A2B—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 24,1981
Fertilizer impregnation now permits weed and feed
READING - Penn
sylvania fertilizer blenders
turned custom applicators
have found a new way to
increase sales, better utilize
equipment and, most im
portantly , improve
satisfaction among their
farmer customers
Thanks to a process called
dry bulk fertilizer im
pregnation, blender/ap
plicators in the Readmg-
Lanaster area have ex
panded their services during
the busy spring planting
period while offering greater
flexibility to the small
farmer Until last year, the
small acreage farmer in this
largely dairy area had to
apply preplant incorporated
(ppi) herbicides on his own
But now the fertilizer
blender can save him a trip
across the field, not to
mention valuable time, by
custom applying dry fer
tilizer and liquid herbicides
at the same time
A weed*and-feed method,
fertilizer impregnation
involves spraying liquid
herbicides into the feitilizer
mixer while dry fertilizer is
being custom blended Each
fertilizer granule absorbs
the herbicide, thus becoming
“impregnated” with it The
herbicide is later released
when the fertilizer is
dissolving in the grower’s
soil
By using this method, the
Reading, Pa Bone Fertilizer
Company, can make use of
its six dry spreader trucks
during a tune when the
trucks usually sit idle The
company’s busy schedule
keeps its application
equipment running at full
capacity throughout most of
the year, but the dry truck
liming operation usually
slows to a halt right before
planting season.
“We use five hi-flotation
sprayer trucks and three
smaller trucks to apply fluid
fertilizer with Uauid her
bicides,” says Bill Angstadt,
general manager of Reading
Bone and the fourth
generation to carry on this
family business.
“But its not practical for
us to bring in our big fluid
rigs to a farm with only 20 or
30 acres of com These
Jim Bowersox, sales manager of Chemgro Fer
tilizer, of East Petersburg, says he feels that fer
tilizer impregnation is opening new doors for the
custom application business.
sprayers hold more than 1000
gallons and can cover 20
acres m an hour we lose
efficiency going from farm
to farm with them ”
Most of Reading Bone’s
com customers have large
enough acreages to justify
bringing in the big equip
ment But a good 10,000 com
acres are scattered among
small farms in the com
pany’s seven-county market
area
“Those growers had no
choice before except to apply
their own ppi herbicide,’’
states Angstadt “But now
that we’re impregnating dry
fertilizer with ppi herbicides
we can offer then the total
program We use the
spreader trucks to apply the
impregnated fertilizer
because they can do a 10 to 12
acre job much more ef
ficiently ”
To prepare the mixture,
Angstadt first blends
‘Sutan + 6 7E” herbicide
with atrazine and mixes it
into a slurry He then pumps
the mixture into the fer
tilizer blender while the
fertilizer is being custom
blended For each acre, he
uses 500 lbs of 20-10-10 dry
fertilizer plus five pints
“Sutan+” and V* lb
atrazine
“The process doesn't take
any longer than regular
custom blending,” says
Angstadt “Last year was
really just our ‘getting feet
wet year’ for impregnation,
but I can tell it’s going to be a
bonus for us The farmers
were very pleased with the
results.”
According to Angstadt, the
method not only saves the
farmers a trip across the
field, but they get more
consistent weed control with
“Sutan+” and atrazine
Weeds controlled by the
herbicide mixture include
annual grasses such as
barnyardgrass, fall pamcum
and seedling johnsongrass,
and annual broadleaf weeds
such as ra t /eed, cocklebur
and mormngglory
Fertilizer impregnation
also offers farmers much
more flexibility Angstadt
says With big fluid rigs, the
entire field has to be sprayed
at once But with spreader
trucks, a grower might have
20 acres spread one day, disc
the mixture mto the soil, and
then have the applicator
come back the next day to
spread the rest of his
acreage
“As long as the grower
applies ‘Sutan+’ within a
week of planting, he has the
option of applying it all at
once or in several ap
plications,” explains
Angstadt
Chemgro Fertilizer
Company, of East Peter
sburg, specializes in dry
fertilizer blending and ap
plication in the five-county
area it serves The company
also experimented with
fertilizer impregnation last
year, using “Eptam 7-E
herbicide on alfalfa ground
Sales manager Jim
Bowersox feels that the
process will ‘open new
doors” for the company’s
custom application business
‘We don’t have fluid spray
trucks, so the only ap
plication service we could
offer in the past was custom
applying dry fertilizer with
our spreader trucks,” states
Bowersox ‘ Now we can
expand our services to in
clude herbicide application,
as well ”
Last spring Chemgro
impregnated “Eptam” on 5-
15-30 dry fertilizer for four of
its customers, using two
quarts of the herbicide to 300
lbs fertilizer per acre A
preplant incorporated
herbicide, “Eptam” controls
Good fertiliser use keeps costs down *
SALISBURY, Md -
Fertilizer cosit. are always
going up There are lots ot
reasons - production.
transportation and other
energy-related costs, as well
as the world-wide demand
for fertilizers
Farmers are un
derstandably anxious to get
the most they can out of their
fertilizer dollar Fertilizer
represents 40 percent of the
direct cost of producing an
acre ot corn The percentage
can be just as high tor
soybeans, though in some
cases you don’t need any
fertilizer at all with them
With fertilizer playing
such an important role in the
economics of crop
production these days, it’s
not surprising that three of
the presentations at the
upcoming Delmarva Corn
and Soybean Technology
Conference, February 4, in
Salisbury, Md , will concern
this subject
Agronomists William
Mitchell of the University ot
Delaware and Allan Bandel
of the University of
Maryland will talk about
efficient fertilizer use in corn
production - stressing
practices such as banding in
the planter, sidedressing
young plants with nitrogen,
and the effective use of
minor elements Their talk
should give farmers some
good ideas on how to get the
most from their corn fertility
programs
Another speaker, George
Hawkins of the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute, will
discuss soybean fertility
program Hawkins has done
a lot ot good work with
soybeans on coastal plain
Reading Bon Fertilizer Co., family business started in 1905 and operated by
Bill Angstadt Sr. and Bill Angstadt Jr., offers a total crop program to farmers in
the Berks County area, including soil tests, insect identification and pesticide
and fertilizer recommendations.
annual grasses and annual
broadleaf weeds in alfalfa
“The growers were happy
to let us apply the mixture,
because it saves them time
and energy,” says
Bowsersox “Before, the
only way you could tank mix
soils similar to those on
Delmarva
He has also studied the use
of minor elements on
soybeans According to
extension agent Ed Kee, one
of the conference planners,
the VPI agronomist is a real
believer in the value of soil
tests in determining how
much fertilizer to apply
With all the wheat that was
planted last fall, it looks like
soybean acreage will be
increasing, says Kee So this
discussion of soybean fer
tility should be very timely
A lot ot new lime materials
have become available to
Delmarva farmers over the
last few years Another
County fairs receive
$1.9 million
HARRISBURG - Penn
sylvania Agriculture
Secretary Penrose Hallowell
Thursday presented checks
totaling $1,944,499 95 to
representatives of 107 county
and community fairs from
across Pennsylvania
The 16 county fairs in
Region 6, southcentral
Pennsylvania, received
checks totaling $288,689.49
The presentations,
reimbursements for
premiums and programs,
were made during the an
nual meeting of the State
Association of County Fairs,
held at the Marriott Inn of
Harrisburg
Hallowell told the Fair
Association, ‘lt is a great
pleasure for the Department
ot Agriculture to assist our
S x
--r*
herbicides and fertilizer was
with liquid solutions But
now dry fertilizer can
compete with liquid fer
tilizer on a convenience
scale ”
Bowersox says Chemgro
plans to offer impregnation
conference speaker Roy
Flannery ot Rutgers
University, will discuss the
merits ot each ot these
materials and explain how to
compare them so you know
which will give you the best
buy tor your money
Besides these three
presentations, there will also
be talks on the latest corn
and soybean cultural
practices, the grain outlook
for the Eastern Shore, how to
troubleshoot corn and
soy beans
Capping oft the progiam
will be nationally known
taim broadcaster Orion
fsamuelson, speaking on
in state funds
county and community fairs
through the Pennsylvania
Fair Fund
‘Your fairs are an im
portant part of Penn
sylvania’s rural agricultural
heritage, not only as a
showplace for agriculture,
but also as a proving
grounds for the farmers and
farm youths who compete in
fair events ”
Robert F. Norman,
President of the Association
said, “These funds are
essential to the operation of
our fairs We are proud to be
a part of Pennsylvania
agriculture, and intend to
continue our efforts toward
increased competition and
promotion of our farm
tradition ”
Hallowell said he is
> *m
I
of preplant corn herbicides
such as *Sutan+” and'
“Eradicane” this year
“Impregnation is a great
tool for a dry fertilizer
company like Chemgro,”
Bowersox says, “It’ll be
great for our sales ”
U S Agncultuie in the
Eighties Tennessee
yarner Cotton Ivy \vUT
return to serve as con
terence MC and entertain
with his amusing country
tales
i'he Dehnarva Corn and
Soybean Technology Con
ference is sponsored by area
agribusiness industries and
the Extension Services ot
Delaware, Maryland, and
Virginia Exhibits open at
BJO am The program
staitsalO 30 and adjourns at
3 45 p m See local extension
agents or agribusiness
lepiesentatives tor tree
lunch tickets
looking forward to another
successful fair season in
Pennsylvania
“Beginning with the
Dubois Gateway Fair in
Clearfield County June 15th
through the close of the
Umontown Poultry and
Farm Show in Fayette
County November 29th,
millions of Pennsylvanians
will have the opportunity to
meet Pennsylvania
agriculture on a face to face
basis. We are proud of our
fairs and wish them con*
tinued success.”
The Pennsylvania Fair
Fund annually disburses
monies from horse and
harness racing revenues to
107 fairs in the Com
monwealth.