European small grain systems reviewed LANCASTER European farmers set yield goals near the 150-bushel-per-acre mark for their small grain crops. How they ex pect to reach these yield goals was the topic of an international seminar on the technology of cereal production, yields and productivity, organized by the Royal Agricultural Society of England last summer. This technology, as reviewed by several U.S. small grain resear chers, has resulted in average wheat yield increases in England of almost 40 percent during the last 10 years to a national average of six tons per hectare (89 bushels per acre). One U.S. representative at the European seminar was Mark Alley, associate professor of Chester Co. DHIA (Continued from Page D2l) Harold R Kulp Wisk Arthur D Hershey Fres6 David Bartram 277 David E Weaver Janet COCALICO CONCRETE Ready Mix Concrete For Every Purpose SERVICE IS OUR BUSINESS . 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A NEW Alfalfa - Boyd's 84VW • Verticilumn Wilt Resistant • Anthracnose Resistant • Phylophthora Root Rot Very Limited Supply - Place Your Order Mow BOYDELL FARMS 302 lona Rd., Lebanon, PA 17042 Phone; 717-272-8943 agronomy at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University if Blacksburg. He compared the European technology to U.S. production methods and says, “We have a great unexploited potential for small grams. We have soils with good production capacity, as good or better than those in Europe where some of the better growers average 150 bushels of barley per acre. That’s eight tons per hectare and their high yield clubs set goals of 10-ton crops.” Alley reports that the philosophy of cereal production is based on the high value of the crop in European countries and the “total system thinking.” Production techniques in the total system ranges from crop residue management and tillage systems to fertilizer and 3 7 7 305 22 902 3 5 806 3 9 5 305 19 565 4 1 806 3 5 9 305 23 420 3 4 805 3 6 5 295 19 097 4 2 805 WHOLESALE TWINES RETAIL plant growth regulator ap plications. Management factors The management factors that aided progress toward the high yields are: (1) planting dates; (2) seeding rates; (3) nitrogen rates and timing; and (4) plant growth regulators to control lodging. To develop these management factors for U.S. growers will take research and field trials, Alley says, but he suggests farmers can begin a high yield program by incorporating the following steps into their grain production program: -Select the best adapted variety from university and company performance trials. Look for top yields over two to three years for consistency. Also watch for disease resistance, milling qualities and characteristics, plus maturity dates if doublecropping. In Kurope, breeders are con centrating on disease resistance and yield potential. The economic goal of the government is for their countries to be self-sufficient. This places more emphasis on the small gram breeding programs than in the U.S., says Alley. “Their leties are bred for high fertility high yields.” van and PENN DIESEL SERVICE CO. 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Placing emphasis on uniform depth for maximum uniform emergence, Alley says, planting can be done in no-tillage fields with several models of well-adjusted no till drills. -Seeding rates are precisely managed in high yielding systems. To manage planting to a desired population, seeds must be counteu, not planted by the pount per acre. Varieties will have varied seed sizes and required seed depths for best performance. In Virginia tests, Alley says, the seeding is determined by number of seed per foot of row to reach desired populations. Another consideration is that wheat plants compensate for population differences like soybeans, where the pod set in creases in a thin stand to yield the same. 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