Farming, Saturday, August 21,1971
1971 Crop Size
We understand many local farmers are
making important farm management deci
sions based on Mae expectation, of high grain
prices ccntmuing for the nest year.
While high gram prices may continue,
we think a word of caution is m carder.
Latest USDA figures, as of July I, project
US. acreage for harvest is 303 million
acres, up 13 million acres or 4.5 per cent
from last year. That's the most acres since
1960, primarily because of higher feed gram
and food gram acreage.
Specifically, com acreage at 64.5 mil
lion acres is up 125 per cent or one-eighth
over last year. Sorghum for grain at 16.6
million acres is up 21 par cent, more than
off-setting a 15 per cetn drop m oats to 15.8
million acres. Total wheat acreage is 48.5
million, up 95 per cent, or nearly one-tenth.
While there have been droughts in some
sections and com blight has taken its toll
m others, this increased acreage builds con
siderable added production capacity into
the farm outlook.
Forecasts we have seen so far continue
to view tne outcome as Highly uncertain,
with die prospects still existing for both a
bumper crop or shortage.
Key questions are:
What will be the average yield per
On Disease
With the elimination of T seed com
and the substitution of all N or resistant
seed, the Southern Com Blight should be
brought under control m 1972.
The less severe yellow leaf blight first
appeared extensively in the local area about
three years ago and there are other varie
ties of blight around, including a northern
blight. But so far none of these have been
serious.
While it is possible that new strains of
fungus will develop, lie rapidity with which
the Southern Blight is being brought under
control gives us good reason to believe that
any future problems will also be temporary.
Meanwhile, the experience of farmers
throughout the country with the Southern
Corn Blight during the past two years is
causing a close look at the entire crop pro
gram.
This reevaluation includes the type of
crops grown, as well as how they’re man
aged.
The lasting benefit of the Southerr
Blight, we believe, will be it’s educational
value m making farmers intensely aware
that there is a relationship between plant
disease and crop management. Farmers
were repeatedly told last year and this year
that the crop would be less susceptible to
blight if stress was avoided on the plant, in
cluding avoiding high plant population, ap
plying proper rates of fertilizing, proper
weed control and so forth. Farmers should
have already known the importance of these
practices, but the blight reemphasized them
and showed that there’s another reason for
them besides the ones which have long been
cited.
Farmers were also repeatedly warned
that it was important to plant the crop
early in order to get it mature and harvest
ed at the earliest possible date. It appears
that this advice is being borne out as ex-
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster Comity's Own Farm Weekly
P 0 Box 286 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office; 22 E. Main St, Lititz, Pa. 17543
Phone- Lancaster 394-3017 or Lititz 628-2191
Robert G. Campbell, Advertising Director
Zane Wilson, Managing Editor
Subscription price: |2 per year in Lancaster
County: S 3 elsewhere
Established November 4,1955
Published every Saturday by Lancaster
Farming, Lititz, Pa.
Second Class Postage paid at Lititz, Pa
17543.
Member of Newspaper Farm Editors Assn.
Pa. Newspaper Publishers Association, and
National Newspaper Association
Still Undecided
acre? WiH a senes of local factors, includ
ing- pests sued as tie com borer, reported
tie worst in many years in some midwest
em areas, drought and other problems keep
yields down?
And w2I lie com bight be a serious
factor? The final projection last year was
that tie blight cost tie nation 13 per cent
of its com crop. Note that with an increas
ed acreage this year of I2J» per cent, the
blight would have to be twice as bad this
year to result in a crop the same size as
last year. If the bight is only as severe
as last year, there would be a considerably
larger crop than last year, and if the bight
tarns out not to be as bad as last year, we
could be on our way to a record com crop.
So far, our reports continue to indicate
hat while the com blight is widely spread,
actual damage so far is not great. But
the reports also emphasize that the most
crucial growing stage for com is just
emerging and that the fate of the com
crop still hangs in the balance with a
chance of both a good crop and a poor one.
Therefore, we think farmers should
continue to try to remain as flexible as pos
sible, not locking themselves into the types
of situations which may prove to be both
costly and difficult to get out of if the 1971
crop doesn’t turn out as expected.
Management
ceptionaUy good. Some of the earliest pla r
ed com, involving varieties which mature
early, are already in the dent stage and
have escaped with very little blight dam
age, we are informed.
As the blight continues to snowball
it seems to develop slowly during the sum
mer, then explode in intensity during the
latter part of the season we think that
the later the com matures, the more dam
age that, it wiH probably suffer. Of course, N
cam should suffer M3e or no damage and
the T com wiS be hzrSest hit, with some
varieties of T com apparently more suscep
tible than others.
While we’re certain that management
practices which reduce stress on plahfe can
never completely control disease, the wise
farmer may discover that the lessons of the
com blight can be carried over into all his
crop farming operations.
In the future, we think farmers should
study crop diseases with a view toward ap
plying the right chemicals at the right time
to get the best control possible at the least
cost. At the same time, they should study
the disease with the view of using crop
practices which will prevent and slow the
disease and its spread.
Grassroots Opinions
COMSTOCK, NEBR., NEWS: “As I
understand it, we were an underdeveloped
country 180 years ago, with a population of
three million. While we were underdevelop
ed, some of the now underdeveloped coun
tries were then developed. Now that they
are underdeveloped, we are becoming un
derdeveloped helping those underdeveloped
countries become developed again. When
we finally become underdeveloped and the
underdeveloped nations are developed, I
wonder if they will come to our aid?”
STARBUCK, MINN., TIMES: “Why is
it? A man wakes up in the morning after
sleeping on an advertised blanket, in ad
vertised pajamas. He will bathe in an ad
vertised tub, wash with advertised soap,
shave with an advertised razor, drink ad
vertised coffee after his advertised juice,
cereal and toast (toasted in his advertised
toaster), put on advertised clothes and an
advertised hat. He will ride to work in an
advertised car, sit at an advertised desk,
smoke advertised cigarettes and write with
an advertised pen. Yet this man hesitates
to advertise, saying that advertising does
not pay. Finally, when his unadvertised
business goes under he will then advertise
it for sale.”
NOW IS
THE TIME..
By Max Smith
Lancaster Comity Agent
To Consider Silage Capacity
The current com crop is fac
ing some problems relating to
proper maturity. It is quite pos
sible that many fields will not
reach the dent stage because
of the southern leaf blight
Growers are reminded that
making the crop into silage Is
probably the best way to har
vest the most feed nutrients As
we have mentioned before,
some of the “Normal” varieties
that were Intended for silage
could be left for grain and then
use the “T” or "Blend” strains
for silage. Some farms may
need more silage capacity in
view of the larger amount of
corn that should be made into
silage. With a large number
(over 6) of blight lesions on
the ear at ibis time of the sea
son when the corn is only In the
milk stage, it is questionable if
that ear will .make crib corn of
good keeping qualities. Silage is
an excellent feed for livestock
and might be the way to go with
a largo percentage of the infect
ed corn crop.
To Introduce New Silage
Gradually
Under normal conditions corn
silage is ready for feeding from
10 days to two weeks after en
siled. When blight damaged
corn is put Into the silo, this
period should be extended to
three weeks time. This will al
low more time for proper fer
mentation and reduce the dan-
AT EASE IN ZION
Lesson for August 22,1971
lockgreund Scripture: Isaiah 5 20*23;
Amos 6 1-1, Romans 13 10*14
Dtvofional Rtading* Provtrbs 23*29-35.
Aimed* C. Adams, founder of
the Cleveland Music School Set
tlement and author of Seeing
Europe Through Sightless Eyes,
owes her blindness to alcohol.
When she was but a few days old
a physician und*r the numbing
,'ect of alcohol
>ed too strong a
ilution of silver
itrate to treat
*r eyes. She has
en sightless
'er since.
The same thing
in happen to a
/hole society. The
, , effects of alcohol-
Rev. Althouse is m on a w hole
nation can be equally crippling.
Same nations today are just be
ginning to wake up to this prob
lem. The reason: they arc begin
ning to understand the terrible
price they have to pay for this
tragic social disease. They have
become concerned because they
can see what it does to the econ
omy, how it affects the moral fi
ber of their people, and the decay
it brings to the national morale.
The degenerate society
The prophets of Israel frequent
ly brought this same warning to
the nation. Drunkenness was of
ten one of the most obvious symp-
ger of silo ga* and high nitra
tes, If the freshly chopped com
must be fed to the milking
herd, it should be introduced
gradually, 20 to 3d pounds per
head daily, and fed along with
other dry matter. Less diges
tive problems and fearer pro
duction slumps may occur when
this is done. All members of
the farm family should be warn
ed about the danger of silo gas
for the first 10 days after filling
the silo.
To Order Winter Grain Supplies
Small grain producer# should
be thinking about the variety
of grain wanted thia fall; some
supplies of certified seed may
not reach and, therefore, early
ordering Is good planning. Win
ter oats should be aeeded about
the middle of September with
winter barley going into the
ground in late September to
early October, and wheat to be
Seeded the middle to late par!
of October. Hessian Fly free
dates should be recognized on
the winter wheat for best re
sults; the Redcoat variety of
wheat should no longer be con
sidered fly resistant because of
the number of Infected fields
thia past summer. Winter bar
ley could get more attention in
this part of the country this
fall because this winter grain
will yield well in Southeastern
Pennsylvania, and is an excel
lent substitute for corn in many
rations.
toms of the degenerate society.
Thus when the prophet Amos
came warning the people of Ju
dah of God’s impending judge
ment, he cited the drinking-bouts
as part of the whole picture of
corruptiop that would bring the
downfall of these people. “Woe
to those . . . who drink wine in
bowls,” he proclaimed The peo
ple were not satisfied with nor
mal utensils; they made gluttons
of themselves, using bowls to in
crease the quantity consumed.
The problem, as Amos, made
quite clear, was that the people
were being corrupted by their af
fluence. Self-indulgence had be
come the national past-time for
those who could afford it. The
description of this “fat life” is
vivid: “Woe to those who lie up
on beds of ivory, and stretch
themselves upon their couches,
and eat lambs from the flock ...
who sing idle songs to the harp
... ” (4. 5).
Having a good time?
Yet, despite the attractions of
the “fat life,” we canpot help
wondering whether it is all it ap
pears to be. For example, in a
recent cartoon, we see an elderly
woman, half drunk, sitting at a
night club table. All around her
are scenes and sounds of the “fat
life”: a band blaring away deleri
ously, frenzied dancers, people
wearing little paper hats and
blowing tiny horns. Yet as the
waiter bends over her table, she
asks him: “Waiter, am I having
a good time?”
So it may be that people will go
through the motions of “having
a good time,” yet still not know
whether their affluence and self
indulgence are really bringing
them the sought-for satisfaction.
“Woe to those who are at ease in
Zion,” warned Amos. It is still
good advice today.
(■•sad an autlinaa capyrlahlod by tha
Division of Christian Education, National
Council oftha Churchaaof Christin tha U.S.A.
lalaatad by Cororounity Proas Sarvlaa.)