D6—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 24,1951
Energy, environment, production are problems facing farmers
LANCASTER - “The
energy required for crop
production has come under
close scrutiny since the 1973
Arab Oil Embargo,” stated
G.B. Triplett, Professor of
Agronomy, Ohio
Agricultural Research and
Development Center,
Wooster, Ohio during the 7th
Annual Mid-Atlantic No-till
Conference
“I hope agriculture gets its
fuel allotment, but farmers
can’t count on it,” he said.
Triplett addressed 1200
farmers from six states
concerning problems facing
agriculture in the near
future energy, en
vironmental quality, and
production demand
In recent years, with the
advent of no-till farming,
energy demands have been
reduced while farmers
continue to meet the growing
No
(Continued from Page 04)
to apply some additional N
on the no-till fields to
compensate for the higher
yield goals
—Unless N fertilizers can
be soil incorporated, such as
by injection ammonium
nitrate or some other N
source should be utilized that
is not as subject to
volatilization or im
mobilization losses as urea
—N applications should be
split, with a small amount of
starter N (3(MO lb /A) at
planting followed by the
remainder as a sidedress
when the com is 12” to 18”
tall (or approximately 5 to 6
weeks after planting.) This
is true for medium and
heavy textured soils as well
as light sandy soils
—When using nitrogen
solutions, consider a split
application as in (3) above
Use drop nozzles with a
coarse directed stream or a
solid stream for the second
application to obtain more
complete N to soil contact
Do not spray N solution over
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need for more and better
crop production, he pointed
out.
“The reason land is tilled
in the first place is to meet
the needs of the crop. There
will always be a need for
seedbed preparation and
weed control,” Triplett said,
“but it is questionable
whether tillage is needed for
nutrient incorporation,
burying plant residues,
loosening soil or soil aeration
in order to insure a bumper
crop.”
Triplett pointed out one
way agriculture has reduced
tillage operations and hand
labor is with herbicides.
Chemically controlmg weeds
eliminates several
cultivation steps and con
sequently trips across the
field from planting to har
vesting
In case studies conducted
till
the top of the growing plants
—A legular and close
security of soil pH levels
must be practiced, par
ticularly in the surface two
inches Continued ap
plication of acid-forming
fertilizers on the surface will
quickly result in a lower soil
pH at the surface Reported
de-activation of tnazine
herbicides due to low soil pH
can cause a serious
breakdown in weed control
A regular lime program is
essential
“The no-tillage concept for
producing corn is un
doubtedly the most exciting
“new” cultural practice to
happen in decades It has
gained rapid acceptance by
farmers of many states in
the Mid-Atlantic area
“As more information is
gained through research and
practical experience and
more of the temporary
problems are solved, no
tillage corn production is
expected to continue to gain
in popularity,” concluded
Bandel
in Ohio, Triplett told how
crop yields dropped
dramatically on both well
drained and poorly-drained
soils when conventional
tillage was used instead of
no-till.
While crop yields in
creased on those specific
plots, with no-tili, soil
erosion decreased, ac
cording to Triplett.
“When soil is kept untdled
with a mulch protecting it, it
stays in place When you
look at national averages for
sod loss m the Corn Belt and
see we’re losing 8 tons of sod
per acre, it doesn’t take long
to realize we’re exporting
our precious top sod along
with the gram.”
Triplett told the group of
farmers that it took 5 diesel
gallons of fuel to grow an
acre of com in the 1940’s
Since no-tdl has arrived, this
gallons-per-acre figure has
dropped to less than one
gallon.
The Ohioian also ex
pressed his concern over
what agricultural land is
designated prune farmland,
and what isn’t.
"I believe the prune
farmland designation is
based on conventional tillage
methods. If it was based on
no-till, a lot more land would
become prime,” he said.
Where will the future
agricultural land be found in
the US.’ According to
Triplett, increased acres of
land suitable for grain
production extends from
central Ohio through Penn
sylvania, southern New
York, West Virginia, Ken
tucky, Virginia, and
Maryland to the East Coast.
"The growing season and
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rainfall are suitable and
soils are productive with
good management prac
tices These rolling hills
could present difficulties in
using large equipment, but
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with enough economic in
centives,” Triplett ex
plained.
“The challenge then is to
apply the conservation
tillage practices to the most
icken:
ood for you and good for your budget
desirable locations. We
should continue efforts to
develop technology for
producing crop yields as
reliably with reduced tillage
as with more conventional
methods,” he concluded.
F. 0.8. Plant