D2o—Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, January 26,1980
PSU’s McClellan urges no-till farming
UNIVERSITY PARK -
No-tillage farming can be
successful on any nor
theastern dairy farm where
the chief crops are com,
oats, and alfalfa, declared
Dr. Willis L. McClellan of the
Pennsyvlama State
University January 3.
He addressed nearly 1,000
farmers attending the Sixth
Annual Mid-Atlantic No-Till
Conference held at Hunt
Valley, Md.
The Penn State
agronomist urged farmers to
“take advantage of what is
already known about a
complete no-bllage system.”
No-till farming replaces
plowing with planters having
soil-cutting disks or coulters
which prepare a narrow
strip for placing the seed.
Dr. McClellan reported the
chief advantages of no-till
farming are control of
erosion, the ability to plant
instead of using time for
tillage, and minimum labor
and fuel. Eastern farmers
have proved, he said, that
they can grow no-tillage
corn, soybeans, forage
crops, and small grams.
Timeliness of no-tillage
planting can be of utmost
benefit to farmers, he
pointed out. No-till planting
prevents delays in seeding
fields.
In conventional planting,
however, delays due to
weather and soil conditions
can disrupt the entire
planting operation.
Moreover, soil conditions
in no-till fields often allow
harveting when con
ventionally tilled fields will
not support heavy har
vesting equipment. Dr.
McClellan noted.
In no-till fanning, only
herbicides are needed for
weed control. Dr. McClellan
stated. A com crop can be
followed with no-tillage oats
the succeeding year. Her
bicides with short-term
residues must be used on the
com field to prevent injury
to oats.
After removing oats for
£2
gram and harvesting the
straw, the farmer can put in
a no-till alfalfa seeding m the
oats stubble. Yields from a
com-oats-alfalfa rotation m
a no-till system are equal to
yields with conventional
tillage, it was pomted out.
John H. Koons of R.D. 2,
Waynesboro, Pa., described
his experiences with no
tillage on a dairy farm.
He said the time and labor
saved in growing no-tillage
corn has made it possible for
him to increase his acreage
considerably and has
provided much added in
come without creating any
more work.
“All com on our farm is
planted no-till and we have
been planting no-till for eight
years,” he claimed. “The
Limit extended for comment
on milk reconstitution
WASHINGTON, D.C. -
Dairy fanners, milk han
dlers and consumers will
have an additional 45 days to
file comments and proposals
on the issue of reconstituted
milk, U.S. Department of
Agriculture officials an
nounced today. The original
comment period which
would have expired Jan. 15
has been extended to Feb. 29.
P. R. Smith, assistant
secretary of agnculture for
marketing and tran
sportation services, said
requests for the extension
were granted because the
proposals submitted by the
Community Nutrition In
stitute are national in scope
and require extensive study
by those affected.
The CNI proposals would
remove reconstituted milk
from the Class I pricing
provisions of federal milk
orders. Reconstituted milk is
biggest advantage no-tillage
has given us is the ability to
add 300 acres of rented
ground for produemg corn
and 400 acres of custom
planting.
“This provides added
income without greatly
mcreasmg our time and
labor beyond that needed
eight years ago to plant 100
acres m the conventional
way,” Mr. Koons affirmed.
He said 90 per cent of his
manure is handled as liquid.
He said he believes that
liquid manure and no-tillage
com “go hand m hand.” The
100-acre home farm is grown
to silage com and these
fields get the manure.
All of Koon’s silage com
field are seeded to rye
made by combining whole
milk powder or nonfat dry
milk with water and but
terfat. Currently, all milk
products used for fluid
consumption are pnced at
the Class 1 level, the highest
priced class under the
federal milk orders.
Smith said requests for
extension of the comment
period on the proposed
hearing were received from
several interested parties
including members of
Congress, the National Milk
Producers Federation, the
Milk Industry Foundation,
and the State of New York.
NMPF asked for an ad
ditional 180 days and the
others for unspecified
amounts of tune to complete
studies on the CNI proposals.
The assistant secretary
pointed out that the ex
tension is consistent with the
administration’s policy,
covei ci ops after the corn is
harvested and removed The
rye is killed in the spring
with herbicides and then
com is planted.
“It is important that corn
planter soil-cutting disks or
coulters cut through the
manure crust to allow air
and sunlight to penetrate
down to the soil where the
com is germmating. If this is
done properly, germination
and a good stand of seedlings
are assured,” he stated.
He also adds a ton or more
of lime per acre to all com
ground each year, as long as
tune and weather conditions
permit. This prevents the
soil from becoming acid and
allows herbicides to control
weeds effectively.
emphasizing that the public
should be given adequate
time to study and become
familiar with issues that
have national ramifications
and are being considered by
the government.
Notice of the granting of
the extension was published
in the January 18 Federal
Register. Comments and
proposals, with three copies,
should be sent to the deputy
administrator, Marketing
Program Operations,
Agricultural Marketing
Service, USDA, Washington,
D.C. 20250.
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