oil is delicate work
thing is returned to the soil; the end result hurts the soil , the crops , animals f and the farmer.
oehle's
xjrtant
sthat:
nto the
e bare,
mt with more than a dozen bottoms, the plow is now being
ill!
and
m
ting
mg
up.
ck
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AY
instead ot allowing water to run off with valuable top soil. Too much manure on a
field can be detrimental to cattle who eat crops from that field. Manure without
straw concentrates salts and in turn will bring about imbalances which create
problems.
Cover crops used as ‘green manure' are virtually of no value if humus is to be
narrower distance wouldn’t allow for sufficiently deep
penetration and wider spacings aren’t as effective. Chisel
plowing should always be done in the fall to allow for
water penetration throughout Winter and Spring and
more decay of incorporated organic matter such as corn
stalks and straw.
How often should a field be chisel-plowed? Boehle
suggests that it be done the first two years in succession,
and thereafter every three or four years. While chisel
plowing by itself is an important tillage practice, it won’t
get the job done by itself. Boehle recommended that an
offset disks also become a part of the tillage program,
adding that the angle of the disk is very important. The
common plow has no place in the Brookside Farms
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RALPH KETTERER ISSAC W. HURST UOYD E. KREIDER
Perkasie, RD2
Deep Run Road
Ph. [2ls| 766-8531
A. C. HEISEY FARM EQUIPMENT INC.
RDI Jonestown, Pa.
RD2
EastEari.PA
Ph.(2l5J 445-5767
Root development and the movement
of air and water are severely restricted
by the tightly comparted layer of soil
on which the plow has been riding
for years and years.
recommended tillage program. A zero-tillage practice is
also frowned upon by the firm, which currently has more
than 10,000 farmers subscribing to its research programs.
“Zero-tillage,’’ Boehle related, “causes the soil to
become hard and more disease prone. You’ll have more
weeds and after a period of time you return nothing to the
soil The hard soil in lum offsets .vaier and air movement
and causes imbalances in physical, chemical, and
biological relationships,” he added.
Crop residues are an invaluable part of soil nutrition
and management. How the farmer utilizes these residues
can greatly affect fertilizer requirements and crop yields,
according to Brookside Farms research, which has been
going on for 30 years.
Admitting that a field which has all .residues turned
under completely will look nicer than one which has bits
and pieces of straw or stalks visible all over the place,
Boehle said crop residues should not be turned under
completely. Rather, they should be “incorporated” into
the soil—that is, mixed with it in such a way so that much
or most of it remains in contact with the air. Even if
residue is plowed under, the benefits of the organic
material can be increased greatly if some of it is allowed
to stick out between the furrows. The reason for it is
because material which protrudes above the surface will
actually pull water and air into the soil, which is vital for
good soil fertility.
If crop residues are completely turned under, they have
a tendency to block the movement of water and air. This is
ROl
Cochranvifle, PA
Ph. [2ls] 932-2934
developed from them. A soil can be worn out, and will be, unless it is periodically
restored to its healthy and productive state. The pH level of soils is dependent on
much more than the presence of Calcium, and adding that compound to the soil
will not always cure imbalances, even though it will change the pH level Fertilizer
bills can be reduced if soils are tested accurately and completely.
TRY A
CLASSIFIED
AD!
(HERSHEY EQUIPMENT CO.,IIMC.
215 Dlller A«e. Phone (717) 3544576 New Heßand, Pa.
AUTHORIZED
Gycloive
DISTRIBUTOR
Lancaster Farming. Saturday. Doc 13.1975 —
especially true if the condition exists along with a plow
sole. Crop residues will then become waterlogged and air
is virtually cut off to allow proper decay. What happens is
that anaerobic bacteria move in to work on the debris.
Alcohol is produced this sterilizes the affected area
and in more advanced stages the anaerobic bacteria
produce fermaldehyde a preservative. The end result is
that no decay takes place and the farmer plows up this
year’s preserved crop residues next year. “You’ll have
lost the benefits of crop residues,” Boehle warned.
But if crop residues are incorporated into the soil, it
encourages acid production and the formation of
beneficial organisms which in turn increase soil fertility,
Brookside Farms research shows. “What’s important
here," Boehle added, “is that the soil fertility is improved
on its own process, without adding something which
wasn’t there before.”
Brookside Farms, which does consulting and testing
work for North American farms (most of them in the
Midwest) totalling approximately 40,000 acres, also has a
different approach to explaining the pH reading, a part of
most every soil test. Boehle likened the pH reading of a
soil to the temperature reading of a thermometer. “It tells
you something isn’t right, but it doesn’t tell you what the
problem is nor how to solve it.” Contrary to the popular
belief that lime holds the key to correcting low pH levels,
Brookside Farms claims that more complete testing of
the soil is needed before an accurate recommendation can
be made. Oftentimes lime is used to “cure” the situation
when it wasn’t really needed, the firm’s spokesman ad
ded.
According to their research, pH is affected by a number
of pigments, including Cladum, Magnesium, Potassium,
and Sodium. Of these Calcium is the most important, but
Boehle also stressed that Calcium and Magnesium must
be in the right relationship to each other because they
affect the values of the remaining chemical properties.
“Thus an imbalance jn one area can affect soil symptoms
in another area when analysis takes place. The soil can
only hold so much and it needs so much—keeping it all in
balance is the key to maintaining a healthy soiL This in
turn can affect the health and productivity of animals
which eat crops from that soil.” In the opinion of John
Campbell, many of our cattle and dairy problems today
can be tied directly to mismanagement of our fields.
In a manner of speaking, Brookside Farms audits soil
samples to spot shortages of components, Boehle ex
plained. In doing tills, the firm works with what is called
[Continued on Pace 24|
21