12—Lancaster Farming, Saturday. October 14, 1972
Tips for Target
By Potash Institute of '
North America
Were your yields on target last
season? Will they be on target
next season? Or do you set a
target? This is an age of target
setting—higher goals in all kinds
of production, fund raising
programs, moon trips, etc.
■Crop production makes a
perfect target, because higher
goals are vital to our future food
supply. Much agronomic
research is aimed toward one
targe, optimum yields—what
they are and how to reach them.
Many growers are asking
questions that may help others:
1— Why set a target yield?
Incentive. Challenge. Top
farmers do it to improve specfic
practices and efficiency. It helps
them shed that old “satisifed with
what I get” attitude. It makes
them pull all their pieces together
into a single goal. It brings them
more profits in the end.
2 How do I decide what the
target yield should be?
Top farmers are realistic, but
also optimistic. Extension ad
visors and supply people help
them take a careful look at their
past crop management, local
climate, soil conditions, and their
capabilities. Seemingly poor soil
or weather does not discourage
them.
They are like the farmer who
grew big alfalfa yields for 5
years—€ to 8 tons per acre—
before realizing he was on a soil
that wasn’t supposed to grow
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alfalfa. How did he do it? By
carefully preparing the soil and
timing all his operations just
right—liming, seeding, cutting,
and fertilizing for target yields.
The same applied to other
crops. Good management
helping plant roots go deeper for
more water—is producing good
yields on millions of acres once
considered unsuitable.
3—What should I do NEXT
YEAR if I don’t reach the current
year’s budget target yield?
Plan ahead. Top farmers are
always planning . . . and looking
for what went wrong. They study
their fields during the growing
season to find where something
could have been done better.
They put their heads together
with Extension advisors and
industry crop specialists to look
closely and honestly at their
present system. Company
specialists can help you set and
get those target yields.
4 Could I be over or under
estimating the capability of my
soil, climate, and management?
You could be, especially during
the first year or two on a target
yield program. Remember Hie
weather. Was it very good or
below average, especially during
critical growth stages? Study
EACH field for its particular
problems. Try check strips of
different treatments. Then use
the steps that look best. But
NEVER let the first year’s ex
perience discourage you.
5 Will long range planning
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Yields
reach target yields?
Both business and govern
ments make long range plans. A
good farmer knows he cannot
correct acid or low fertility soils
or eliminate all weeds in one
year. Nor is he likely to go from
100 to 160 bu corn, 80 to 135 bu
sorghum, 35 to 50 bu soybeans, or
4 to 8 ton alfalfa in one year. He
must have time to study, select,
and become proficient with new
varieties and practices that
continue to flow from fertile
minds. This is why a 5-year plan,
flexible but clearly set on certain
targets, might help reach
targets. Realistic target yields
will change as new varieties and
practices are applied and
management improves.
6—How can a new practice
change my target yields?
Your weakest practices limit
yield. Your strongest practices
have an additive or cumulative
effect. For example, combine
better weed control with earlier
planting and you’ll get better
results from your fertilizer.
Weeds steal nutrients, moisture
and sunlight from crops.
Good practices compliment
each other—improve varieties
adapted to local soil and climate,
right plant spacing, less tillage,
chiseling or deeper plowing on
some soils, slower planting and
harvesting speeds can all add up
to better yields. Changing one
practice may demand ad
justment in another. The right
combination helps hit the target
yield.
Well fertilized crops sometimes
produce half or less of what they
are capable of giving you. It can
happen when you use the wrong
hybrid or improper plant spacing
or poor pest control or any ONE
practice that puts HIDDEN
BRAKES on fertility. A good
researcher carefully watches
ALL factors when working to
improve just ONE factor. So does
a good farmer. Forty or 50
bushels per acre MORE is worth
it. This is what trouble shooting is
all about.
7 Will increased target yields
affect the environment?
Very much so. High row crop
yields give a fuller, quicker
vegetative cover. This reduces
soil and water runoff, means less
fertilizer carryover, and allows
the more sloping land to stay in
forage and trees. High target
yields help answer today’s
concern for environmental
quality.
8 — Is there a good way to decide
how much fertilizer to use for
target yields?
Yes. Take nitrogen, for
example. Most universities and
soil test labs base their advice on
yield goal and cropping system.
Amount may depend on the
region, but continuous corn might
average 1.25 lb N applied for each
bushel of corn expected. This
means a 120 bu target would
receive 150 lb. N... a 160 bu goal
would receive 200 lb N. These
applications are geared to crop
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needs and USE, so they are
economically sound for the
farmer and ecologically safe for
the environment.
The same principle applies to
other crops. If the field has
received low N rates in the past,
you’ll have to apply more N than
this aveage at first to get the
yields you are shooting for. ,■
9—Are phosphate and potash
important to nitrogen use?
Very important. They help you
get greater return from nitrogen,
as Missouri research has shown.
On a soil already testing 200 lb K
and receiving 100 lb N and
adequate phosphate, first-cut
orchardgrass absorbed 50 per
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cent of the N applied. When 200 lb
K2O was applied, the or
chardgrass yields increased 70
per cent and the grass recovered
106 per cent of the nitrogen ap
plied. Balance fertilization is
vital.
10—Are farmers really reaching
their target yields?
Yes—those who are really
trying. We talk much about low
soybean yields, yet the' tryers
consitently hit 40 and 50 bushels .
. . and top researchers hit 70+
bushels.
We hear much about low hay
yields... 2to 4 tons per acre. But
the tryers harvest 6 to 8 tons. We
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Sat.
9 to Noon