VOL. 18 No. 14
Joe McGahen, Penn State extension agronomist, told a
crowd at Tuesday’s annual Crops and Soils Day that Lan
caster County corn yields could be increased with better
management practices.
Crops & Soils Crowd Told ...
County
Should
“Class one soils, like the kind
you have in Lancaster County,
are capable of producing over 150
bushels of corn per acre Yet,
farmers with class one soil who
participated in the state’s Five
Acre Corn Club produced only an
average 137 bushefeto the acre.”
Joe H McGahen, Penn State
extension agronomist, told a
group at Tuesday’s annual Crops
and Soils Day in the Farm and
Home Center
McGahen went on to’ say that
the 137-bushel yield was only five
bushels more than that produced
by farmers with class two soils.
The difference between class one
and two soils is theoreticaly
much greater than five bushels.
McGahen said farmers with
good soils apparently don’t
manage them as well as they
could, and offered some advice
on improving yields. He noted
that some of the highest corn
yields in the Five Acre Club were
reported by farmers who planted
corn after tobacco and potatoes.
Yields following tobacco average
165 bushels to the acre and 167
bushels after potatoes.
“You know why you get so
much com after tobacco or
potatoes? Because those are the
two crops you fertilize the
heaviest,” the scientist said. “If
you want outstanding corn yields
consistently, you have to fertilize
the land.”
Fertilizer alone, though, won’t
do the whole job in increasing
yields, McGahen pointed out.
Other management practices can
Corn Yield
Be Higher
have important effects on corn
production Row spacing is one of
them. “In the Corn Club, farmers
with 40-inch rows have an
average yield of 129 bushels.
Those with 30-inch rows are
getting 143 bushels to the acre.”
he said.
Soil pH was another factor that
could hurt yields McGahen used
charts to demonstrate the fact
that soil pH of 6 3 to 7.1 was best
for corn Beyond these limits,
yields fell drastically.
Corn Club figures showed that
corn planted in plowed down
alfalfa yielded an average 137
bushels to the acre. This was
better than planting after an
alfalfa-grass mixture for 134
bushels, or planting after grass
alone for 130 bushels.
There were some practices,
however, that didn’t seem to have
much effect at all on yield. “Last
year in the Corn Club, we had 518
(Continued on Page 22)
Farm Calendar
Saturday, February 24
6 p.m. - Benefit Banquet, Men
nonite Central Committee,
High School,
Morgantown.
Monday, February 26
7-30 p.m. -Manheim FFA Alumni
Association Organizational
meeting, vo-ag classroom,
Manheim Central High
School.
7:30 p.m. - Lancaster County
Swine Producers Educational
meeting, Farm and Home
(Continued on Page 22)
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 24,1973
Tobacco Hits 52%
Crop is Sold Out
Tobacco buyers said the magic
words this week, and local far
mers opened the doors on their
tobacco sheds The magic words
were “fifty cents a pound”
This year, for a number of
reasons, the tobacco crop
remained unsold for an unusually
long time after harvest Until the
beginning of this week, perhaps
as little as a quarter of the crop
had been sold By Friday mor
ning, less than a fifth of the crop
remained in the hands of far
mers, and one observer said he
expected virtually all of the crop
would be sold by Friday evening.
Early in the week, buyers
began offering 50 cents a pound to
growers. Offers had hovered
around the 40 to 45 cent range for
many weeks, with very few
takers. Farmers seemed to have
a firm intention to hold out for 50
-cents. No organized selling
resistance was evident, but
growers shared a general feeling
of when they were going to sell.
By week’s end, the resistance
had pushed prices up to 52 cents
for graded tobacco and 51 cents
for straight strip. News of these
prices is bound to be a disap
pointment to the few growers who
sold early, some in the 35 to 40
cent range.
This year’s crop has generally
been considered of poor quality.
However, some observers have
said that the quality of the
tobacco, now that it’s stripped
and baled, doesn’t look as bad as
New officers were elected during the
annual Inter-State Milk Producers Coop
meeting on Thursday. Among them were
the four local presidents shown here. They
had been expected.
The record prices have brought
cheer to many of the local
growers, and there has been
some speculation that tobacco
acreage m the county might
increase somewhat next year.
One buyer, however, said that he
thought the farmers who sold
early might be bitter enough to
forget entirely about tobacco,
thereby offsetting any increases
by their neighbors
The Lancaster County tobacco
market is a phenomenon in
fluenced by many things, one of
which is definitely not logic “I
don’t think you can continue to
have a strong market for any
commodity unless that market is
Inter-State Co-op
Holds Annual Meet
Hundreds of Inter-State Milk
Producers Coop members
coverged on Hostetters Banquet
Hall in Mount Joy on Thursday
for the annual District 7 dinner
meeting.
Inter-State president Lester C.
Jones talked to the group about
the importance of letting
lawmakers know the dairymen’s
views about milk prices and the
rising costs of production.
Jones expressed his disap
pointment at the failure of the
geared to gradations of quality
and equitable payments for top
New Feature
Sale Reports
This week begins a
new LANCASTER
FARMING feature. On
page 9, you’ll see a
report on public auc
tions of special interest
to area farmers. Look
for similar reports along
with the sales register
in future issues.
Pennsylvania milk referendum.
He said that a voluntary
promotion program has in
creased Class 1 usage in federal
order market 4, but the program
could be much more effective if
all producers were required to
chip into the promotion fund.
Service to members was a topic
Jones touched on during his
speech, and he said one of the
coop’s innovations in New Jersey
may be tried in Pennsylvania.
(Continued On Page 20)
are > to right; Robert Mylin, West
Lampeter local; David McMichael,
Millersville local; Ray Bollinger, Lititz local,
an£ * Groff, Donegal local.
$2.00 Per Year
(Continued On Page 20)