•••. / - S . ' f f 34.5% Ammonia Nitrate Starting at $ 95 ton CailbeforeBa.m.orafterBp.m. ' Somerset Na-Clmrs Soil Service Rd 1 Markleton, PA 15551 814-395-5030 super silage handler by JAMESWAY' Jg^B»Sgigac \«* ."AUS* A*M*& New Fill-N-Feed® Ground Level Change-Over (optional) for the Big Jim silage system lets you switch from fill to feed and back again, simply by setting a control at ground level. Indicator lights show you what’s happening in the silo. Feature adds ease and flexibility while the system evenly packs in more silage; feeds out fast. See us for systems and service that help make the good life better. AGRI EQUIPMENT INC. 2754 Creek Hill Rd Leola, PA 17540 717-656-4151 I. G. SALES Rt. 113, Box 200 Silverdale, PA 215-257-5135 G. HIRAM BUCHMAN, INC. Rte 519-N oflßte 46 P 0 Box 185 Belvidere, NJ 07823 201475 2185 ERB & HENRY EQUIP., INC. ■r S „ S ' /fttMC o rtX }4U;*H6 uxrva HENRY S. LAPP SOUENBERGER SILOS 7527 RFD i 7 gSS£ , » PA ' HARRY L. TROOP Rt 1 Cochranville. PA 19330 215-593-6731 DETWILER SILO REPAIR No-till (continued irom rage Ott A J \ • J. A. SWOPE Box 121, RDI Myerstown, PA 717-933-4758 Rt. 2. Newville. PA 717-776-7533 No-tillage and con ventional tillage corn were compared at five nitrogen rates- 0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 lbs N/A In recent years, the 40 lb rate was replaced with a 240 lb N rate According to Bandel, the typical response has been that at low nitrogen rates, no-tillage corn did not yield as well as conventional tillage com But at more optimal N rates, no-tillage generally out-yielded con ventional tillage corn Apparently, conventional tillage corn benefits from soil N mineralized from organic matter by cultivation When the soil is plowed, organic matter is Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 24,1981—D3 oxidized and some of its N is released for plant use Less organic N is mineralized under no-tillage since the soil is not tilled and exposed to atmospheric oxygen In spite of the frequency of the above described “typical” relationship between tillage and N rate, it does not always occur For instance, at the Forage Research Farm in 1978, no-tillage consistently out-yielded conventional tillage corn at all N rates. And conversely at Wye Institute the same year, conventional tillage con sistently out-yielded no tillage corn Why? Was it because of some unique soil charac teristic such as temperature, moisture or soil drainage 9 Or could it have been due to time of N application, management, local weather or what 9 In an effort to examine tune of N application, a test at Poplar Hill was established in 1978 so that two N application dates could be compared The plots were split, with N applied to one half of the plot on April 28 All for the N for the other half of the plot was applied on June 6 On those plots which received N on April 28, conventional tillage con sistantly out-yielded no tillage corn. This was unexpected, since at the Poplar Hill location, the “cross-over” type relationship described previously between tillage and N rate had prevailed in the past However, for those plots which had received N on June 6, the expected “cross-over” relationship did occur between no-tillage and conventional tillage grain yields It was obvious in this case that the early N application did not benefit no-tillage as much as conventional tillage com Under conventional tillage, there was no yield PLANT 'n SPRAY - ONE TRIP ACROSS FIELD Save Time-Save Fuel-Increase Yield I 1 1 Featuring the TRIM VUE TANKS Broadcast Apply Liquid Nitrogen, Liquid Fertilizer With Herbicides All In One Operation Can Also Be Used With Water H Your Program Is Dry Fer tilizer NOW IS THE TIME TO THINK SPRIN6I! Call Or Come In Today You Are In Good Hands At Lancaster County’s Only Dealer Specializing in Sprayer Sales & Service LESTER A. SINGER RONKS, PA PH: (717) 687-6712 Eves. & Sats. (717) 687-7116 difference due to the date of N application. However, under no-tillage a rather large grain yield benefit occured in favor of the late N application It was apparent that under no-tillage some mechanism reduced availability of the early applied N. Either the N was leached from the root zone be'ore the plants could recover it, or the N was immobilized by soil microorganisms. Timing had no apparent effect upon N availability (as reflected by corn yields) under the conventional tillage com Yield data collected in 1979 and 1980, in an effort to repeat these results, were not conclusive Abnormal weather conditions may have been partially responsible si* 1 ' the 1980 growing season was ab normally wet, and 1980 was extremely droughty Of five test locations in 1979, at only one was there any benefit observed for delayed N application This occurred on a Beltsville silt loam soil at the Plant Research Farm near College Park At Poplar Hill the only response was due to N rate. In 1980, grain yields were not influenced by any significant interaction between tillage, N rate, or tune of N application The greatest response observed was due to tillage. At Poplar Hill when op timal N rates had been applied, no-tillage corn yielded approximated 40 bushels per acre more than similarly fertilizer con ventional tillage corn Similar trends were also observed at the other three locations Drought stress obviously was less severe in the no-tillage plots than in the conventional tillage plots. Labeled N fertilizer tests conducted by Drs Legg, Stanford and Meisinger at USDA, Beltsville, Maryland (Turn to Hage D 4)