AlB—Lancaster Faming, Saturday, August 25,1984 Lancaster’s no-till program gives LANCASTER This year was a real challenge to anyone doing custom com planting in Lancaster County. Looking at the fine com crop, one tends to forget that a lot of com went in under wet con ditions. In spite of these wet conditions, 96 farmers used one of the District’s planters this year. Three different dealers participated in the District’s program: Landis Brothers provided a John Deere 7000; N.G. Hershey provided a White 5100; and A.L. Hen provided a New Idea 904 double frame planter. The District owns the fourth planter which is a John Deere 7000. At the completion of the planting season, the planter is returned to the dealer who reconditions the planter so it can be sold as a good used planter. Over 1200 acres were planted this season with the District’s planters. Why rent a planter? Most farmers have a planter on their farm already, but it is a fact that half of the pu-ticipants this year used the District’s no-till planter for the first time. It gives the farmer a chance to try or ex periment with no-till before he invests in a conservation planter. Some farmers who are already convinced of the merits of no-till still rent the planter because it is to their favor economically. This is especially true with farms that have small acreage. Since it takes more time to prepare a field conventionally, some rented the planter when they figured there was not enough time to plow. Finally, farmers in the Rural Clean Water Project area were given the planter under special conditions to help promote the practice in that area. Gerald Heistand, the District’s Conservation Tillage Specialist, says that problems for those using the practice for the first time usually fall into one of three categories: that of planting, spraying or scouting. Beef Feeders Who Attended Our Free Seminars Know More Than You Do There is a simple way to get up to date information about running a beef feeder operation. Just attend one of our beef feeder meetings and you will leam about bunk feed management, and you will learn how to feed high quality, low cost balanced rations. We will teach you ways to maximize your profits by lowering your financial risk. If you attend the meeting most convenient for you, / you will leam all of those things. \ Our beef feeder meetings are Free, ) but space is limited. So call now to y b reserve a place. Why let the other fellow / I U know more than you do. SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS: "/ AUGUST 30,1984 IPM BLUE BALL FIRE HALL - BLUE BALL, PA AUGUST 30,1984 7PM LEOLA FAMILY RESTAURANT - LEOLA, PA SEPT. 4,1984 7PM BONANZA RESTAURANT - HANOVER, PA SEPT. 6,1984 NOON GRILL & GALLERY REST. - SHIPPENSBURG, PA SEPT. 6,1984 7PM RISSERS RESTAURANT - MYERSTOWN, PA FOR RESERVATIONS AND INFORMATION CALL Blue Ball Meeting RAY BRECHBILL Leola Meeting CURT UMBLE EARLUMBLE JOHN FORRY JAY BEIDEL BOBBAKER TONYEBERLY Hanover Meeting Shippensburg Meeting Myerstown Meeting (g) young’s Livestock Nutritional Services The conventional planter works from year to year with minor adjustments not so under no-till conditions. When a no-till planter is brought to a new farm, the far mer’s idea that the planter worked fine at the previous place so no further adjustments are necessary, underlines that this is still a common misconception. All planters used in the District’s program did the job when properly adjusted. The most challenging type of cover to work with, is tall grasses. Following the established rule of running the no-till coulter slightly above or below the double disk opener will cause problems under these conditions. Sinking the coulter deeper usually improved the situation. If the coulter does not give a clean cut, the grass is pushed into the slot and there is virtually no soil to seed contact. Sometimes seeds will bounce right out of the slot, which can then be seen laying on top of the grass. Heistand claims there were several plots planted this season with lower populations due to planting in tall grass. The rule of p< ..cipaung . ity . program pulls a John Deere 7000 conservation planter through his fields. thumb is to bum down the rye when it reaches a height of 18-24”. A second problem is poor kills on hay fields. Spraying before the hay gets a chance to regrow a bit loses some of the herbicide’s ef fectiveness. Using Paraquat on standing hay gives the same results as cutting it off it will regrow to give a second crop. To effectively control “weeds” when planting no-till com into a hay field a combination of the following herbicides is necessary: Atrazine, Blades, Banvel, 2, 4-D and a surfactant (Roundup is needed for control of orchardgrass). Effective control of hay regrowth is necessary for getting a good com crop. The third most common problem this year was insect damage after the com had germinated. Farmers who used an insecticide when spraying their herbicides did not report any problems to the District office. In some of the fields that had armyworm attacks, a correlation was seen between the density of the cover and the severity of the attack. In one field, black cutworms (717)626-5266 (717) 898-0884 (717) 393-3208 (717) 632-4022 (717)243-7441 (717)272-8985 (215) 267-2789 interesting results destroyed half of the corn population where insecticides were no used; which underlines the importance of regular scouting by any farmer using no-till. Stalk bores were responsible for a slight decrease in population but it was not considered serious. The most important short term factor of interest to the farmer is the soil he lost due to erosion this year. The importance to others is that no-till farming will help clean up streams. The fertilizer element phosphorus attaches itself to soil particles, so keeping the soil on the land will help control pollution due to phosphorous. This is just one step to helping clean up the Chesapeake Bay. Anyone interested in seeing a Lane. Farm Credit holds meetings LANCASTER The Lancaster Farm Credit Associations held two sectional Agri-Business meetings to inform the area Agri-Business persons of programs offered by Lancaster Farm Credit The New Holland and Quarryville Branch Offices held a joint meeting at the Bird-in-Hand Restaurant, Bird-in- Hand, on Aug. 14, and the Lan caster Branch Office held a meeting at the Kreider’s Restaurant, Manheim, on Aug. 16. —WELDER CLINIC ■= Wed., Sept. 5 and Thurs., Sept. 6 Evenings 6-8 PM 1 PAUL B.> Box 128, R.D. 4, Wood Comer Rd. Lititz, PA 17543 1 Mile West of Ephrata (717) 738-1121 Coming 500 n... (» THRIFTY DUTCHMAN SUPPLY Year One-Stop Form And MANY SPECIALS Bring In Your Welder Problems Details In Next Meek's Issue SOiiilMlFMai Garden Supply Center NEW HOLLAND. PA tillage comparison plot should contact Heistand at the Lancaster County Conservation District at 299-5361. A formal tour is being planned for the eastern Lancaster County area on Friday, Aug. 24, from 9 a.m. to 12 noon, starting from the Summit Valley School just south of New Holland. Anyone planning to go on the tour should contact the District Office at (717) 2955361 or the Alternative School at (215) 445-5041 (ask for Robert Anderson or Donald Robinson), so tran sportation can be provided. This tour is being planned by the Lancaster County Conservation District in cooperation with the Agricultural Department of the Eastern Lancaster County School District. The branch personnel presented valuable information concerning the following topics: General Credit Outlook, Future Financial Services and Farm Programs After the branch personnel presentations, the Lancaster Farm Credit Associations new General Manager, James S. Owens, served as moderator for a question and answer period relating Farm Credit policies and procedures Both meetings were well attended
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