Conservation Farming
< Continued From Page 1)
stalled diversion terraces on his
farm in 1969, and he has never
regretted that decision. “I can
grow continuous corn on my
terraced fields and not worry
about losing topsoil,” Smoker
said. “During Agnes, for
example, we had an awful lot of
rauiy and we had a lot of water
running out of our cornfields. But
it was clear water.”
Besides slowing runoff water,
Smoker feels the terraces help to
conserve water, an important
factor in his sandy loam, Class 2
soil. Because the flow of the
water is slowed, it has more time
to sink into the ground, where it
becomes available as the surface
soil drys out during dry spells.
Manure from Smoker’s 43-cow
Holstein dairy herd is spread
daily on the fields. This is a
practice which has come in for
ever closer scrutiny by en
vironmental groups and
government bodies in the past
few years, and which could pose
nearly insoluble problems for
many dairymen, especially those
with streams running through
their farms. Again, Smoker’s
terraces might help prevent
some possible problems. “I
hardly ever see any evidence of
manure in our runnoff water,” he
said. “The water just moves too
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slowly to pick anything up.”
In all, Smoker farms about 112
acres, 24 of which are terraced.
He grows 80 acres of corn, 30 of
alfalfa and also plants some
■barley every year. His corn
yields are about 90 bushels to the
acre, and he gets 3.5 to 4 acres of
alfalfa hay to the acre. The fields
that aren’t terraced are strip
cropped.
Minimum till planting is one of
the techniques Smoker hopes to
do more of in the future. He feels
it conserves both labor and soil.
He owns half of a no-till planter,
used it last year and liked it.
Eventually, he plans to buy a
chisel plow.
“I borrowed a chisel plow this
fall and went over 20 acres with
it. I planted barley and rye in that
ground and it just did great. In
the spring, I’m going spray the
rye to kill it, then I’ll plant corn
with the no-till planter. I’m
anxious to see how it-works.”
Winter cover crops/ like rye,
are an important part of
Smoker’s conservation
philosophy. “I just don’t like to
see soil lying bare over the
winter, and plowing down that
green manure is one of the best
things you can do for the land. It
doesn’t cost that much, and I
think it definitely pays in the long
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Smoker keeps his terraces in
shape with a tumble plow that
pushes the soil uphill no matter
which way the tractor’s headed.
“You’ve got to leam how to farm
with terraces,” he said, “or you’ll
tear them down. One thing you’ve
got to guard against is letting the
terraces silt shut, or plowing
them carelessly. If they overflow,
you’ve got yourself a lot of
trouble.”
There’s also a one-acre pond on
the Smoker farm, used mostly for
recreation, but he feels it’s good
fire insurance, too. Field runoff is
diverted away from the pond,
which is fed by a spring on the
property.
Another interesting feature of
the Smoker farm is a 14-acre
woodlot which supplies much of
the lumber for farm buildings. A
shed and a barn have all been
built with mostly Smoker lumber,
and there’s at least one cedar
chest in the works, too.
Smoker has been a farmer all
his life. He and his wife, Vera,
were both brought up on farms
and agree it’s the best way to live
and the best place to raise
children. There are four Smoker
children. Jay is a 1973 graduate of
Penn State where he majored in
animal husbandry, Charlene is a
secretary at the Ephrata Com
munity Hospital, Marlin
graduated from Ephrata High
School in 1973, and Kevin attends
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 5,1974
Farm Trends (Continued From Page 1 ’
area oeermen say they II need to break even. We've heard a
lot of gripes lately about the price of beef in retail stores. The
precipitous plunge in live prices has resulted in only a gentle
dip in grocers’ prices.
Consumer pessimism has reached a 25-year high (or low,
depending on how you look at it), according to the
prestigious Survey Research Center at the University of
Michigan. The Center says a recession is now “quite
possible", and says part of the trouble stems from "the
traumatic experience millions of Americans had while
shopping for food and other products in recent months”.
This has caused a great change in people’s beliefs and ex
pectations about their own and the economy's prospects, the
Center reports.
Flower Growers Asked
To Report Production
Beginning in early January,
the Pennsylvania Crop Reporting
Service wU ask flower growers to
report 1973 area in production
and value of sales for carnations,
roses, chrysanthemums, gladioli
and foliage plants. Growers will
also be asked to report their
intentions to produce these crops
in 1974. Production statistics
must be kept up to date to be of
maximum benefit to the
floriculture industry. This annual >
flower and foliage survey is
designed to do this job.
Results of this survey will be
published by the Statistical
Ephrata Junior High School.
Smoker is a member of the
Pennsylvania Farmers
Association, the Ephrata Area
Young Farmers group, and is on
the advisory board of the Lehigh
Valley Dairy Cooperative. He’s
also a member of the Clay
Township Planning Com
mission.
GOOD FEEDING . . .
WAITER BINKLEY & SON
Lititi
BROWN I REA, INC.
Atglen
ELVERSON SUPPLY CO.
Klverson
HENRY E. GARBER
Kh/abothlovwi F’a
E. MUSSER HEISEY
& SON
K I) Ml JoV l*a
HEISTAND BROS.
Kluabothtoxu)
DAVID B. HURST
Mowmanst ilh
MARTIN'S FEED MILL
Recession in the Offing?
Reporting Service, USDA, on
March 27, 1974. This report will
aid growers and florists in
measuring industry changes and
in making operational decisions
based on up-to-date statistics.
The flower business in the
Commonwealth State is sizeable.
In 1972, total value at wholesale
of the four important flowers and
of foliage plants estimated in
Pennsylvania amounted to $17.8
million.
Continued success of the
survey program depends upon
the voluntary cooperation of
flower producers. Information
supplied by each individual
operation will be kept con
fidential.
TRY A
CLASSIFIED
AD
always
G. R. MITCHELL, INC
MUSSER FARMS, INC.
RED ROSE FARM
SERVICE, INC.
\ Chun h St yuarryMlk*
CHAS. E. SAUDER
I SONS
Ferre Hill
Kofton Pa
MOUNTVILLE
FEED SERVICE
Mountvilio
Columbia
H. M. STAUFFER
& SONS, INC.
Witmer
7