—lancastar Faming, Saturday, May 19,1979
116
A g
By JERRY WEBB
NEWARK, - The
relationship between
agricultural research fun
ding and bountiful food
supplies is a very real one.
Although it may be a little
difficult for consumers to see
the direct benefit from
research bang conducted in
far-flung agricultural ex
periment stations and other
research locations
throughout the country, the
benefits are there. In fact,
for the past 20 or 30 years
consumers have been en
joying and using up a
reserve of agricultural
research built over the past
50 years or more.
Some of the thinkers in the
agricultural research
community say that reserve
is about gone. Granted we
have enough food to eat, in
fact we still have some
stockpiles at least here in
this country, but how long
can that continue and how
quickly can agricultural
research create new
reserves of knowledge?
There are those research
antagonists who think all
agricultural research should
be abandoned until farm
prices improve, or until the
surpluses are all gone.
Surely they realize that
agricultural research cannot
be turned off and on as
needed. Most of the
research that means
anything in terms of farmer
and consumer benefits
requires years and years of
painstaking work. It can
take up to 10 years just to
Moul named to ag post
HARRISBURG Donald licensing, control, sale and in educating pet owners on
R. Afoul, 51, of Abbottstown transportation of dogs; their responsibilities.”
Rl, Adams County, has been kennel inspections; and Afoul, who is executive
appointed Director of the reimbursements to livestock director of the International
State Agriculture Depart- and poultry owners for Trotting and Pacing
ment’s Bureau of Dog , Law damage caused by dogs. Association, owns and
Enforcement, according to "Don Afoul brings to this manages a horse breeding
Agriculture Secretary post a wealth of experience farm. He serves as the editor
Penrose Hallowell. Mold in the problems of dog of the Trottingbred
assumed his duties on Afay 9. control, as a local govern- Magazine.
As Director of the Bureau ment official, as a farmer Moul is active in both the
of Dog Law Enforcement, and as a sportsman,” Adamas County Farmers
Moul will supervise the work Hallowell said. “I am Association and the Adams
of 75 employees in ad- pleased that he has accepted County Fish and Game
ministering the Penn- this appointment, and lam Conynjssion.
'lvania Dog Law of 1965. sure he will be a definite r—/• ’
ler the Dog Law, the asset not only in our yy/ have a
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research funding essential
develop a new variety of
soybean. It can take longer
than that to perform certain
basic research studies and
maybe even then the an
swers cannot be sent directly
to the farm.
Some research ad
ministrators are a little
pessimistic when it comes to
tbe future of agriculture.
They feel that most of the big
breakthroughs have already
been made - that there isn't
another hybrid corn lurking
around the research comer.
And yet things keep hap
pening that give hope.
Researchers do find answers
that make crops more
productive and help the
consumer hold the line on
food prices.
The research ad
ministrators through their
various organizations are
telling the public of the need
for greater investment in the
whole agricultural research
institution. They feel that the
manpower and facilities
dedicated to tins end are
being badly eroded and that
the result somewhere down
the line will be reduced food
supplies, higher food prices,
and ultimately hunger.
That’s a long-term outlook,
but it’s probably a realistic
one when you look at the
population demands, the
steadily dwindling farm
base, and the skyrocketing
farm production costs.
Breakthroughs in
agricultural research for the
most part aren’t dramatic.
They’re little successes that
add to other little successes
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that eventually improve a
process. A new soybean
variety_doesn’t revolutionize
agriculture but it does make
it more productive. A new
ullage technique such as no
till doesn’t increase yields
but it does reduce fuel
consumption. And the
seemingly meaningless
basic research that means
little or nothing to everyone
but the researcher when
carried to its conclusion
adds one more block to a
foundation that eventually
becomes a breakthrough.
And not all that needs to be
known about agriculture is
known by any means. Look
around at the way our food is
produced now compared to
SO years ago and try to
think ahead 50 years. It will
take a few breakthroughs
and some gradual progress
.to'keep us adequately fed.
And that says nothing about
the pressures coming from
the environmentalists, the
land-developers and others
who have impact on farm
productivity.
That’s why the resear
chers keep looking and once
in a while they find
something. For instance, a
researcher in Michigan
thinks he has some plants
that are toxic to other plants.
By prot sr selection and
management he believes
these plant killers could take
over some of the work of
weed control chemicals. In
fact, this Michigan State
University horticulturist, A 1
Putnam, is already doing
field trials with cover crops ~
that he thinks will help
control weeds in subsequent
economic crops.
So far he’s singled out two
vdiietico wf oorgNim and one
of sudan grass that seem to
have this yet unidentified
natural weed killer. He’s
found that by planting these
cover crops and then killing
them with chemicals or
allowing them to winterkill
and then planting other
crops in the residue, he’s
able to get as high as 95 per
cent effective weed control
with certain weeds. And he
says, without being overly
optimistic, that within two or
three years enough will be
known so that this natural
herbicide can be used
commercially.
To give you some idea of
the time frame 'of
agricultural research,
Putnam’s work goes back
more than half a century to
earlier work done by crop
scientists in the area of “soil
sickness”. At that time
researchers became aware
that certain plants had toxic
effects on certain other
plants, and that somehow
this poison seemed to be
transmitted through the soil.
Building - on these
discoveries the horticulturist
was able to identify some of
these toxic crops. He then set
about finding what plants
were compatible with them
and what plants were not.
Out of this came the
production pattern of
.planting toxic plants as
cover crops.
Putnam believes that
more research is required to
find out exactly what weeds ,
are being controlled and how
to improve the accuracy of
the dosage. So far his natural
weed killers’ effectiveness
for future
ranges between 65 and 95 per
cent. He also thinks it’s
unlikely that researchers
will ever find one natural
herbicide that will control
the broad spectrum of weeds
that trouble farmers.
Therefore he thinks they will
be just part of an arsenal of
weed control weapons. That
includes everything from
crop rotation to changing
chemicals to the use of
natural weed killers.
That’s just one example of
agricultural research that’s
in progress'* right now.
Maybe to some it seems
silly, maybe even a waste of
money. But when you look at
the potential, the millions of
dollars that it could save and
the environmental concern it
could solve, its impact is far
reaching. Maybe it’s not as'
dramatic as hybrid corn but
it certainly has the economic
potential.
L