Chemicals or Cultivation
If I were growing com or
soybeans this spring, I would
certainly be looking for the
cheapest way to get a reasonable
crop. That may be a different way
of thinking than some farmers are
used to. In the past high yields
have meant bigger profits. But
with two-dollar com and five
dollar soybeans this isn’t the year
to pour on the chemicals and shoot
for maximum yields. No, instead
this is the year to find the cheapest
way to get a crop in the ground
with some assurance of a
respectable yield next fall. And
that may mean throwing out some
of the technology of the past
decade.
In fact, if you look through' all of
the technology of crop production
since the beginning of time, you
quickly realize there are some old
methods that aren’t very ex
pensive and there are some new
methods that aren’t terribly ex
pensive. Somewhere in that maze
of options is a combination of
minimum tillage and minimum
chemicals that looks pretty good.
Agricultural Experiment Station
research and farmer trial and
error at scattered locations around
the country supports this thinking.
If you already have the equip
ment there’s no cheaper way to
plant a crop than with no-till. But
then you are faced with an
awesome chemical bill. And that
stops a lot of farmers. Particularly
those with serious financial
troubles. So how about a com
bination: no-till planting, banded
applications of herbicides and no
till cultivation. That may sound
like a contradiction in terms but
it’s being done and it’s working.
Illinois researchers are cultivating
no-till crops and getting less soil
erosion, better run off control,
more moisture to the plants and
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better yields. A 1 Buerung a
Glennwood, Indiana, farmer
cultivated all of his 1,500 acres of
row crops last year' at least once
and cut his herbicide bill in half. In
Mississippi agricultural resear
chers report two to four-bushel
yield increases from cultivating
soybeans planted in stubble.
Illinois researchers report 10 to 20
bushels more yield from no-till
com cultivation and an average
seven bushels from no-till soybean
cultivation.
Marshall McGlamery, an Illinois
extension weed specialist, thinks
more farmers will be using
cultivators and banding herbicides
in unplowed fields. He says it’s a
matter of economics. “They can do
90 percent of their weed control
with cultivation and band their
herbicides’’.
These innovators and resear
chers are using heavy duty
cultivators with special sweeps
that work the soil just under the
mulch. They say normal cultivator
shovels and light weight equip
ment doesn’t work very well in
unplowed fields.
If you are not set for no-till
planting and no-till cultivation
there’s still something to be said
for the economics of crop
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production wiinout the lIV/U V y
reliance on herbicides. The
financially pressed farmer who
doesn’t want to risk $2O or $3O an
acre for chemicals might be better
advised to do some conventional
tillage and some old fashioned
cultivating. Those old cultivators
will still control weeds. They do
take time and fuel but even then it
might be a lot less expensive than
heavy chemical use. When you
look at the options and talk about
least cost methods, cultivation
looks pretty good. If you already
have the equipment, and -most
farmers do have a cultivator, then
there is not much out of pocket
outlay-fuel costs and maybe wear
and tear, but how much can that be
on a tractor that’s already a few
years old and well depreciated.
That philosophy might seem
absurd to the modem farmer
who’s used to planting his crop and
paying somebody else to spray it
while he looks for something to do
until it’s harvest time. Consider
the cost of chemicals and custom
applicators. Add to that land rent,
seed costs and some of the other
necessities and there isn’t much
room for profit. On the other hand
if you trade herbicides for diesel
fuel, then maybe there’s some
hope. It will take time, but what’s
that worth if the farmer is not
gainfully employed doing
something else.
That seems to be the dilemma of
a lot of farmers. They have plenty
of time between planting and
harvest and not much of a way to
put that time to work. So what’s
wrong with replacing some her
bicides with some old fashion
cultivation? Maybe not 100 percent
but some combination.
There’s little point in a finan
cially troubled farmer planting
another crop that isn’t going to
make money. So he must set a
realistic yield and price goal now
and then work back from there.
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What are the fixed costs? What are
the variable costs? What can he do
to change them? If he adds them
up and there doesn’t seem to be
any profit then he’s really better
off not planting. On the other hand,
if he can adjust some of those
variable costs and trade his own
labor for herbicides and custom
applicators then maybe there is
room for some profit.
No doubt herbicide salesmen
won’t be all that pleased with this
kind of thinking. But surely they
realize that farmers in trouble
have to find some relief. And
surely their commitment to
Summer Promotions
Mark 50th Dairy Month
WILLIAMSPORT - Dairy
farmers nationwide will celebrate
June Dairy Month for the 50th
consecutive year through a $1.5
million dollar promotion program
using the theme, “Bring Home
Real Dairy Freshness.” The
program will be sponsored locally
by the American Dairy Association
and Dairy Council.
As in the past, the main elements
of the dairy industry’s summer
promotion will be consumer media
advertising and supermarket
dairy case displays. Products
being promoted are milk, cheese,
butter, cream, sour cream,
whipping cream, cottage cheese
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To attract consumer interest, the
promotion also includes an offer
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717 458-6043
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717-275-4850
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Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 10,1986-A35
agriculture includes helping those
farmers find a way to make some
money even if it means reduced
chemical sales.
It’s time for some farmers to
break the mold, do a little thinking
on their own and come up with
some least-cost production
methods that work for them. No
till planting combined with some
cultivation and some herbicides
could be an option. This is
definitely not the year for a high
stakes effort. Current commodity
prices definitely call for realistic
yield goals and scaled back costs of
production.
stoneware commemorating June
Dairy Month’s golden celebration.
Order forms will be available
through supermarket displays and
newspaper advertisements.
The stoneware collection in
cludes a one-quart milk pitcher, a
butter dish, a creamer, and bowls.
A 50th June Dairy Month imprint
on the bottom of each piece is
designed to increase collectors’
interest.
The summer promotion will be
run through the months of June
and July. Supermarket displays
will be installed during the end of
May. Over 2,000 supermarkets in
ADADC’s area will carry the
promotion. Pennsylvania super
markets participating include
Acme Markets, Giant Markets,
Insalaco Markets, IGA Food
Marts, IGA Independents,
Wyoming Valley Distributor In
dependents, Uni-Marts, Stop ‘N
Go’s and Time Markets.
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