El4—Lancaster Fannins, Saturday, February 23,1980 Crops fanners get update on com, tobacco, grain BY CURT HAULER LANCASTER A look at last year’s problems and tips on how to prevent more of the same m 1980 highlighted the Crops and Soils Day held at the Farm and Home Center. John Yocum, Superin tendent of Penn State’s Southeast Field Research Laboratory, reviewed the 1979 growing season as one beset with weather problems. There was less heat during the day and more days with rainfall although not more total ram. Ram fell on IS of 21 days at the end of May. So, the total amount of sunshine also was off. Cool temperatures, frequent ram, and cloudy conditions are ideal for disease problems, Yocum told farmers. Terming the blue mold infection “the worst disaster on tobacco smce I’ve been here,” Yocum said the problem was noted in most tobacco growing states except Wisconsin. The problem can be identified by the stunted plants Most will show little or no root system and will display white, sucker-like growths. Yocum said Ferbam, while an effective preventive for blue mold, is not a cure once the problem shows up in fields TERRE HILL SILO CO. INC. Serving The Farm Community For Over One-Half Century TERRE HILL, PA. 17581 ~(ib^rdome FEED BINS The reflective while color and low tem perature conductivity of Fiberdome Feed Bins reduce con densati l ''' to a negligible minimum This eliminates feed lumping bridging and losing palatability FORAGE FUNNELS yT* Fiberdome Forage t fWe&fc Funnels save wear on S |io chutes and helps £ " a!uffs ' s,E “ s keep them clean They , are easy to install and operate and they adapt to any con ventional make silo and unloading system Fiberdome calfhutches cut down spread of disease ana ca'f Sfe losses Thev are aiso r lea" and ea , ", oo c c. -loV!A f JAWES’E'-'-4cA-20?C jj^ He said a new material called Ridorml 2E, while not yet cleared for use by far mers, can be applied after blue mold shows up on the crop. Yocum recommended farmers keep a sharp eye on tobacco beds this year for any sign of blue mold. He suggested they start looking when plants are about the size of a dune. He said if any sign of blue mold infestation appears farmers should begin a spray program at five day in tervals. If the weather turns bad, the program should be ac celerated to every three days, Yocum said. Small grains, too, had a difficult tune with diseases last year Yocum said the same weather which gave rise to the tobacco diseases favored problems on small gram He said farmers should be on the lookout for root rots which may be already in the field from fall-sown gram. Another problem is take all, a disease which most frequently appears m fields where wheat follows wheat m rotation or with only a year between crops. Rust can hurt wheat or oats yields if it comes early enough. But the number one problem m small grams m powdery mildew Yocum said it may pay to > 5 FIBERGLASS BULK STORAGE BINS c IBERGLrtS c CALF HU T| ' u 'Sr' use a fungicide in certain cases to combat powdery mildew. He said preliminary Penn State research shows a chemical application may give significant return in yield to pay for the cost of the spray. For most farmers, there is little they can do about the small gram already planted But farmers can do plenty to help that gram get a good start gomg into sprmg. Yocum pointed out there is little growth on most of the small grains in the Southeastern part of the state. The open winter this year means there probably has been great loss of fertilizer from fields. “Most small gram crops would benefit greatly from a topdressing with nitrogen as soon as possible,” Yocum said. He said farmers should not delay until April for the topdressmg but should go ahead and apply the N as soon as they can—if the ground is not frozen He pointed out that the sooner the fertilizer is ap plied the sooner the plants can use it for tillering And that means more plants per ■acre, and therefore more production Barley may be the one exception. Weak straw makes excessive N ap- <| SEE US AT THE FARM MACHINERY • EXPO, FEBRUARY 28 &29 and < •; MARCH lin the FARM SHOW < \ BUILDING, HARRISBURG, PA | Manufacturers and Erectors of Terre Hill TRI-RIB STAVE SILO <r ’*■ FOR OLD FASHIONED PRIDE OF WORKMANSHIP ★ SEE AND COMPARE THE PROVEN ih i ERIOR s-ie: t~~Z' plication on barley a dangerous proposition. Yocum said farmers should know their fields before gomg m with too much nitrogen on barley. THE PATI SOLUTION: Controlled I Manure Management r ... t . , , More farmers ara turn Ing to controlled manure management to save valuable nutrients and to make manure handling easier And Patz has the equipment to help you move, store, spread and inject manure on your farm The Model 100 manure pump handles free flowing manure and slurry with fine-cut bedding A thick steel sleeve gives the plunger rigidity, and both the plunger and plunger sleevo can be serviced without concrete breakup The Model 200 com pressed air manure mover features s manually operated hatch cover and a one way valve at the bot tom of the under-ground tank, so wear is minimal An air compressor-pro vides air pressure to agitate manure in the 1,700 U S gallon codec lion tank and then air pressure moves manure to your storage facility Want to know more 9 Your Patz dealer will show you how to make daily manure handling push button easy with Patz THE PATZ SOLUTION: Reliable Year-Round Feeding You know the problems caused by hard packed and frozen silage Patz gives you two solutions to the problem the Model RD 790 ring-drive slio unloader and the Model 988 surface-drive silo unloader Both unloaders feature a double hook gathering chain with hardanad steel cutters end claws that rip through frozen and packed silage When you push the button, you know you can count on a smooth feed Ing operation Evaluate our powered silo wall cutters Spring tension holds 4 self sharpening stssl cutter blades in place to follow the curve of the silo wall This keeps silage from building up along the wells so you can be sure that you re getting all the feed where it belongs In the feeder and not stuck to the walls Want to know more about the Patz system 9 See your Patz dealer He’ll show you Patz quality and reliability two Important words to a farmer (Ike you Patz BBH Pound Wisconsin 54161 USA Performance Strong as Steei ►' t v f >- 1 ’'OChiMU ’'> HO' ' CV-, HSLL, 9A. 1758 ' P’l 2x5-445 6735 o r Safcsman James Esbenshace 7 f r XaEK 1 . But he said most barley plantmgs probably could profit from an application of 15 to 20 pounds N per acre. He said most small grams fields would benefit from Patz Slurry Manure Pump (tap phota) and CamprataaP Air Manura Mavar (Bottom phota) SEE US AT THE FARM MACHINERY EXPO FERRUARY 21 A 29, MARCH 1 FARM SHOW BUILDING, HARRISBURG, PA i i Patz Saubla-hoak gatharinf chain laaturas cuttara and claws fee C"** - some lime, too. He noted small grain usually comes last in the rotation and therefore is on the tail-end as far as the liming cycle. (Turn to Page El 6) 1 RMBNRBN mUmr- Ratatlno ataal MaSat kaap tha til# wall fraa at allafa buildup (shown withaut guards) OP ■| Cl 1 1 C _ ' 454 2090
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers