Cl 6—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 12,1980 Four family farmers talk no-tillage BY JOYCE BUPP Staff Correspondent COCKEYSVILLE, Md. - Four family operations from three states shared their experiences in on-farm innovations during the af ternoon session of the sixth annual Mid-Atlantic No-Till conference, held January 3 at Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn. First at the podium were Nelly and Neal Springs of Springer’s Valley View Farms, Mt. Vernon, Knox County, Ohio. The Spnnger family farms over 300 acres in a total no-till cropping program and were named last year’s national no till family of the year. Working with the county’s soil conservation and Ortho Chevron Chemical Com pany, double-cropping a program of no-till com, wheat, oats, soybeans, barley, rye, sunflowers, buckwheat and even pasture seeding and renovations. Yields have increased every year, the Springers attest in a slide and speaking presentation, with no erosion, weed or insect problems. Machinery investment has also been sliced with only a tractor, 300-gallon field sprayer, no-bll planter, and no-till gram drill needed for No-till teamwork describes the Ohio farm operation of Neal and Nelly Springer, winners of the national no-till family award. rtin LIMESTONE SsEivißSyP m MODERN SPREADER SERVICE yes, liming pays . it pays in extra bushels and tons of crops; in health ier, more profitable livestock; in the increased worth of properly limed land: and it pays in the satisfaction that comes from doing a better job of farming. the broad variety of crops. Eliminating the plow, disk, harrow, cultivators and cultipacker has also eliminated much tune, labor and maintenance expense as well, says Springer. One important part of the no-tillage program is the drainage and related con servation practices, in cluding over 90,000 feed of sub-surface tile drainage and some two miles of grass and sod waterways. John D. Koons, Waynesboro, Franklin County, Pennsylvania, shared his observations on no-till planting in heavy manure. Koons operates a 50-cow milking herd, with 400 acres in com and hay and custom plants another 400 acres. “The biggest advantage no-tillage has afforded us is the capability to add 300 acres of rented ground for com production and the 400 acres of custom planting for added income, without substantially increasing our time and labor that we had planting our original 100 acres conventionally,” said Koons, who’s been planting the no-till way for eight years. All-commercial spraying is used, mainly Paraquat, MARTIN LIMESTONE, INC. Blue Ball, Pa. 354-4125 _Gap, Pa 442 4148 At no-till meeting Aatrex, Pnncep and Bladex, silage, may get two ap with 2-4 D when necessary. plications yearly, with a rye Koons believes that the use cover crop shown behind of liquid manure'and no-till com harvest. Key to at go hand in hand, and handles taimng proper germination 90 percent of the cattle waste and hiph population stands as liquid application. Some using no-till on liquid fields, especially those at the home farm earmarked for (Turn to Page Cl 7) One of Maryland’s first on-farm alcohol fuel producers is state Senator and dairy farmer James Clark, Jr. ‘-«7 BAG OR BULK LIME AVAILABLE T<l 1 1 Did You Know: A MINIMUM INVESTMENT OF .5 ONLY s 2so°° COULD GET YOU INTO OUR 30 Month CERTIFICATE OF DEPOSIT* 10.40% INTEREST RATE (Effective January 1) Your Interest Can Be Compounded, or Mailed Quarterly, or Posted To Your 5V2% Passbook. Monthly Interest Checks Are Available On Certificates In Excess of $5000.00 * Federal Regulations Require A Substantial Penalty For Early Withdrawal Of Principal. First Federal a ESLE SWINGS AND LOAN ASSOCIATION OF LANCASTER 23 E. King Street, Lancaster, PA 17602 PH: 717-393-0601 OFFICES IN Lancaster. Lititz, New Holland, Park City, Mitlersville, Mt. Joy & Quarryville. /> Franklin County dairyman, John Koons discussed the aspect of no-till cropping in heavy manure cover. JEJE inr IMM MW CINOIR
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