if Land: a dwindling resource Although we Americans are the about five acres of farmland, best-fed people in the world, there From that we get almost all of our really isn’t very much between us food and at least some of our and starvation. Department of clothing and building materials. Agriculture figures show that each Add to that the frightening fact of us depends on the production of that your five-acre farm averages IHHB -v For slurry manure: Patz Model 100 Slurry Pump • Handle high volumes of free-flowing manure or slurry with fine-cut bedding. • Moves manure underground through 15" or 12" PVC pipe to storage area • Large-capacity 7" by 15" plunger and one way valve for constant manure removal mean less cleaning time • Stroke length offers three adjustments to match manure consistency. • All moving parts removable for easy inspec tion. • Big 84" hopper • Ends daily hauling. Time savings and fer tilizer savings pay for investment i nnr i\ *i«/i s I I / ALEXANDRIA MAX ISENBERG HOCH’S sales 814-669-4027 * SERVICE 717^362-8252 HAMBURG MILTON SHARTLESVILLE LA W AG WNGACRE CAMP HILL FARM SERVICE AUTOMATION CRIDER FARM ELECTRIC LLOYD SULTZBAUGH 215-488-1025 717 437 2375 SUPPLY 215-845-2261 717-737-4554 717 532 2196 LEBANON _ _ __ BELLEVILLE ELLIOTJSBURG AUTOMATIC FARM MOYER LESTER EDWARDS DISTRICT MANAGER FARMCO CARL R. BAER SYSTEMS FARM SERVICE 301 830-5971 Dennis Skibo 717-935-2101 717-582-2648 717-274-5333 215-766-8675 301-979-1930 717-664 2333 Farm Talk Jerry Webb v % ( , Wf V -W* . CONTACT YOUR NEAREST PATZ DEALER FORKSVILLE DURWOOD J. WHITELEY DIEM FARM SYSTEM 717-924-3460 717-463-2606 That means that thin little crust of topsoil must produce all of the food crops, feed crops, pastureland and farmstead space that’s required for our sophisticated diets. Of course, it hasn’t always been that way. When the Pilgrims came there were millions of acres and only a handful of people. But the ratio has been declining steadily ever since. There was a time when American farmers would “wear out” a farm and just abandon-it and move on. There was always plenty more free land farther west. But those days are gone and those worn-out farms have been reclaimed and urban spawl has taken up where the migrating farmer left off. Starting in the east and spreading westward, it’s claimed more and more farmland -meanmg that the piece of land that you and I rely on for our groceries becomes smaller and smaller. Department of Agriculture 11 >* i For liquid-manure: Patz Model 200 Air Manure Mover • Compressed air moves free flowing liquid or slurry manure to storage quickly and quietly through underground PVC pipe • Few moving parts make the operation simple and keeps maintenance low, assuring long service life. • Control panel permits operator to agitate, pressurize and vent tank from one location Provides in-the-barn comfort and fingertip ease of manure handling. • High-capacity 1,700-gallon collection tank For semi-solid manure: Patz Model 300 Air Manure Mover • Compressed air moves manure with long straw through 24” underground pipe to storage quickly and quietly • Few moving parts assure easy service low maintenance and long service life • Manure tank compressor and controls inside building allow comfortable operation regardless of weather • Tank door opens and closes by air powered cylinder • Easily installs and fits into most operations • Allows handling stored manure with conventional loaders and spreaders • Saves valuable nutrients cutting fertilizer costs Pays for itself McALLISTERVILLE QUARRYVIILE PIPERSVILLE less than a foot deep. Patz UNICORN FARM TRI-STATE SERVICE FARM AUTOMATION JAMES E. LANDIS 301-790-3698 717-786-4158 SHIPPENSBURG PINDER SERVICE CO 301-348-5263 POUND Wl PATZCO. FOREST HILL MD 414-897-2251 Lancaster Farming Saturday, October 12,1985-Dl5 figures indicate that each of us relied on 10 acres of farmland 50 years ago and eight acres 30 years ago. Fifteen years ago we had the use of six and one-half acres, but the current estimate puts the figure at just under five acres per person. Here’s how that five-acre farm divides up. Grassland pasture accounts for 2.12 acres; crop pasture adds another .41 acres and woodland another .53 acres. All crops add up to 1.72 acres, and idle land, farmsteads and roads ac count for the rest. Any forecaster worth his salt ought to be able to look ahead somewhere in the future and find the time when there’ll be no land left for any of us. But until that day, the efficiency of modern agriculture allows us to be the best-fed nation in the world. Even though our farm is half the size it was 50 years ago, it produces a whole lot more. And that’s not the HAGERSTOWN MD KENNEDYVILLE MD whole story because about one acre ouf of every four of American cropland is producing for the export market. So your little farm is not only feeding you, but it’s helping feed a foreigner. If the thought of trying to feed yourself on five acres worries you, I can only say that your future rests in the hands of our efficient agricultural system. A com bination of factors including owner incentive, agricultural research, profit motive, pride, and whatever else is at work keeping our food producing system constantly running ahead of our need. And the experts say we haven’t nearly reached our potential. New acres are being tilled each year despite the fact that this great nation has been farmed from coast to coast for many decades. Dry-land acres are being turned into fertile gardens through the use of irrigation and commercial fertilizers, and the end is nowhere in sight. New technology, new varieties, new systems allow us to create the equivalent of many new farms every year. Even though urban sprawl and other nonfarm uses continue to eat up valuable farmland, producers are staying ahead with double-cropping, even triple-cropping, doubled and quadrupled yields through fer tilization, irrigation and pest control, and with whole new farms from land clearing and drainage. It’s trtie we’re living off of five acres apiece but it’s the most productive five acres in the world and it’s getting better. Two challenges lie ahead, it seems to me. One is to continue to make that little farm highly efficient and highly productive and the other is to keep that thin layer of topsoil from washing or blowing away. 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