Innovative farmers keep agriculture progressive
By JERRY WEBB
University of Delaware
NEWARK, Del. - Two
men, as old as the average
Delmarva farmer, are
drawing on their years of
experience and mechanical
know-how to assemble a
giant machine that will have
great impact on the way they
farm. Two men, who
themselves planted com
with a two-row planter and a
Garber Oil Co.
(texaco)
Fuel Chief
HEATING GIL
t OIL HEATING EQUIPMENT
AIR CONDITIONING
MOUNT JOY, PA
Ph. 653-1821
*k/
'*m
KEEPS BARNS FRESH
get the freshness of all outdoors all year
with a James way All-Season ventilation sys
tem in your livestock building. Fresh air intake, foul
You
’round
air exhaust,
We also install silage distributing-unloading, feed
ing, and manure-handling systems.
AGRI-EQUIP.
RD2, Farmersville, Ephrata, PA
717-354-4271
ROY 0. CHRISTMAN
RDI (Shartlesville), Hamburg, PA 19526
215-562-7218 or 215-488-1904
I. G.’s AG. SALES
Rt 113, Box 200
Silverdale, PA
215-257-5135
LANDIS BROTHERS, INC.
1305 Manheim Pike
Lancaster, PA
717-393-3906
team of horses m earlier
tunes, are going to the field
this Spring with a 24-row
planter that will cover a full
60 feet in one pass. The
thousands of dollars spent on
this mechanical marvel will
cut in half the time needed to
plant their acres. Or, looking
at it another way, will
eliminate the need for a
second planter rig that
would be required to do the
same work under last year’s
setup.
As they hurried to harvest
two-dollar-a-bushel com last
Fall they calculated the
acres and yields needed to
pay for such an expensive
new machine. But with the
faith so typical of most
farmers they decided that
things would get better, that
prices wouldn’t always be
that low and that they would
be ready to do the best job
and circulation are all automatic.
ERB & HENRY EQUIP., INC. M. S. YEARSLEY & SON
DEPENDABLE MOTORS
HENRY S. LAPP
RDI, Cams, Gap, PA 17527
possible when the new crop
year rolled around.
All Winter they worked,
getting machinery m shape,
shopping for supplies,
making management
decisions. All of their
thinking has been geared to
that magic day when it
would at last be time to start
tilling the soil again. Only
this time they would do it
even better with an efficient
new machine that will allow
them to plant thousands of
acres of corn and soybeans
m the few suitable days
provided by Mother Nature.
As they toiled in the heated
shop last February away
from wind and biting cold,
they knew the exhilaration of
the challenge ahead. They
knew it was them and their
machines and their skills
and their helpers against the
world. They would have to be
22-26 Henry Avenue
New Berlinville, PA
215-367-2169
Honey Brook, PA
215-273-3131
717-442-8134
ready on that special day in
Spring to pit their resources
against nature, against the
American economic system,
against the Environmental
Protection Agency, the
Chicago Board of Trade, the
European Common Market
and the Russian minister of
agriculture. It would be that
small group of men and few
big machines racing against
everything that can go
wrong between then and the
time when the crop is
marketed. It would be a race
run so many times before -
first with horses then with
awkward tractors and now
with the most sophisticated
of machines. But the
challenge has always been
there and it’s surely no
easier now to earn a good
living from the farm than it
was 50 years ago.
So on into the day the two
114 E Market St
Westchester, PA 19380
215-696-2990
HARRY L. TROOP
Rt. 1 Cochranville, PA 19330
215-593-6731
J. M. HORST SERVICE CO.
Box 231, Quentin, PA
717-274-1242
I. A. SWOPE
Box 121, RDI
Myerstown, PA
717-933-4768
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 22,1978
men worked as the sun made
its arc and starred to settle m
the west. There was more to
do before the monster would
be complete and before they
could get on to other
preparations.
The thought must have
crossed their minds from
time to tune was this a
good decision? Will farthing
be good enough in the years
ahead to pay for such an
expensive machine? Was the
old way good enough? But
WHAT'S MEW
TRACTOR
PERFORMANCE
MONITOR
Dickey-john’s new Tractor
Performance Monitor is
designed to help farmers
operate his four-wheel-drive
tractor more efficiently. The
system gives him one
console monitoring of his
tractor’s vital functions.
The console of the Tractor
Performance Monitor is a
miniature computer that can
store and analyze in
formation. The console
consists of a single digital
readout and a series of
selector,, buttons. At the
touch of a button, the console
delivers a direct digital
readout of engine RPMs,
PTO speed, battery voltage,
true ground speed, acres
worked, distance traveled,
elapsed engine hours or
percentage of wheel slip.
then they remembered the
horses and the two-row
planters and the few acres
they were able to farm m the
early days. And they
remembered the many other
changes they’ve seen and
been a part of. And they
knew this change was
necessary also. Perhaps not
as significant as that first
tractor or first combine, but
no less a part of an attitude
that has kept them on the
forefront of American
agricultural progress.
The console mounts in
easy view on the tractor’s
hood or fender and the single
display is bright and cen
trally located.
The Tractor Performance
Monitor also has three
programmable alarms. One
to warn of excessive wheel
slip. One to indicate ex
cessive ground speed. And
one to remind the farmer of
elapsed engine hours when
critical maintenance checks
are due.
The Tractor Performance
Monitor operates on the
tractor’s twelve volt battery,
but it has its own
automatically recharging
power source that allows it
to retain its memory when
the tractor is shut down or
when the battery is
disconnected. The Tractor
Performance Monitor is
easily installed on most four
wheel-drive tractors.
105