Where are the farmlands of the future? DENVER, Colo. Where are the farmlands of the future? The western states are running out of water; the Northeast hasn’t much farmland left, and the Midwest is already at maximum production of grain. However, throughout the Southeast, vast acreages of prime agricultural land are not being used. “We have potential that hasn’t even been tapped yet,” said Michael Sprott, director of the Alabama Cooperative Extension Service. “The South is the largest pool of Gass 1 and 2 land in the world.” Some of the land belongs to rural people who inherited their land but cannot afford to farm. “There are a lot of people who own 25-40 acres- which do not < produce income so they work in town,’’ according to John Brown, JUNE DAIRY MONTH SPECIAL 1 dauy f VTV | W O/ DISCOUNT ON ALL NEW '*** 13 /O DAIRY EQUIPMENT Westfalia' introduces the New “Time Saver” Crowd Gate Lightweight and with Practical Design Built-In practicality with all permanent com ponents, mounted separate from the gate, the "Time Saver" Crowd Gate can be econ omically Installed in any cow holding area with side or rear access Light weight and easy to install. It has no “track" to run on, thus eliminating the need for reinforced fencing or support rails The height of the cow holding area may vary depending on your type of cleaning equip ment But the "Time Saver" Crowd Gate can go as low as practlcaTfor your installation MwMachMiiamwnh BaO%Ml,El«eWcChai9er t Limit Swttchaa Control Box and 2y Length Extender Full control with heavy duty drive Ball Signal Box. Electric charger and Adapt* *a*lly to fit your needs, mechanism, with forward and reverse. Control Box assure positive gat* Allow* for more versatility for various PosHivs limit switch control. control siza holding areas. DAIRY MONTH SPECIAL ALSO INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING: • Show Ease Stalls • Motorized Feed • Manure Augers, • Cow mats Carts both power take • Zimmerman • Hand Feed Carts off & motor driven Ventilating • Manure Scrapers • Liquid Manure Fans & Controls for 1 Poultry & Free Spreaders • Vacuum Pumps Operations • Automatic Take offs WE DO ALL TYPES OF INSTALLATIONS - PARLORS, ETC. CLYDE C. LUTZ 1316 Apple Street, Ephrata, PA 17522 717-738-1718 or 733-1224 Jr., Director of the Southeast Alabama Self-Help Association. In Alabama, property taxes are so low land owners have little in centive to make their land produce an income. Much of the South’s best far mland is in pasture, depleted by a century of cotton production. These grazing lands have made the Southeast a major beef producer; but the land is becoming overgrazed; there is a drought, and the beef market is down. With the promise of wheat sales to Russia* some farmers are plowing their pastures this spring to plant wheat; others are putting in soybeans. Timber companies are also beginning to realize the potential of their forests to produce crops other than pulpwood for paper. In southern Alabama, timber com AMERICA’S BODMIN NU-PULSE SYSTEM F.or Parlors, Pipelines and Pail Milkers. Americas Nu- Pulse Milker Can Help You Reduce Operating Costs and Increase Your Milk Output. DHIA APPROVAL... The True Test Meter has Been Officially Approved For Use With The Bodmin Milker “Effectively cuts Milking Time by 10% M panics have clear-cut some of their forest land and leased it to tenant - farmers for row crops. After 10 years, the land is to be returned to the companies to produce another crop of trees. The South’s best land, the bottom lands along rivers, is under water. In Alabama, the Tennessee Valley Authority dammed every free flowing river in the 1950’5, flooding huge tracts of land. , Prime farmland which is under water, under forest, or simply under-utilized, is termed “in reserve,” available for agricultural production should tbe need or the economic potential arise. Already a need is arising. A migration of northerners and northern industry to the South is increasing local demand for food. At present, nearly all vegetables AUTHORIZED BODMIN DEALER FOR DAUPHIN, LEBANON A BERKS COUNTIES sold in southern supermarkets are trucked in from Texas and California. With transportation costs rising steadily, the in creasing demand for food in the south may make it economically feasible to grow vegetables there once again. Even if growing food does not become as profitable as growing pulpwood for paper, some agricultural experts think {hat timber companies would be wise to take a portion of their land out of forest to grow field crops. “I’m afraid that we’re getting into the same situation with timber that we had with cotton,” said Wade Hurt of the US Soil Con servation Service in Auburn, Alabama. When the boll weevil came along, it not only wiped out all the cotton, it destroyed the South’s cott-onbased economy as well. The agricultural potential of the South as a food producer is already being challenged by industrial growth. According to Robert Gray, Director of the National Agricultural Lands Study of the US Dept, of Agriculture, the land issue is “Most acute in the South and DO bh ' T SLOW Call Now To Place Your CLASSIFIED AD Ph: 717-394-3047 or 717-626-1164 ARCADIAN liquid gives a profitable boost to alfalfa after every cutting. Give alfalfa a liquid boost after the first cutting That’s when topdressing N-P-K, and micronutrients in an Arcadian® liquid fertilizer made with POLY-N® pays big dividends in high yielding, high quality alfalfa. You can even add insecticides if you need to. When it’s done right, a topdressing after every cutting will increase the yields. It will raise the protein content. Help the crop compete better against grasses. And improve the vigor for a long stand life. Arcadian liquid makes it easy. Made the SLP way. Arcadian liquid gives you uniform distribution of fertilizer ingredients from start to finish. It’s truly the efficient way to turn alfalfa into green gold. <!*!&* Plant Foods MARTIN’S AG SERVICE ROI. Box 716, New Holland, PA 17557 Phone: 717-354-4996 or 717-354-5848 Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 20,19t1—015 Southeast, partly because of limitation migration from the iNprth, tut also because of growing industrial activity in these areas.” The conversion of agricultural land to industrial purposes has been most extensive in Alabama’s most productive county, in the Tennessee River Valley. An area of small farms, it has been bought up because of the availabhty of cheap water. A drought, now in its second year .vith summer ‘Bl forecasts in dicating hotter and drier weather than normal, also threatens to force small farmers to sell their land. “We still have a plantation system,” said Dima Norton, of the University of Alabama’s Program for Rural Services and Research. “But now it’s the corporate plantations that are controlling the land.” Some experts are not at all sure that the South can preserve its agricultural lands, but others feel certain that because of its resource of prime farm land, the South will rise again as the agricultural center of the US. c/oJOHN Z. MARTIN
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