—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 6,1971
4
Let Fertilizer Work for You
Basic costs of production on the farm,
as any qualified farmer can readily testify,
are high and rapidly going higher.
Equipment costs and needs are rising
steadily, the costs of land and real estate
taxes are rising sharply, wages are going
up steadily, most material costs are in
creasing.
Meanwhile, prices farmers receive re
main steady or rise more slowly than costs.
This forces successful farmers to find ways
to become more efficient or to increase out
put.
In his quest for more efficient operation,
for more dollars of profit from the same
amount of land, the farmer must not over
look the potential of fertilizer.
Fertilizer whether it is in the form of
manure or commercial fertilizer can get
much higher production at little extra cost
for many farmers. Often, increased levels
of fertilization can result in dollars per acre
of increased income with only pennies per
acre of additional cost.
This is true because of the high basic
costs of production. No matter how small
the levels of production, the farmer today
has high built in costs of land, taxes, equip
ment and supplies. His production must be
large enough to cover these high costs be
fore he can begin to earn anything for his
own labor.
But once the farmer achieves a level
of production high enough to cover his basic
costs, increased production beyond this
point can be highly profitable.
- Studies show, for instance, that many
farmers need at least 80 (the cost would
probably be lower for many local farmers
The Animal
■ -Farmers should begin to put some
thought' into their animal waste disposal
systems and procedures.
The closer the farmer is to urban neigh
bors or to things of interest to urban people
such as streams the more he needs to
be concerned.
The concern should also increase in
proportion to the size of the farmer’s waste
problem.
One study in Canada showed, for in
stance, that 100 acres is needed to handle
the annual output of 10,000 layers, or 1,000
hogs, or 200 feeders or 100 dairy cattle.
Using this standard, many local farms
reach or even exceed the capacity to ef
fectively absorb animal waste.
Yet, the trend is toward more inten
sive farming with greater concentrations
of poultry and livestock on fewer acres.
Clearly, as this trend continues, the animal
waste problem mushrooms.
And, as the waste output grows, the
farmer runs head-on into trends toward ur
ban sprawl, which places urban-oriented
persons at his doorstep.
There’s also the environmental issue;
when animal wastes wash into stream net
works, those animal wastes are considered
pollutants by the urban folk, the same as
farmers view urban sewage as pollution.
What should the farmer do about ani
mal waste?
The answer wiU vary tremendously, de
pending on the size and type of farm loca-
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P. 0. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office: 22 E. Main St, Lititz, Pa. 17543
Phone: Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2191
Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription price $2 per year in Lancaster
County: $3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published every Saturday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz. Pa.
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa.
17543
Member ot Newspaper Farm Editors Assn
Pa. Newspaper Publishers Association, and
National Newspaper Association
who supply most of their own labor and
have low equipment costs.) bushels of corn
per acre to meet costs. Only corn produced
beyond 80 bushels is profitable for the farm
er; only the extra bushels contribute to the
farmer’s income.
If higher levels of fertilization and
other improved practices can take the
farmer’s corn yields from the 90-100 level
to the 125-150 bushels per acre level, the
farmer’s net income can be increased by
several times.
The point is that relatively small in
creases in production can make relatively
large increases in net income.
A word of caution, however. Not all land
can profitably use more fertilizer.- Adding
fertilizer to ground which does not need
it is a waste of money. In some instances,
too much fertilizer can actually stunt plant
growth and result in lower crop yields.
In arriving at his fertilization program,
the farmer cannot afford to guess at the
quality of his soil. If his guess is wrong, he
adds too much or little fertilizer; he may
actually have too much of one nutrient and
not enough of another; being wrong is cost
ly.
For a small fee, the farmer can have
his soil checked at Pennsylvania State Uni
versity through the local Extension Service.'
No matter where the study is made, the
farmer must know, in this time of higher
and higher production costs, the quality of
his soil.
And he must not spare the relatively
small cost involved in making his soil the
best that it can be for the coming growing
season.
Waste Issue
tion, the farm’s - location in relation ta
streams and neighbors, the type of neigh-
bors and many other factors.
The one thing which will apply to each
and every farmer, however, is this: Be con-
tinually aware of the animal waste issue.
Consider it'particularly carefully if and'
when the farming operation-is-expanded^
Just as no alert industrial businessman
should expand his plant and its pollution
output without'building in pollution controls,
no alert farmer should expand his farming
operation without providing for effective
control and use of animal wastes
At a time when the handwriting is on
the wall, when'the move is clearly toward
much more stringent control of wastes, no tempted to find
farmer should be creating additional prob- i?triSoutara§’
lems for himself. irs fizzed by
At the same time, as farmers, agri- i either side and,
businessmen and educators put more time (though, it was
and effort into solving existing problems, jvious that the
new know-how and equipment will become :amily was in dis
available with which to solve existing ani- Tor evmi slow
mal waste problems. Farmers should re- down. After li
main alert to what is happening elsewhere _ considerable peri
and how it could apply to their own opera- Kev " Chouse od of time had
tions. elapsed, a car slowed down and
The widely publicized research at Penn
State toward development of a drying sys- Could they be of help, they
tern which may ultimately convert chicken wanted to know?
manure from a bulky, often costly, waste Although this had hardly been
into a profitable and lightweight commer- *he source of help the family had
cial fertilizer is only one of hundreds of re- (and although they may
great potential. «a, VipSe*
Work toward recycling animal these two young men)T, they ex
wastes, the same as water is treated and re- plained their plight and accepted
used m urban areas, is also far advanced. the youth’s offer to tow them to
There is even w ork underway to use neares t town and repair gar
some urban w aste products as animal feeds. age ‘.
While far along in terms of research, Who i$ my neighbor?
however, much of the work awaits public This family was deeply im
acceptance and development of technology Pressed by this incident because
and systems necessary for actual usage. they received help in time of
Issues and movements, such as the pre- pers ?j? s wl } or n or *
sent move toward a clean environment, thought of as
tend to attract emotional crusaders and op- type.” This is the same factor
portunists, as well as many practical per- which we find in Jesus’ parable
sons sincerely concerned about the environ- °t Good Samaritan.” What
m ent made that story so remarkable to
Farmers need to remain aware and ]isteners is that “good” and
, f,T S ne ,. t 0 r ® mai . n aware and “Samaritan” were two words no
alert to the real issue of animal waste so Jew would have thought of put
the problem can be solved in an orderly ting together. As you are prob
manner without unreasonable or unneces- aWy aware,’ there was a deep,
sary costs for farmers and consumers.
To Control Roof Water—Pol- advise the sale of fat steers
lution is a very timely subject when they reach the desired
and one that everyone is vitally grade and weight. Most feeders
interested in; however, it is one are trying to get steers t» the
of those problems that exists al-. Choice Grade weighing -from',
most everywhere and is very 1,000 to 1,200 pounds. To feed
difficult to correct. On dairy them longer and gamble on the
and livestock farms, producers higher market would be risky’
are urged to. keep roof water and expensive-feeding.
from-running; through the barn- 'Stress Management-Many,
yard or the feedlot, in order to an - . “ roducers
reduce the amount of solids through ? the mS far-'
that wM wash into nearby
pamt . rowing and lambing time. This
tr ams. . - - is one of the most important
This may take some extra times of the season and produ-'
diversion ditches, and some ex- cers should give the very closest
t- a roof spouting, .but seems to attention to the animals at this!
be the thing to do. . time. A few* hours- spent with
a new litter of pigs or a ewe at
To Sell Fat Cattle This lambing time will help increase
article is not intended to advise the number of young weaned
the selling of all steers at this and increase profits. Be on the
tame,' since the 'market has job at all times during these
strengthened. It is intended to weeks. - - -
Read Lancaster Fanning
For Full Market Reports
long-standing animosity between
the Jews and the Samaritans and
the -latter were- regarded, almost'
as “untouchables.” Jesus xbuld
not have picked a more despised
person to serve as his illustration
of the true neighbor. - -
The story .comes into being be
cause a lawyer (actually a scribe
,or specialist.in the religious law;,
a' theologian) asked'a philpsophi
.cal. question: “And who ,f is my
neighbor?” What are the limit*
of this lave am supposed to
bestow upbn_,others? The JPhari--
: fcees, it is said, believed that the
obligation of loving one’s neigh
- . ~—bor went.no further than, one's.
" "t ImlffirauiMl Scriptural M«rk 123M4> -
‘ - ~ l ~, „ ueigbborliness was intended
. DavaHmal a««4ih|: I /»hn 4:11-21 only for fellow Jews. '
A family-incur church was on - appears that the man wanted.
■ their way-by automobile to Plot- *° engage Jesui in- a -theological
ida. On a major highway in North debate. Jesus, however, makes it
Carolina their car broke down, ®kar that he too is concerned '
stranding them "in the middle of , about theory and not enough
nowhere.” about deeds. ,The Jews assumed
TO BE A NEIGHBOR
. .Lesson for March 7,1971
NOW IS
THE TIME...
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
that their teachings were theo
logically or doctrinally correct.
The Samaritans, by comparison,
were people who the Jews held
to be theologically incorrect. Yet
Jesus shows in his story that what
is really important is not a man’s
religious theories or doctrines,
but his actions.
“Good Guys" and "Bad Guys"
Compare the three people la
the story. Two of these are re
ligious professionals, the ones
who would be expected to do the
"right” thing. The, other, a Sa
maritan, not only was not a pro
fessional but, as a Samaritan, a
“wrong” believer. Yet, he did the
loving thing, while the other two
refused to get involved. The mor
al is clear: the loving heretic is
more pleasing to God than the un
loving person who is doctrinally
or theologically sound. It is what
we do, not what we say we be
lieve that is of greatest impor
tance.
Secondly, Jesus is saying that
any man, whether he be sinner or
Samaritan, who needs our help is
our neighbor, -In other words,
there are no limits'to this love
that God calls from us, there Is
no one to be excluded, no matter
how unworthy they "may seem
Jesus finishes this-story with
* twist. He indicates that the
real question is not “Who is my
neighbor?’’, but... “To whom am
I called to be a neighbor?"
(Based on outlines cop/richled by the
Council 0 o°f f ,£ h 'r S L ia \
USA »L^”f hu u rch “ of Cf irist in the
Seivki.) * d by Com ™™,fy Press