Spring Crop Conditions Are A Week Behind
I Continual from Phi 1|
barley Is heading out and
some farmers are busily
chopping rye for silage. We
could see a few more
soybeans this year than last.
In spite of the spate of
home gardening this year,
Lueck expects to see a strong
market for fresh fruits and
vegetables. Growers aiming
for the processing markets,
though, may be facing some
disappointments. Lueck said
there are sizable carryovers
in processed apples and
tomatoes.
On the national scene,
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Furadan and Dyfonate for root worm control.
Buytrac 118 for weeds in Alfalfa.
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Lueck noted that the com
belt Is already three weeks
behind in planting corn
because of an unseasonably
cold spring. At the moment,
this fact alone should have
very little impact on the
nation’s fall com harvest,
but if it gets much later, the
outlook could change con*
siderably.
From Berks County,
County Agent James
Haldeman echoed many of
Lueck’s comments. Com is a
week to 10 days behind
schedule, and it looks like
farmers are going to be
planting about the same
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acreage they planted last
year. "I don’t know of any
actual cutbacks in acreage,
but I do know that some
fellows aren’t going to use as
much fertilizer or as many
weed control measures this
year. Some farmers who
might have gone for ISO
bushels in any other year
seem to be aiming for 125
bushels this year, but I still
don’t think we’re going to see
a noticeable drop in our com
harvest.”
Glenn Shirk, County Agent
from Chester County, said he
had seen some com planted
two or three weeks ago that
hadn’t poked through the
ground yet. “But most of the
farmers have held off
planting through the cold
and the wet,” Shirk said. “I
think they remember the sad
experiences many of them
has last year with early
plantings. Overall, I’d say
we’re about two weeks late
on account of the weather.”
In Lebanon County, Dennis
Hoak said there’s still a lot of
corn not in, although the
recent good weather will
have the planters working
overtime. He said small
grains have come through
the winter well, although
weather conditions during
the critical bloom period
coming up could help or
hinder ultimate yields.
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“I have noticed more
interest in sorghum in the
nothem part of the county,”
Hoak said, “and rightfully
so. Sorghum is more drought
resistant than com and it’s
the find of crop we need for
that area. I expect to see at
least as much sorghum as
last year and maybe a little
more.”
Although York County
farmers are also running at
least a week behind
schedule, about the only crop
that seems to be in any
trouble are peas, according
to County Agent John Smith.
“We won’t be able to plant
all the acreage we normally
would have put in peas,”
Smith said. “The problem is
not so much that they won't
grow, it’s just that the
processing plants won’t be
able to keep up with the
harvest. If we’d plant all the
crop now, the peas would all
ripen at the same time and
the canneries wouldn’t be
able to take care of the
processing load. The
processors like to have the
plantings spread out so they
can spread their workload
throughout the harvest
season. And it doesn’t do any
good to plant a crop if you
can’t can it, so I think we
might see fewer peas this
year.”
Sweet com is likewise
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Lancaster Farming, Saturday. May 10.1975
running late in planting, and
could cause a problem for
the canneries, Smith said.
The fruit crop In York
County looks all right so far.
Smith noted. Some trees got
hit hard during the winter,
and the bloom period is
running a week or so behind
schedule. “But once it gets
warm, the fruit trees will
push to catch up.”
The vegetable year started
off pretty good in the county
with most of the potato crop
planted in early April. But
Baltimore
lISDA Report
CATTLE 400. Slaughter
steers & heifers $2 to $4
higher. Cows steady to 50
cents lower. Bulls SO cents to
$1 higher. Feeder Cattle
steady. Supply 35 percent
slaughter steers & heifers, 40
percent cows, 20 percent
feeder cattle, balance bulls.
STEERS: High Choice &
Prime yield grade llO-
O lbs. 50.75-51.50, Choice
yield grade 2-4 1025-1150 lbs.
47.00- High Good &
Choice 45.00-47.00, Good
41.00- Standard & Low
Good 1000-1585 lbs. 34.85-
41.00, several Standard 28.00-
32.75. HEIFERS: Choice
yield grade 2-3 915-1010 lbs.
41.50-43.00, High Good &
Choice yield grade 2-4 800-
1050 lbs. 38.00-41.00, Good
33.75-38.00, few Standard
24.00- COWS: Utility &
Commercial 20.50-24.00, one
at 24.50, Cutters 18.00-20.75,
Canner & Low Cutters 15.00-
18.00, several Canners 550-
700 lbs. 11.50-14.50. BULLS;
Yield Grade No. 1 1200-2000
lbs. 26.00-30.00, several yield
grade No. 2 21.00-25.00.
FEEDER CATTLE: Good &
Choice steers 525-730 lbs.
31.00-34.00, Good 650-900 lbs.
27.25- Good steer calves
390-530 lbs. 26.50-30.00,
Standard & Low Good 24.50-
26.00, Good heifer calves 330-
500 lbs. 19.30-22.50.
HOGS 800. Barrows & Gilts
$1.75 higher. US No. 1-3 200-
240 lbs. 44.75-45.00, 80 head
45.25- No. 2-3 230-260
lbs. 44.25-44.75, No. 2-4 250-
280 lbs. 43.25-44.25. SOWS: $1
higher. US No. 1-3 300400 lbs.
34.50-35.50, No. 2-3 400600
lbs. 35.50-36.50.
now, the rest of the potato
crop is probably running a
little behind schedule, Smith
said. Tomatoes should be in
pretty good shape, because
this is the time to plant.
The corn planting is
running late in York County
as elsewhere, but Smith
doesn’t expect to see any
major problems created by
this fact. Hay crops and
pasture were hit by the cold
dry weather in April but
appear to be rebounding
nicely.
Strip Farming
A Century Old
While poor farming prac
tices causing erosion and
other neglect of the soil pre
vailed well into the 20th cen
tury, there is evidence of early
attempts at conservation
methods dating back a cen
tury or more
In 1865, more than 200
farms on rounded hills in Ly
coming County, Pa were be
ing tilled according to strip
farming practices, alternating
crops like com with unculti
vated crops like grass or win
ter wheat Slowly, the practice
spread
In 1928, the U S Depart
ment of Agriculture started to
awaken many farmers to the
threat of poor farming prac
tices in its bulletin, "Soil Ero
sion a National Menace ” But
it took a farming disaster, the
‘ Black Blizzard” of May,
1934 to drive the extent of the
problem home Then a series
of droughts accompanied by
high winds stripped farms in
Kansas, Oklahoma New Mex
ico and Colorado of their top
soil and carried the dense
black clouds for hundreds of
miles
The "dust bowl” and the
pathetic migrations of desti
tute farm families resulted in
expansion of efforts of the
government’s Soil Conserva
tion Service, which had just
been created in 1933
lime For Barn
Saftey Check
Early spring is a good time
for a bam saftey check,
remind Extension
agricultural engineers at
The Pennsylvania State
University. Repairing bam
floors, lighting dangersous
comers, and keeping
stairways uncluttered
reduces the chances of
serious and costly injuries.
7