Com crop surveyed before field harvest
By KENDACEBORRY
LITITZ - In late Sep- located near Brunnemlle,
tember, the crop which had been used as a
enumerator for the USDA sample in the random field
O'' i Reporting Service survey. The trip was made
made the final trip to the for the final count and
Elam Snyder cornfield estimates to be done before
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Elam Snyder, Lititz, prepares to harvest his corn
fields. He expected an overall good harvest from
his fields, relating that he had a good year for his
corn crop.
the crop was actually har
vested.
The enumerator travelled
to the area in the cornfield
where the sample areas
were marked. There, the
first thing done was to
check the com for maturity
and record the findings.
Then the com which lay in
the first row of each fifteen
foot unit was picked with the
third and fourth ear marked
to be sent to Harrisburg for
further study. Finally the
com that had been picked
weighed and its weight
recorded. The com was later
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returned to the farmer,
except for the ears sent to
Harrisburg.
After the study in
Harrisburg of all the random
fields used in this survey, a
forecast of predicted harvest
estimates is released by the
Crop Reporting Service.
Concerning the field
farmed by Elam Snyder, the
Crop Reporting Service
released this information.
The estimated yield of that
3.5 acre field located in
northcentral Lancaster
County is 129 bushels per
acre. Still able to affect this
predicted number were the
problems of wet weather and
frost possiblities which could
change the estimate.
According to the fanner,
Elam Snyder, of all his com
fields harvested this year,
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the one used on the random
survey gave the poorest
harvest. He estimated that
his harvest on that field was
closer to 140 bushels per acre
and added that it just didn’t
produce like some of his
other fields.
Speaking of the other
cornfields on his farm,
Snyder mentioned that this
was a good year of growmg
corn for him, with enough
ram and good weather. He
figured that he expected the
harvest figures of his other
cornfields to come close to
the 200 bushels per acre
mark, although he again
remarked that the field
Preventive
(Continued from Page 118)
Maryland farmers with
special problems concerning
suspected aflatoxin con
tamination should contact
their local county Extensive
agricultural agents. Grain
dealers may call Bradley H.
Powers, marketing
specialist at the state
Department of Agriculture
in Annapolis; phone;
(301) 269-2181.
Ultra-violet rays produced
by black-light lamps are
being used extensively to
detect the possibility of
aflatoxin contamination in
newly harvested corn.
Broken corn kernels that
produce a greenish-gold
fluoresence under the black
light are assumed to be
contaminated with the
poisonous mold byproduct.
Scattered loads of corn are
reportedly being rejected by
buyers on this basis
luC black light method is
not fool-proof, note Ex
tension specialists at the
University of Maryland. The
greenish fluoresence tells
little or nothing about the
psgrs
Also Rye Seed
chosen for the sample
survey was not nearly as
nice as his other fields.
Acceding to the state
estimate for the com crop,
based on the data for Oc
tober 1, the state average
yield for field com should be
88 bushels per acre. This was
the same as the estimate at
the beginning of the month of
September, with little
change m the way the crop
developed. One more
estimate will be made before
the survey is finished, and
the final estimate of filed
com yields in Pennsylvania
will be released at the
beginning of November.
The crop reporting ser
vice’s final estimate last
year (1976) for the corn crop
was 90 bushels per acre for
the state of Pa.
degree of contamination or
the accuracy with which the
sample being tested was
taken.
In fact, the black light
method is a true indicator of
aflatoxins only about 80 per
cent of the tune, says John L.
Crothers, Jr., Extension
gram marketing specialist
at the College Park campus.
His view is supported by
Bradley H. Powers, grain
marketing specialist with
the Maryland Department of
Agriculture in Annapolis
The only sure way to
determine if aflatoxins are
present an to determine
their concentration is to
have the grain sample
analyzed by a chemical
assay. This requires ex
pensive equipment. Some
grain buyers in Baltimore
and on Maryland’s Eastern
Shore are reportedly getting
such equipment installed as
rapidly as possible. Fanners
should ask for this service, if
they have doubts about corn
which has been rejected on
the basis of black light
fluoresence.
* Rapidan