—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 10,1971 32 Farmers Advised to Make Tillage A few years ago. a farmer had little choice in the type of till age tool he used Everyone used some combination of plow, disk and harrow. Today’s farmer faces a differ ent problem Farm equipment dealers have a growing line of tillage tools and accessories. Choosing the right piece of equipment often requires a dif ficult decision. But understanding the vari ous tillage tools available and how they fit into different till age systems will enable a farm er to choose the right system for his crop program, according to Thomas H Williams, exten sion agricultural engineer at the University of Delaware. Conventional Tillage Most Delaware farmers still use conventional tillage prac tices of plowing their fields m the spring followed by one or moi e diskings one or moi e har rowings and planting Williams says conventional tillage provides smooth, resi due-free, pulverized soil that as sures uniform planting It also allows ample time for the farmer to apply fertihzeis, her bicides and other chemicals be foie planting But conventional tillage sys tems have some drawbacks, too Since there are many separate operations, each requiring a different piece of equipment, costs are high On fine soils, especially those low m organic matter, surface crusting can prevent seed emer gence And because the soil is well pulverized, serious erosion problems can occur. To reduce tillage costs, farm ers can use a combined tillage system, explains Williams. This piactice combines seedbed pre paration with planting by mounting the planter behind a secondary tool such as disk field cultivator, rotary hoe, spung-toothed cultivator, spike toothed harrow, sweeps or ro tary knives. Besides reducing the number of trips across the field, com bined tillage provides better erosion control than convention al tillage It also produces as good a seedbed on medium tex tured and lighter soils Chisel Planting Chisel planting has become popular with farmers who pre fer minimum tillage systems Chisel planting usually requires two operations deep chisel ing with chisel points in the fall, shallow chiseling with sweeps in the spring with unit planters mounted behind the tillage tool bar Williams says chisel planting helps conserve soil moisture at planting and partially incoi porates surface-applied ferti lizers But this system is not recom mended for flat land requinng surface drainage, and crop resi dues must be well chopped and dry to prevent clogging the chisel teeth- A farmer must also rely on chemical weed control, especially on grasses. Rotary Tillage Rotary tillage is another no plow system Pei formed in full width or in sti ips, rotary tillage uses a onee-over tool consisting of rotating spring knives foi the primary tillage, secondary tillage and planting in one For best results, rotaiy til- top three or four inches of the lage should be confined to the soil Slot Tillage Disk Tillage “Zero” or slot tillage uses Some farmers use a tandem fluted coulters as the only til- disk rather than rotary knives lage tool in fiont of the plant- for primary tillage, adds Wil er. The coulters cut through hams. Known as disk tillage, crop residues, tilling a two or this practice is well suited to three inch strip for each row soybean ground being prepared Some growers use a disk ahead for corn particularly in areas of the planter to incorporate where soil movement by wind crop residues and chemicals or water is a problem MARY CARTER'S EXTERIOR iSiMJ OIL BASE PAINT EHgPI Reg. Price $7.39 il/lW SALE PRICE $6.89 XMMC/ff WZ/%W iJS&t&J 2 WEEKS ONLY stops weeds and ELI P. MILLER grasses in corn* Glbbo “’ s Road R#l, Bird - in - Hand ' Penna a preplant , pre-emerge 9 post-emerge. It’s gear choice* SMOKETOWN, PA. PHONE 397-3539 Cuts Mowing Time in Half. 2 Year Warranty GERMAN BROS. SALES & SERVICE 1 Mi. North of Terre Hill on Rt. 897 East Earl R. D. 1 ONLY $49900 See them at Phone 445-6272 System Fit Their Farm Continued use of this system, all inputs time, machinery, however, may cause compaction capital and labor and the nf thP cmi ability to fit the system to pre -0 ~ .„ . j vailing soil and weather condi- A'jy tillage syste tj ons are the means of success considered an important part of tillage system the total crop production sys- with any image system. tem, says Williams It must be compatible with other produc tion factors such as fertilizer and pesticide applications, row spacing and harvesting Thus, proper management of Switching to UNI-SYSTEM never made more sense! UNI is getting bigger all the time more than ever the system that saves you money. Now you can have a Uni-Combine, Uni-Sheller, Uni-Picker, Uni-Forage Harvester, Uni-Rotary Snow Plow even a Uni-Tool Carrier to plant up to 8 rows at once, applying liquid fertilizer as you go. All use just one Uni Power Unit! That’s the key to Uni’s unique economy. Just one investment in engine, tires, transmission, etc., for a whole fleet of machines. UNI is the system that saves you mov p y! A. B. C. GROFF, INC. New Holland A. L.HERR&BRO. Quarryville LANDIS BROS., INC. Lancaster KINZER EQUIP. CO. Kinzer Classified It Pays! -Vr* ' Choose from 3 hefty Power Units OHV 6 engine with 292 cu. in. and 80 PTO horsepower, V-6 engine with 401 cu. in. and 110 PTO horse power, and V-6 Diesel with 478 cu. in. and 110 PTO horsepower (150 brake horsepower). If \RM EQUIPMENT CHAS. J. McCOMSEY & SONS Hickory Hill, Pa. LONGENECKER FARM SUPPLY ROY H. BUCH, INC. Ephrata, R.D #2 Try A V./ * > , V? C w yi \ K Rheems
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