plus the costs of othei
benefits continue to increase
each yeai,” he says
“It won't be long befoie we
aie foiced to phase migiant
labor otit of the American
farming picture As long as
faimeis are expected to pio
cluce eveiythmg at the veiy
minimum cost, we will have to
continue to reduce om costs
Replacing laboi with moie ma
chines is one way to accomplish
this ”
Haas has planted some direct
seeded tomatoes this year to
determine whethei 01 not once
over mechanical haivesting of
tomatoes is piofitable He notes
that “many New Jeisey grow
eis aie hai vesting tomatoes
mechanically, and I think we
will have to go this route on the
Peninsula before long ”
One of the most seuous prob
lems associated with mechani
cal haivestmg of tomatoes in
the past is that not enough fruit
would mature at one time to
obtain a piofitable return Haas
hope*; this can be collected with
a new planting technique
Using a plantei owned by
Campbell Soup Company, his
dnect seeded tomatoes weie
planted on eight-inch spacings
in five foot rows Instead ot
diopping one seed per hill the
plantei leleased fiom foui to
six seeds When the plants be
gin to compete foi moistuie and
nuti icnts gi owth will be slowed
due lo the ciowdcd
and the plants will onlj pio
duce one set oi luut uithei than
thioeoi lout as is the case vv.l'
ti ansplanted lonictoes
15ut Haas po.nls out th..t a
H"ld o I tomatoes planted ir,
clistms ol loin to six pi r l -- 1
pci hill should piodiuc a lugh
ci total vield iiom one soltir
than a sinnlai field nlantcd i"!
Hie comention.il inann i am-r
nuj.oi lantly il neailv all of the 1
J ml matin os at one innc 1
-iovu; can use mocharic.n'!
h 1 m '•fei s with unl\ a sip ill
P< i > m I of tlic ti op lx leit
in *he Jicld as g>c'ii liwi |
Hfoit, to immovc lus u m j
mg opuation have not been j
limited to woik vvith-fomatoes (
Lancaster Fanning pie
sents this account from the
University of Delaware of an
efficient farm operation in
Middletown, Delawaie
While some of the particu
lar ciops may not have any
paiticular application here,
most farmeis in this area, we
think, will appieciate the
sound thinking and manage
ment practices winch undei
lie the Haas opeiation
Each phase of Haas’ total fatm
program icceives caieful at
tention to assuie the highest le
turns
To help obtain optimum
yields ftom his plantings. Haao
has the Umveisity of Delavvaie
inn complete soil analysis on
his fields The tests are then
used to deteiminc the icconi
mended Kites of lime and feit:
li/ers needed for each crop
This giowei also lotates his
ciops on a icgular basis to
maintain good soil stiuctine
And as soon as the last ciop is
taken off. he piotects his land
by planting a covei ciop of ijc
or glass over the wintei.
Irrigation also plays an ini
poitant lole in Haas’ vegetable
pioduction He uses poitabla
lateials to nngate fiom thice
wells and a faim pond at the
rate of 850 to 900 gallons pci
minute
“Although it takes moie la
bel to handle the lateral move
litigation system, we piefei it
for vegetable ciops,’ - says Haas
“You get inoie uniform covei
age with the poi table unit than
with the big volume guns Ami
the smallei nozzles on the line
A
ft#**
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\sam « * vi rxsubts* nn *tt to***'
F, -v-
result in less compaction of the
giound.”,
A sound management pro
gram has paid off in high yield-,
foi this giowcr. Haas consistent
ly produces one of the highest
yielding ciops of lima beans in
Delawaie Last year’s crop
averaged 2,700 pounds per acie
Peas average around 24 tons
per acie, with a few fields hit
ling the three-ton maik.
Last year, asparagus yielded
between 2,300 and 2,400 pounds
per acre and cucumbers fiom
300 to 400 bushels pei acie
Heavy lams at harvest lesulted
in substantial reductions in the
tomato ci op. but Haas still avei
aged bettei than 11 tons pei
acie
The Haas operation is not
limited to vegetable pioduction
Tinkers have been an impoi
•ioj ssainsnq aqj jo jaud met
5 ' i ( f J
SP P & L.
AN INVESTOH'OWNEO %**h T?
EL > CTfJIC UTILITY / «**?L Vjf
IN THE SERV ICC
Or THE PUBLIC
nearly 20 years. Close to 22,00 t
birds a year are marketed from
this phase of the farm program.
Although approximately 5,000
birds are processed on the farm
and marketed in Delaware dur
ing Christmas and Easter, most
of the turkeys are sold to a pro
cessor m New York.
To house these birds, Haa>
has two 300 x 48-foot building*
with capacity for 6,000 birds
each, and a smaller 300 x 24-foot
unit for another 5,000 turkeys.
Two full-time employees feed
the birds and keep the units
clean.
Haas says early detection of
health problems is the key to
producing efficient gams with
turkeys. “This is why we still
feed our birds by hand,” he ex
plains.
(Continued on Page 30)
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