E2-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 1,1986
How Carl Kreider reached his 10-ton cdfalfa yields
QUARRYVILLE - Reliable seed,
a well-drained field, timely rains
and a skilled crop manager named
Carl Kreider were just the right
ingredients to produce the best
stand of alfalfa in Pennsylvania
last year.
Kreider, a young dairyman from
Quarryville, Lancaster County,
harvested 10.48 tons of alfalfa from
each acre of a five-acre field he
enrolled in the state’s highly
regarded Alfalfa Growers
Program, sponsored by the
Pennsylvania Forage and
Grassland Council.
He and 15 other top growers in
the program were recently
recognized for their achievements
at an awards luncheon in State
College.
While there were many factors
that allowed the winners in four
regions to achieve their out
standing yields, it was evident
from the results that many con
sidered W-L seed varieties to be
among the most important
ingredients.
Six of the 16 winners, including
the grand champion, used W-L
seed, distributed exclusively in the
area by Beachley-Hardy Seed Co.
ofShiremanstown.
“It’s definitely a high quality
seed,” said Kreider, who planted
W-L 313. “The varieties are
dependable, and the crop is more
persistent and I think the hay
quality is better.”
Kreider, who grows 80 acres of
alfalfa, direct seeded his grand
champion field in March 1964 at a
rate of 16 pounds to the acre. After
establishment, he applied two tons
of lime per acre, plus 25 pounds of
nitrogen and 150 pounds of
phosphate.
Proper management is im
portant, he said, but his field has
proven to be perfect for alfalfa. It
is composed of Chester soil and lies
atop a broad ridge.
“It gives you the drainage you
need, but still holds more moisture
than a field on a hill would. I think
it’s an ideal field for hay,” said
Kreider.
Last year, he took four cuttings,
the first of which came off in mid
May and was made into haylage.
Hie other three came off as hay.
He made his cuttings at intervals
of 43,40 and 37 days.
Kreider said he was impressed
with all four cuttings. “The fourth
cutting looked just like the first,”
Brubaker Ag Service honors top growers
Winners of the top awards this year at Brubaker Agronomic Consulting Service were
honored at a banquet last week at the Leola Family Restaurant. Shown above are, from
left, Clyde Hershey and Glenn Rohrer of Millersville; Michael W. Brubaker, agronomist
and proprietor of Brubaker Ag Service, State Rep. Art Hershey of Cochranville and Bob
and Albert Mellinger of Strasburg. Kreider and Rohrer were first with a yield of '214.5
bushels per acre, using Pioneer 3389, while the Mellingers placed second with 214
bushels per acre, using Doebler 70. Hershey, who used Pioneer3lB4, finished third with
212 bushels per acre.
he said. “It was so fresh.”
A first-time participant in the
Alfalfa Growers Program, Kreider
said he knew he was getting better
than-average yields, but he never
realized how much better
When nis results came back
snowing a 10.48-ton yield with 4,320
pounds of crude protein and 12,264
pounds of total digestible nutrients
(TDN), even he was surprised.
“I guess I really failed to realize
how much we might lose to field
losses,” he said. “I thought my
best fields were getting 8 tons. I
was really surprised when those
results showed over 10 tons.”
Just how impressive his yield
was can be seen when comparing it
to those of the other 93 participants
in the nine-year-old growers
program. Hie average yield for the
year was 6.57 tons per acre for the
year, while all growers across the
state typically average just over
three tons.
Growers program officials
explained that yield is not the only
consideration when picking a
grand champion. They also take
into account crude protein and
TDN, both of which Kreider’s crop
excelled in.
Kreider said he feeds much of his
alfalfa to his herd of 55 cows, but
has enough left over to sell as a
cash crop at local auctions.
While Kreider was busy last
summer winning top honors in the
southeastern part of the state.
Region 1, John Tautin of Crawford
County was producing a fine pure
alfalfa stand of his own in Region 4,
which stretches across the state’s
northern tier.
With a 7.81-ton-per-acre yield in
some of the state’s most difficult
growing soil, Tautin captured the
Region 4 championship. His crop,
harvested from a 12-acre field,
came in with 3,608 pounds of crude
protein and 9,770 pounds TDN.
Tautin, from 11 miles north of
Meadville, admitted that he
doesn’t fare in an area known for
its high alfalfa yields. “In our
area, it’s really tough to grow
alfalfa,” he said.
In addition to milking a herd of
40 cows, Tautin grows about 42
acres of alfalfa in his Chenango
gravelly loam soil. “It’s not the
best, but I’ve got a couple of fields
that really produce.”
While his yields have been
remarkably high, the age of his
championship stand is even more
remarkable. Tautin direct seeded
his field with W-L 316 at a rate of 18
pounds to the acre back in the
spring of 1982, and the stand has
produced higher yields in each of
its four years.
“It has improved with age,” said
the dairyman. “It just keeps
getting better every year. ’ ’
Tautin said he has been planting
W-L for nine years and hasn’t
found a better variety. “It’s ex
cellent,” he said. “In fact, I
recommend it to my neighbors and
now they’re getting excellent
crops.”
Tautin made four cuttings on his
1965 crop at intervals of 38, 39 and
45 days, with the first coming in
late May and the last in early
September. All four were used for
low-moisture haylage.
Other top producers in the
Alfalfa Growers Program who
used W-L seed varieties were:
* Robert P Glenn, Lawrence
County. Glenn earned second place
in the mixed alfalfa-grass category
in Region 4 with a 6.97-ton-per-acre
yield, using a mix of W-L 316 and
ryegrass.
His crude protein count was 2,783
pounds per acre and his TDN
tested at 8,136 pounds.
* Frank and Tom Telesz, Warren
County. The Telesz brothers
produced a pure alfalfa stand that
yielded 7.29 tons to win second
place in Region 4.
The W-L 315 crop produced 3,366
pounds of crude protein and 8,900
pounds TDN.
* Ronald M. Meyer, Clinton
County, Meyer’s 7.12-ton crop was
good for second place in pure stand
competition in Region 2.
Planted with W-L 316, it
produced 3,194 pounds of crude
protein and 8,408 pounds TDN.
* Stephen Mellott, Franklin
Crawford Co. names top com,
MEADVILLE - The Eighteenth
Annual Crawford County Com &
Forage Day was held on Feb. 12 at
the Meadville Quality Inn. This
educational program is sponsored
by the Crawford County office of
the Penn State Cooperative Ex
tension Service in cooperation with
28 seed, feed, fertilizer, chemical
Champion alfalfa grower Carl Kreider, seated left, is
congratulated by Hugh Mac William, Beachley-Hardy Seed
Co., standing left: Extension Agent Arnold Lueck, standing
right; and John Dantme, of Lancaster Bone Fertilizer,
Quarryville, seated right.
County. Mellott placed second in Using M-L 316, he produced a
Region 1 with his alfalfa-grass mix crop with 3,614 pounds of crude
that yielded 8.08 tons. protein and 9,765 pounds TON.
alfalfa producers
and farm equipment dealers.
One of the highlights of this
year’s program was the
recognition of six local farmers for
their achievement in corn and
alfalfa production. Robert Camp
bell, R.D. 2, Saegertown: George
and Timothy Greig, R.D. 2,
Linesville; Timothy Proper, R.D.
1, Townville; and Thomas Rogers,
R.D. 1, Springboro, were
recognized for their corn
production in The Pennsylvania
Five Acre Com Club. Robert
Baughman, R.D. 1, Townville;
George and Timothy Greig, and
John Tautin, Sr., R.D. 3, Con
neautville, received awards in The
Pennsylvania Alfalfa Growers’
program.
Campbell grew 143 bushels of ear
com per acre of Funks 4211
Variety, with a three-year average
of 142 bushels of com. Rogers’
yield was 123.9 bushels of shelled
com per acre growing the variety
of Voris 284. Proper’s yield check
was 98.7 bushels of ear corn per
acre of Funks 664 Variety. Greig’s
com yield of Schlessmans SX4OS
variety was 129.9 bushel per acre.
In addition Greig had 5.65 tons per
acre from three cuttings of an
alfalfa-clover-timothy mixed hay.
Baughman’s pure alfalfa stand
with three cuttings yielded 4.86
tons per acre. Tautin also had a
pure stand of alfalfa which yielded
7.81 tons per acre in four cuttings.
This was the third year in a row for
measuring yields on this field and
each year the tonnage increased.
Tautin was also honored on
January 24, 1986, in State College
for having the highest alfalfa yield
in the Western Region of Penn
sylvania.
The second highlight was having
Myron Wehr speak on “Grain
Marketing, How I Dolt”. Wehr is a
grain and hay farmer from New
Waterford, Ohio. He raises about
1,000 acres of com, 200 acres each
of oats, wheat and alfalfa hay and
uses hay drying aids for curing his
hay. He was raised on a small
dairy farm, is an agriculture
graduate of Ohio State University
is married and has two daughters
Wehr markets grain and hay and
sells hogs and beef cattle.
The secret of his success is
keeping detailed records on his
operation, knowing his cost of
productions, when to market gram
or put it through an animal to
market. His pre-budgeting is a big
part of his marketing program.
Other speakers on the program
included Lynn Hoffman, Penn
State agronomist and manager of
the Agronomy Research Farm at
Rock Springs, speaking on “The
Value of Crop Rotation”.
Douglas Beegle, Penn State
Extension Agronomist, discussed
the new Penn State soil testing
report and how to interpret the
results. Beegle stressed laboratory
values are important but the in
terpretation of the results as ap
plied to Pennsylvania soils is the
key to growing our agronomic
crops. He also discussed the
nitrogen application to our corn
crop stressing the best time to
apply nitrogen is about three
weeks to a month after the corn is
planted using side dressing
equipment. j
Dennis Calvin gave a presen
tation on com & forage insects and
their control. Calvin spoke on both
chemical and biological insect
control and various ways to control
insects by cultural methods
Caroline Lundell, manager of the
Crawford County Agriculture
Stabilization & Conservation
Service of the USDA, spoke briefly
on the new com program being
offered under the 1985 Farm Bill in
1986.