—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, December 17, 1977 38 Corn management, marketing stressed (Continued from Page 1) this past year’s com crop, the panel mentioned several items including the lack of moisture at the beginning of the season, the heat and humidity being high during the pollination of the com, the third brood of com borers, and unproper com planter equipment ad justment. Speaking about serious management mistakes that farmers have a tendency to make, the panel centered their concerns on soil and minor element testing, tissue testing, and planting time problems. Members of the panel seemed to believe that farmers overlook the possibilities of help through soil and tissue testing, and may be ignoring serious shortages in their soils. These shortages can and would affect their corn “harvest. Tissue testing, it was explained, should be done when the com is going into tassels. Concerning planting time problems, fanners were reminded that they shouldn’t plant their com too deep nor too shallow in the soil. A good rule of thumb, it was explained, is for'farmers to plant their seed about to 2 inches deep in the soil. It was added that enough seed should be put into the ground, going by the seed recommendations, not under or overpopulating the field. One point that was brought out by the panel was the fact that planting time usually takes-about % the time that harvesting does. Results of the extra time needed for harvesting often means profits which are left in the fiekL Part of the reason for the double amount of time spent in harvesting is the result of harvest equipment being smaller sized and fewer in quantity than the planting equipment. Farmers were urged to con sider their harvesting equip ment just as vital and impor tant as that machinery which is used for planting. Speaking about fertilizer, the panel agreed that some farmers use too little while others use too much. Again, soil testing was stressed, and mention was made that nitrogen is the most overlooked element in cornfields. The panel recommended that IV* pound of nitrogen be applied to a field for every bushel of com yielded. Farmers were told to build their sod up gradually to the fertility they want to get the high yields of gram. They were also in; formed that before ex pecting such high yields in their fields, they should check on the type of soil they have, so that they have a good idea of their soil yield potential. The most troublesome new weed in cornfields today was thought to be Johnson grass, which members of the panel felt needed attention.A disease, which still causes corn farmers problems and has no known cure as of today, is stalk rot. The panel hopes that through research this problem can be solved. Japanese beetles were mentioned as another problem among the corn fields, damaging some corn during the pollination. Farmers were urged to use programs varying then attacks on pests, so that different problems aren’t overlooked. Looking to next year, it was mentioned that third brood com borer worms could be severe and farmers should be prepared to face this problem. Part of that threat could be overcome Members of the corn production panel included (from left to right) Ken Miller, DeKalb; John Weidman, Pioneer; Don Dodson, Cargill Seeds; Homer Martin, Stanford (Northrup King); and George Steele. Hoffman (Funks). vi •\V# & • /J\ \ V* GIVE HIM AN ECHO ST!! NOW ONLY $ 229.95 BIG SAW PERFORMANCE WITH VIBE-LESS COMFORT. with a good insecticide program at planting time. All members of the panel agreed that the most limiting and uncontrollable factor in production today is the weather. Concerning controllable problems, the biggest concern was con centrated on -the man who does the planting. The it;*,* • *' •i*: ••••.* A; i A «!a .a SAVE’IOO! REG. *329.95 FARMERSVILLE EQUIPMENT iu LOCATED IN FARMERSVILLE R.D. 4, EPHRATA, PENNA. 717-354-4271 STORE HOURS: MON. THRU FRI. 7:30 TO 5:30 _ SATURDAY 7:30 TO 3:00 planter, planting date, and planting time, can all make a tremendous difference in the harvest of a field. Concerning the grain crop - percentage which is left in fields after harvesting,' the panel said the amount varies from field to field. Itdepends on the field conditions, the operators of the harvesting WITH & 7i 4.2 WHILE SUPPLY LASTS! equipment, and the growing problem, which should be season. They went on to state researched for a potential that the com crop grain left solution. ; n flie field is an overlooked . JUST IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS! FOR THE MAN IN YOUR LIFE... (Continued on Page 3 9):j|| ■*- -sux*. *• | i
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