CIS-Uncastw F«inrinj y Saturd«y, January 12,1980 % $2OO a ton fertilizer, shortages COCKEYSVILLE, MD. - Some 900 farmers and agribusiness represen tatives streamed into Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn on January 3 to take a look at “A New Era In Agriculture - 1980”, theme of the sixth annual Mid-Atlantic No-TUI Conference. Widely popular among growers from several states, the conference was strictly limited this year to a pre-set number of reservations and dozens of interested fanners were disappointed when tickets ran out. Topics covered during the day-long session touched on a broad range of crops successfully no-tilled, in novations in machinery and updates on the energy and fertilizer situation. One featured speaker of the morning session was ' Edwin M. Wheeler, president of the Fertilizer Institute. In a hard-hitting presentation, Wheeler forecasted spiraling fer tilizer costs, up to $2OO per ton in the near future, praised the farm segment’s productivity and poked a few No-till COCKEYSVILLE, Md. - Despite a bumper crop, numerous cases of nitrogen deficient com were observed in conventional tillage fields during the 1979 growing season throughout the Mid- Atlantic area. The telltale yellow lower leaves were especially prevalent on light, sandy soils, according to V. Allan Bandel, extension fertilizer specialist and professor of agronomy at the University of Maryland in College Park. Bandel spoke on “Recent Findings in Field Research” during the sixth annual Mid- Atlantic No-Till Conference last Thursday at Marriott’s Hunt Valley Inn north of Baltimore. He has been involved for six years m a cooperative study with U.S. Department of Agriculture soil scientists from Beltsville, Md., on nitrogen levels in no-till com production at several Maryland locations One of the concrete fin dings from this study was the fact that no more nitrogen is required for no till com production than for com produced under con ventional tillage systems when the nitrogen is applied at rates recommended for practicable high yields. The Maryland agronomist cited various methods of punches at bureaucrats. “The most untapped energy source in the entire country is Washington, D.C.,” he reckoned, “While the biggest political problem mtheU.S. isus.” Wheeler warned the growing population around the world will increasingly be restive for food, not content with three meals of starches but demanding high protein meats. Countries like Japan, the Soviet Union, and the Eastern European nations, Wheeler insists, “couldn’t begin to feed themselves even if God gave them die best possible weather.” “And the only place they’ll find it is in the world’s largest supermarket, the United States,” he added. One out of every three acres of American grain production now goes for foreign exports. World gram production is down 70 million metric tons, a situation that the fertilizer specialist admits has “everyone scared to death.” Because of that, grain growing countries are report stresses nitrogen needs applying nitrogen to com under field conditions and the several forms in which it may be applied. Liquid application methods include overhead irrigation and between-the row dribbling. Dry ap plication methods include broadcasting, banding and knifuig-m between the rows. This latter technique produced the best results in Maryland field trials during 1979. Formulations in which nitrogen may be applied include ammonium nitrate, diammonium phosphate (DAP) and urea. The latter material may be applied in solid form, such as prilled urea, or it may be applied in liquid form, such as urea ammonium nitrate solution. Bandel commented that a complete row fertilizer containing nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium worked especially well in getting com off to a good start m 1979 because of cool weather during the early part of the growing season. And this fast start proved to be a plus at harvest tune. He noted that surface applied urea is less efficient than urea which is in corporated well into the soil. This is because urea is a fairly volatile substance that readily breaks down in gearing up for all-stops pulled production and resulting orders for record tonnages of fertilizer will cause the price to go nght through the ceiling. “Fertilizer is and will continue to be a substitute for land,” he added, and farmers can expect that the demand will only worsen. Urea nitrogen products are especially energy in tense e, and thus fertilizer production only aggravates the already tight energy supply. For instance, 40,000 cubic feet of natural gas are required to produce just one ton of ammonium fertilizer. In 1968, a thousand cubic feet of the gas cost a mere 20 cents. With price deregulation taking effect, that cost has climbed to two dollars per thousand; and Wheeler projected that under full deregulation the cost will climb to five dollars by 1985. Because of the ever tightening costs and shor tages of vital crop inputs, including land scarcity, Wheeler foresees no-tillage water, carbon dioxide and ammonia. When urea is lying on the soil surface, some of these compounds tend to dissipate into the air, causing nutrient losses. Bandel and his fellow agricultural research workers have concluded that ammonium nitrate is superior to urea as a nitrogen source under most no-till conditions. But they admit that more research is needed in order to better understand how to utilize the available nitrogen in urea, both in its dry form and in urea ammonium nitrate solution. As evidence of how im proved technology and agricultural research have boosted U.S. com production during the last half century, Bandel cited these average state corn yields for Maryland in selected years: 1928 - 31 bushels per acre; 1938 - 36 bushels per acre; 1948 - 45 bushels per acre; 1958 - 62 bushels per acre; 1968 - 66 bushels per acre; 1978 - 97 bushels per acre; 1979 -101 bushels per acre. The nation’s non metropolitan counties gamed 2 3 million people between 1970 and 1976, growing faster than the cities. as one of the answers to feeding the world using minimal resources to do so. “It takes less oil to make a gallon of pesticide than it does to cultivate,” he noted, while warning that farmers must also learn to more efficiently no-till while using less fertilizer to reap the same acreage yields. Fuel availability come the Spring planting season will be another problem he said, as well as a rapidly in creasing expense. Diesel fuels alone are expected to rise at least 19 cents per gallon during 1980. If fuel stocks get short, farmers can expect their priority rating to diesel and gas to be restored, but spot shortages are very likely, especially if the weather breaks all at once across the gram intensive Midwest. feanKMUNKi Now (here are five hard-working cool running Allis-Chalmers tractors with turbocharged engines With PTO ratings of 106 123 146 161 and 181 hp* From the people who brought tur bocharging to farm tractors But turbocharging isnf the only way these tractors lead the rest They offer fast easy-shifting Allis-Chalmers Power Shift or Power Director trans missions—with up to 8 forward speeds below 6 smph Plus quiet comfortable Allis-Chalmers Acousta cabs All are designed for years of hard work And 24 78 L a BRUBAKER, INC. Lancaster, PA 717-397-5179 C. I. WONSIDLER BROS. Rt. 309 & 100 R 2 New Tripoli, PA 18066 215-767-7611 ' BHM FARM EOUIPMEKT. INC. Annvifle, RDI, PA 717-867-2211 80V N. BUCK, INC. Ephrata, RD 2 717-859-2441 CJ. WONSIDLEB BROS. RDI, Quakertown, PA 18951 215-536-1935 215-536-7523 WERTZ GARAGE Lmeboro, MO 301-374-2672 predicted soon Another mounting problem, not crucial yet in the mid-Atlantic area, is the diminishing ground water supply. Deep water wells in the irrigation sections of the Western and Midwestern states are not recharging and Wheeler foresees the day of “cheap, plentiful water are gone.”; Tens of thousands of acres of land may eventually come out of production and cost of the remammg water supplies will escalate. “Overhead pivotal systems will be outlawed by the end of this decade because of the wasteful evaportation losses,” he added, “And urban voices will prevail over those of the farm because there are more of them.” “But, the upcoming years will finally see farmers maintenance is simpler and quicker than ever The Allis-Chalmers turbocharged line 7000 7020 7045 7060 and 7080 Built to give you a pleasant surprise with the work they do And we II sur prise you with what your old tractor is worth Stop in soon Surprise yourself ■Manufacturers ma.imum observed PTO horse Dower at rated engine speed Power Director is an Allis Chalmers trademark The a RWng Power in (Simms ALLIS-CHALMERS PEIERMAH FARM EQUIPMENT, INC. SHARTLESVILLE FARM SERVICE ROl Hamburg, PA 215-488-1025 H Daniel Wenger. Prop AG. - INDUSTRIAL EQUIPMENT CANYON IMPLEMENTS, INC. ROl, Mansfield, PA 717-724-2731 taking their “rightful place in the world,” he concluded, “And maybe the public will finally decide that it’s no crime for the fanner to make a profit.” Before, after and during breaks in the sessions of the conference, farmers jam med the display room filled with booths and represen tatives from seed, fertilizer and machinery companies. Planners for the popular conference included a host of agricultural extension agents and specialists from Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, Virginia and West Virginia and numerous industry representatives. Com mittees are already at work making plans for next year’s no-till confab, scheduled for January 8, 1981, m Lan-ftS caster. - JB ™ GRUMELLI FARM SERVICE Quarryville, PA 717-786-7318 225 York Road Carlisle, PA 717-249-5338 R 2, Rising Sun, MD 301-658-5568 AIRVIUE FARM SERVICE Hwy 74, Airville, PA 717-862-3358 A. J. NOSS & SON, INC. RO2,oley. PA 215-987-6257
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