Alfalfa management tips given Alfalfa and alfalfa grass mixtures continue to be excellent hay and silage crops for Southeast Penn sylvania fanners, in spite of rising production costs and all the problems we’ve had with alfalfa this past growing season. However, alfalfa requires a lot of management, and in a year like this year - a lot of patience r too! Do not let the disappointments of this past year discourage you on alfalfa or on alfalfa grass mixtures. This was an ex ceptional year; you should be planning your farming operations around normal situations and normal years. A. To Increase Yields Next Spring - 1. Do not cut alfalfa BEEF SALES MONDAY 2:30 P.M. THURSDAY 12:00 NOON Sale Order - Fat Bulls, Steers, Stockers, Beef Cows and Veal Calves. NEW HOLLAND SALES STABLES, INC. Phone?l7-354-4341 Dally Market Report Phone 717-354-7288 Abe Diffenbacb, Manager Field Representatives - Bob Kling 717-354-5023 Luke Eberly 215-267-0608 Sperry New Holland ‘SUPER 717 FORAGE HARVESTS Reversible, doubles knives assure a short clean, uniform cut! Built-in knife sharpe restores keen factory sharp edges! Choose from three corn heads. L. H. Brubaker C. E. Wiley & Son, Inc. 350 Strasburg Pike 101 S Lime St mtkitq Quarryville 397 5179 786-2895 Stanley A. Klopp, Inc. Shollenberger A.B.C. Groff, Inc. Bernville Pa Form Supplies 110 S Railroad Ave 4th & Pine Sts Hamburg Pa , 215-488-1510 215 562-2005 354-4191 Albert J. Noss RD2 Oley Pa 215-987-6257 September 15 In S.E. Penn sylvania. During this critical period of time, alfalfa plants are forming new rhizomes Just below ground level. These rhizomes produce next Spring’s growth of alfalfa. Thus, harvesting alfalfa during the first 2 weeks of September can reduce the number of rhizomes formed - and next year’s yield, too. B. To Increase The Life of Your Alfalfa Stand • 1. Be “easy” with your last cutting, especially if your first cutting was made at one-tenth bloom or earlier, or if your stand was severely stressed this summer by diseases, insects and wet conditions. -Do not cut between September 1 and the first If you have fat cattle or need feeders . . . THINK NEW HOLLAND Sperry New Holland has five different forage harvesters to fit any silage or haylage operation. Choose from three pull-type, a tractor-mounted or a self propelled harvester to get the most from your forage crops! SPERW4=I\EW hollaind killing frost. This gives the plant a month or more to build up the energy reserves in Its root system to help carry it through the winter and to produce new growth next spring. 2. Top dress after last cutting; maintain high levels of potash. Do not topdress with manure; the nitrogen will only encourage weeds and grasses and it will shorten the life of the stand. 3. If any late cuttings are made after a killing frost, they should be made before October 15. Also leave about 4 inches of stubble to help protect the crown and to help catch snow for winter cover. 4. Spring and fall cutting schedules are closely related in terms of stand per sistence. If first cutting was made at mid bloom or later, and if the stand was not severely stressed during the summer, last cutting can be made at any time before October 15. C. To Control All Those Yellow Weeds in Next Springs’ Alfalfa - Now is the time to control winter annual weeds in alfalfa. Some of these weeds include: 1. yellow rocket or winter cress (the yellow flowered weed that most people mistake for wild mustard). 2. wild mustard EVERY FRIDAY FEEDER CATTLE 12 NOON Lancaster Stockyanls, he. I. G. Ag Sales Silverdale PA 18962 215-257 5136 Roy A. Brubaker 700 Woodcrest Ave Lititz Pa 626-7766 (it’s also yellow-flowered, but it’s bushier and comes later than yellow rocket), 3. shepherds purse and penny cress (both of these are white-flowered), and 4. chick weed (the low-growing, matted weed that chokes out alfalfa and interferes with cutting and drying operations). All of these weeds are winter annuals that ger minate in the fall (now). They can be controlled by spraying this fall. However, do not expect the same 100 percent control you may be used to seeing in your corn fields. Some of these weeds act as biennials: it takes them 2 years to reach Thisyear ignorance could kill you. Ignorance about colon or rectum cancer. Because there’s an exam called a procto which can detect these cancers early, while they’re most curable. If you’re over 40, make sure your doctor gives you a procto as part of your health checkup. AMERICAN CANCER SOCIETY This space contributed by the publisher Lancaster Farming, Saturday. September 6.1975 maturity and die a natural death. And, the sprays only work on the new seedlings that germinate this fall - not on those weeds already established from last year. Thus, if you did not spray last year and you had weedy fields this springs, it may take 2 years of spraying to get real good control. Select one of the weed control programs listed below: 1. Apply 1-1 Mi lb. Prlncep SOW in 20-40 gal. of water per acre immediately after Last cutting on alfalfa stands established before June 1, or on alfalfa orchard grass stands over 1 year old, to control all of the weeds mentioned above. 2. Apply IM--2 lb. Kannex SOW in at least 20 gal. of water per acre to new or established scedings of legumes only, after the legume has reached dor mancy, to control all of the weeds mentioned above. Do not use on sandy or study soils or where soil organic matter is less than 2 percent. 3. For control of quackgrass and chickweed in new or established seedings of legumes only, apply 2-3 lbs. Kerb SOW in at least 20 gal. water per acre after soil temperatures drop to 50 degrees F. or lower and before the ground freezes up. 4. For control of chick weed and downy bromegrass in new or established seedings of legumes only, apply 1 qt. of Chloro IPC in at least 20 gal. of water per acre during November or December, or use 2 qt. of Chloro IPC in January. 9
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