DlO-Lancutor Farming Saturday, January 31,1987
LEESPORT - “Pennsylvania
has some of the most productive
farmland in the Northeast and
produces an abundance of fresh
wholesome meat, poultry, dairy,
fruit, and vegetable products,”
says John Fior of the USDA Soil
Conservation Service. “However,
much of this food is shipped to out
of-state markets,” adds Fior.
Ironically, Pennsylvanians must
import about 70 percent of the
foods they eat. “Pennsylvania
must provide local farmers with
stronger economic incentives to
capture a larger share of the local
food market,” says Fior.
“Unfortunately, Pennsylvania
farmland is being seriously
threatened by changing economic
and land use patterns,” says Fior.
National efforts by the ad
ministration in the early 1970’s to
increase food production to meet
projected foreign market demands
encouraged farmers to convert
millions of acres of prime farm
land into continuous row crop
production. Millions of additional
acres of marginal farmland,
hayland, and pastureland were
plowed under and put into crop
production. Conservation prac
tices such as contour strip
cropping, diversions, terraces, and
waterways were often plowed up to
accommodate the larger equip
ment necessary to farm the ad
ditional acres.
Record harvests followed, but
topsoil began eroding at alarming
rates and has become a serious
problem in many areas of the
state. “Over 70 million tons of
productive topsoil is washed an
nually into Pennsylvania’s
streams and rivers,” says Fior.
“The decline in foreign grain
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markets in the late 1970’s and early
1980’s after several years of record
sales sharply cut the price of
grain,” says Fior. United States
farming technology greatly in
creased food production
capabilities in developing nations,
giving them greater independence.
Farmers’ profits declined
dramatically. Many farmers have
been unable to manage large loan
payments resulting from investing
in additional land and equinment.
by Robert Leiby and
David L. Dunbar
Lehigh Co. Extension Service
The secondary nutrients,
calcium, magnesium and sulfur,
play a variety of roles in plants.
Calcium is an integral part erf plant
cell walls. Calcium deficiency is
rare among agronomic crops
under Pennsylvania conditions.
When a soil is properly limed to
maintain an optimum pH level, the
calcium is usually adequate for
agronomic crops. Magnesium, a
key component of chlorophyll,
plays a critical role in photosyn
thesis. Magnesium deficiency is
characterized by white stripes
between the leaf veins. Magnesium
is best supplied by a limestone that
contains this nutrient.
Sulfur is a common component
of proteins and vitamins. Sulfur
deficient plants have a general
yellowing and are very spindly.
Symptoms of sulfur deficiency are
similar to those of mild nitrogen
deficiency, except that they ap
pear sooner in new growth than in
old growth, since sulfur is not
mobile in the plant. Under Penn
sylvania conditions,' sulfur
Facing heavy business losses,
bankruptcy, and foreclosures
many farmers have sold their best
farmland to land developers and
private industry. “Pennsylvania is
losing over 50,000 acres of prime
farm land annually to develop
ment,” says Fior.
“We must make the right
economic and land use decisions
and implement the proper con
servation practices todav if
Micronutrients Important In Plant Growth
deficiency is not common. Rainfall
supplies significant amounts of
sulfur and, since much of the
cropland in the state receives
manure applications, the sulfur is
efficiently recycled.
The micronutrients are im
portant in facilitating many of the
processes important for plant
growth. There are several reasons
why Pennsylvania has very few
micronutrient problems: (1) the
heavier loamy mixture of our soil
helps to maintain adequate levels
of micronutrients (sandy textured
soils, by contrast, often show
micronutrient deficiencies); (2)
the slightly acidic nature of our
soils helps to maintain
micronutrient solubility; and (3)
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Pennsylvania agriculture is to
survive and future generations are
to prosper and maintain a high
standard of living tomorrow,” says
Fior. The public must be made
aware of the serious consequences
of uncontrolled soil erosion. Soil
productivity cannot be maintained
with heavy topsoil losses. Crop
production gradually declines until
it becomes unprofitable to farm
even with lime and fertilizer. Many
since Pennsylvania agriculture is
largely based on animals, much of
our cropland gets periodic ap
plications of manure, a good
source of micronutrients.
Of the micronutrients, boron and
zinc are the only two that oc
casionally are deficient in the
state. Boron deficiency can be
overcome by periodically applying
boron when topdressing alfalfa.
Even rarer is zinc deficiency,
sometimes observed on com,
particularly when phosphorus
levels become excessive from
overapplication of phosphorus
fertilizer. Symptoms on com
appear as a broad white band on
either side of the midrib of the com
leaf. Zinc deficiency can best be
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soils have been eroded so badly
they will never be productive
again, even if the best con
servation measures are applied.
The Soil Conservation Service
has developed a series of film and
slide programs that graphically
illustrate the problems of soil
erosion nationwide and offer
various solutions. For more in
formation contact your local Soil
Conservation Service office.
corrected by application of zinc m
the starter fertilizer; routine
application of zinc is not recom
mended. The lack of general
response to micronutrients has
made it difficult to calibrate a
micronutrient soil test for use in
Pennsylvania. In addition, it is not
possible to rely on calibrations
developed for other soil, climatic
and cultural systems. The best tool
available for evaluating the
micronutrient status of plants is
plant tissue analysis.
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