AlB—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, September 15,1984 Sunflowers BY MARGIE FUSCO DANVILLE Sunflowers are on the increase in central Penn sylvania. “They do especially well in the Pennsylvania climate, and we have a local market to offer farmers,” explains Larry Breech, Danville grain farmer and an agent for Bay-Mor Pet Feeds of Cressona (near Pottsville). Sunflowers are taking hold as a second or third crop in the Lan caster area and in the Susquehanna Valley. They’re a new crop with a growing market as pet seed and oil seed. Some far mers are trying sunflowers as silage, although Breech can’t /ry . jnville, is among Pennsylvania farmers turning to sun alternate crop. It is being marketed as pet bird feed. COMPLETE SYSTEMS, EQUIPMENT, SALES, INSTALLATION, SERVICE FOR CATTLE, HOG, POULTRY AND GRAIN increasing as cropping alternative recommend that use. “They offer a double cropping option and make an excellent three-crop rotation,” Breech says. “They also offer good dollar return for minimal investment.” Sun flowers require only $6.50 an acre for herbicides, he said, and can be planted with most conventional corn planters. Breech has found that conventional harvesting heads cause too much crop loss. This September he brought a special sunflower head into the upper Susquehanna Valley to run the first major harvest. The special head will adapt to most combines and will allow farmers to harvest twice SS® CHORE-TIME hopper-bottom bins for feed storage • BIN LID has 24-inch diameter, is form ed from one piece of steel for max imum rigidity and warp-resistance to keep it weatherproof. Big 22%-inch opening means less feed waste. • BIN LEGS are formed from heavy, all galvanized steel to make a girder-like structure with 6 separate bends or “breaks”. Formed leg gives superior fit, finish, and durability over that pro vided by other types. • ALL BIN SEAMS are double caulked with non-hardening sealer for max imum weather protection. STORE HOURS; Mon. Fri. 7:30-4:30 Sat. 7:30-11:30 (Parts Only) as many acres of sunflowers per day as they do with soybeans. Breech has put 50 of his 500 acres in sunflowers and has area growers doing as much as 125 acres. Next year, he plans to in crease his own sunflower acres. Although sunflowers are a poor choice for farms with major deer problems or fields near marshes (since blackbirds thrive on sun flowers), Breech says they work well on most Pennsylvania farms. Bay-Mor Pet Feeds offers a basis premium for growers versus the more distant Midwest market. Sunflowers weigh half the cost of These Features Help Make Chore-Time Bins A 'Best Bmp' •UJ (Turn to Page Al 9) lowers as K 'f~~hk jihMMM'Jr AGRI' 2754 CREEK HILL RD., LEOLA, PA 17540 (Lancaster County) PH: (717) 656-4151 '-V k Special harvesting head is used by Larry Breech, of Danville, in his sunflowers. Head has nine-inch row pans with long teeth to accomodate long stalks. Drum contains staggered cutting fingers. The head out of sunflower country in North Dakota costs less than $3,000 and reduces har vesting losses. • TO HELP YOU get the long life and full depreciation you want from your investment, all metal parts are fully galvanized for maximum rust re sistance. • CHORE-TIME’S FULL ONE-YEAR warranty (we’ll provide a copy on re quest) against any product defect is another valuable feature you get with every Chore-Time bin. • CHORE-TIME OFFERS your choice of 16- or 25-inch diameter hopper open ings for greater versatility in applica tion. SIZES AVAILABLE FROM 2.9 TON to 52 TON-6’ 7’&9’ DIAMETER Authorized Chore-Time Distributor EQUIPMENT, inc. iVr ■?' ,/, *, „ IS*. S vsji.n v * '