—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 4,1971
10
On Using
Lack of sufficient lime is responsible for
up to 80 per cent of the severe losses in crop
production in fields of Pennsylvania, re
search at Pennsylvania State University
indicates.
Newton J. Bair, graduate assistant in
agronomy at Penn State, described such
findings August 19 at joint meetings of the
American Society of Agronomy, Crop
Science Society of America, and Soil
Science Society of America in New York
City.
Bair studied 60 Pennsylvania farms,
where each had a crop failure in a large
portion of one or more fields. First, he exa
mined available records on past soil man
agement and studied soil characteristics in
the fields. Then he tested in the fields for
soil pH and phosphorus, plant phosphorus,
potassium, and nitrate nitrogen.
“I was surprised and rather disappoint
ed to find so many problems associated
with a need for lime,” he stated.
Laboratory analyses of soils and plants
from good versus poor areas confirmed his
field observations. There were no cases of
trace element deficiencies. There were
cases where very high nitrate nitrogen
levels existed in soils given heavy applica
tions of manure. In at least one case the
high nitrate level in forage created animal
health problems.
Based on his studies, Bair recommend
ed that farmers obtain soil testing kits from
their county offices of the Cooperative Ex
tension Service. Soils should be tested and
recommendations followed.
Development of diagnostic procedures
to explain why crop failures occur in part of
soil testing research done by the faculty and
staff of the Agricultural Experiment Station
at Penn State.
It may seem to some that this long
standing recommendation, by Extension of
ficials, Lancaster Farming and most lead
ing crop authorities, is overdone. But we
think the importance of a soil testing pro-
Steady Costs, Rising Demand?
Our reports continue to indicate a
record or near-record grain harvest nation
ally this fall.
Despite extensive blight damage to
some individual corn fields in Southeastern
Pennsylvania, the situation nationally will
almost certainly be a much larger corn
crop than last year and it will likely be the
biggest crop ever.
In addition, production of many other
grains is expected to be considerably above
last year. This includes barley, up 13 per
cent; wheat up 12 per cent; grain sorghum,
up 31 per cent, according to a report by H.
Louis Moore, Penn State marketing specia-
list. Only oats, of the major grain crops, is
expected to be down, and only be six per
cent. These are the latest figures, which will
be changing as the crops are actually har
vested.
The record corn harvest in the U.S. was
4.7 billion bushels in 1967. Most projections
we have seen so far indicate a harvest of
5 0 to 5.5 billion bushels. This compares with
only 4.1 billion bushels last year.
The much larger harvest this year is
expected to be the result of a combination
of two major factors. First, the acreage
planted for corn is Considerably higher, an
estimated 11 per cent, than last year
Second, yields are expected to be consider
ably higher than last year, when combina
tion of bhght and drought kept average corn
LANCASTER FARMING
Lancaster County’s Own Farm Weekly
P O. Box 266 - Lititz, Pa. 17543
Office. 22 E. Main St., Lititz, Pa 17543
Phone Lancaster 394-3047 or Lititz 626-2161
Robert G Campbell, Advertising Directoi
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 of Newspaper Farm Editors Assn.
Pa. Newspaper Publishers Association, and
National Newspaper Association
Soil Tests
gram cannot be overemphasized.
Soil testing should be considered as just
one more tool available to help the farmer
take the guess-work out of his farming and
enable him to get high crop yields year
after year.
The advantage of soil testing is far
greater than simply eliminating the pros
pect of a very poor crop.
By applying lime and fertilizer at rates
which the soil actually needs, rather than
guessing and giving the soil what the farm
er guesses it needs, there may actually be
instances where the farmer will find he
doesn’t need to apply as much lime and
fertilizer as he thinks is needed. This can
result in a direct savings.
Much more frequently, we expect, he
will find his soil needs more of some ele
ments and less of others than he had plan
ned. This means that by simply changing
the relative amounts of the various ele
ments, he can get much better crop yields
at little or no extra cost.
As crops take nutrients from the soil,
the ability of the particular soil to grow a
particular crop may change drastically
over the years. Only through yearly soil
tests can the farmer know for sure what
the changes are and how to correct them in
advance. Without tests, he is guessing and
if his guess is wrong, he will have to accept
one or more years of reduced crop yield be
fore he can make adjustments based on
crop experience.
We find that growing numbers of farm
ers who expect top yields, such as 125 to
150 bushels of corn or more per acre, are
increasingly turning to soil tests as a neces
sary and low cost tool to help them.
As the cost-squeeze continues, as farm
ers are asked to become increasingly effi
cient and productive on scarce acreage, we
think more and more farmers will see soil
testing as one of the easiest, least costly and
fastest means of getting to where they want
to go.
yields to 71.8 bushels per acre. The previous
year, in 1969, the average was 83.9 bushels
and this is expected to be closer to the 1971
average. Moore’s report notes that the 1969
yield level would result in a 5.4 billion
bushels crop this year.
Pennsylvania’s corn acreage is esti
mated at 1.47 million acres, up 13 per cent
from last year and 17.5 per cent above 1969.
This means that Pennsylvania, like the na
tion as a whole, potentially has a much
larger crop than in 1970 and that consider
able blight loss can be sustained without
dropping the total corn crop below 1970
levels.
It would appear at this point that the
coming year may be nearly a complete re
versal of the past year in terms of crop and
livestock prices.
During the past year, feed costs were
steadily rising, putting tremendous pres
sures on livestock producers to maintain
profit margins As a result, there has been
a tendency to hold back livestock numbers
in recent months.
The cost squeeze which resulted from
high and rising costs was reinforced by de
clining or relatively stable consumer de
mands because of high unemployment and
generally unfavorable economic conditions
nationally.
But during the next year, it increasing
ly appears as if livestock producers will see
declining, or at least stable, feed prices.
Indications have been that the economy
is beginning to pick up steam with unem
ployment being reduced. This should result
in increasing demand for meat and poultry
products.
The combination of lower costs and ris
ing demand should spell favorable livestock
markets for the next six to 12 months.
After that, the expectation should be for
farmers to begin increasing livestock and
poultry numbers to take advantage of bet
ter profit margins.
This situation could turn out to be some
what different, of course, if something hap
pens that the national grain output is not as
good as expected, or if the economy does
not continue to develop as expected. Other
wise, the general trends should be self
evident.
NOW IS
THE TIME..
By Max Smith
Lancaster County Agent
To Beware Of Silo Gas
We repeat this word of caution
concerning various poisonous
gases that may develop at silo
filling time. With blighted corn
and with corn that has had heavy
applications of mtrogen fertilizer,
we have a chance of heavier gas
formation. From the time the
silo filling operation starts until
at least 10 days following the
process, all members of the farm
family should be warned to stay
out of and away from the silo.
Most gases are heavier than air
and will come down into the silo
chute or settle on the surface of
a partly-filled silo; this is the
reason for keeping out of the silo
during the filling operation until
the blower has been running for
at least 10 to 15 minutes. Some
of the gases are yellow and some
are colorless; most of them have
the odor of laundry bleaching
materials. Don’t take chances
and be on the alert for the gas
formations.
To Protect Farm Machinery
The current growing season is
coming to an end and many
pieces of farm machinery will
not be used until next year. Good
farm management requires the
storing ot fhe machinery in a
place under roof and out of the
weather. If the machinery can
be kept dry, it will last much
longer. Rust is the main enemy
LANCASTER FARMING ADS PAY
THE UNKNOWN
Lesson for September 5,1971
■■ckgreund Scripture- Psalms. 42, 53,
139, Acts 14 15-17, 17 22 31
Devetional Reading Psalms 111
What is God really like’
When the Apostle Paul went to
Athens, he went to a city where
men did a great deal of speculat
ing on this question The Areopa
gus, which in English we call
Mar’s Hill, was a place where a
group of philoso
phers met for dis
cussion and de
bate Paul went
to that hill so he
might speak to
the men gathered
there*
“Men of Ath
ens, I perceive
_ . that in every way
Rev. Althouse y OU ver y re .
ligious” (Acts 17 22)
The meaning of “religious”
What did Paul mean by this’
Did he mean that he had witnes
sed their religious rituals and
rites’ Did he mean that he had
observed very pious living in Ath
ens? No, he meant neither of
these. What he meant was that he
had observed that they were very
much preoccupied with the ques
tion, “What is God like’” The
Greeks in general and the Athen
ians in particular were known for
their great curiosity about the
meaning of life
Sometimes this word “reli
gious” gives us a great deal of
of most machinery and will
shorten its usefulness. It’s not
tdo late to construct a pole shed
or some other "structure under
which to put the farm ma
chinery. The storing of the
machinery in barns is a common
practice, but increases losses in
case of fire. The greasing of
all working parts is also a part
of good machinery storage.
To Manage Alfalfa Carefully
The decison as to when to
make the last cutting of alfalfa is
often difficult and can effect
next year’s production. Many
research experiments reveal that
if a field is to remain for an
other year in alfalfa, it should
not be cut after the middle of
September in this part of the
country. We realize that many
fields have been cut late in Sep
tember and when weather condi
tions permit another 6 to 10 inch
es of growth before a killing
frost, there appears to be less
damage done. However, if cold
weather arrives soon after the
crop is removed late in Septem
ber, the damage may occur. It
is advised not to take-any alfalfa
cutting after mid-September for
best results. The removal of the
crop several days after a killing
frost may do less damage than
just prior to the frost, but
-weather conditions late in the
fall are not favorable for good
hay making.
ifficulty. The reason is that peo
le often mistakenly believe that
man’s religion is identifiable
ith a particular religious group
■ organization Using this rea
ming, we would say that a man
10 belongs to a church or syna
igue is “religious,” and the man
\o does not is not “religious.”
But the truth of the matter is
lat most men (if not all) have a
religion of some kind. That is,
they have some definite beliefs
about the meaning of life and
'reality. John Bright, the Biblical
scholar, has defined religion in
this way: “For that to which a
man looks for his ultimate well
being, his salvation no less, and
from which he derives his stand
ards of conduct—that is his God.”
What you worship as unknown
Thus, the question is not
whether a man has a religion, but
rather what kind of religion he
has Throughout the city of Ath
ens were monuments to many of
the gods in which the Athenians
believed At one spot he found
even a monument “to an un
known god.”
At this point, Paul makes a
very surprising statement: “What
therefore you worship as un
known, this I proclaim to you”
(17.23 b) By this he means that
the source of life and reality does
not have to be unknown. God
CAN be known. No one needs to
remain in the dark as to what
God is really like, for the message
of the “good news” can make him
known to us.
That is still Christianity’s mes
sage to the wondering world.
Even though God is always so
much more than all we can say
about him, still through the per
son of Jesus Christ it is his will
to make known the unknown and
reveal himself to us.
(Based on outlines copyrighted by the
Division of Christian Education, National
Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S A.
Released by Community Press Service.)