If a And. Corn Yields Economically
Brubaker; “Insecticides 1
don’t need them. Crop rotation
keeps the pests from establishing
themselves. I scout com fields
every fall and I look for the eggs. I
use to have someone do tKat for
me, but he’s not with the company
I use anymore, so I do it myself. He
did show me what to look for. I just
make a sweep with a net to esti
mate the insect population out
there.
high-yielding alfalfa cuts feed costs at the Knot-Run Farm of John and Barbara Bru
baker In Christiana and earn them a higher income from the milk check.
♦ 4 '
an extremely effective way to gel
sucker control too. In sequential
application with MH or all by itself.
So look into the benefits of
Prime-K Whether applied alone, or
in a sequential over the top applica
tion with MH. it’s a great way to get
I haven’t used any insecticides
for the last four years. Continous
cropping allows the insect to estab
lish themselves. When you rotate
every three or four years there’s
just no need to spray every year.
And it is a costly item up to $ 10 per
acre. When you talk about 100
acres of com you’re talking a thou
sand dollars.”
LF: How do you keep weeds
down in the corn and alfalfa?
l\
Brubaker; “Cultivating, as
every good farmer knows, is still
the best way to go. Cultivating
aerates the soil and allows mois
ture into the soil. On the fields I
have cultivated, I have noticed a
three to five bushel yield increase.
The problem is as a farmer growns
more acres he has less time and
face it, chemicals buy time when
you use them. If you don’t have the
time to cultivate then you buy
sucker control—and get more for
your crop at auction.
For answers to tobacco questions,
call Furney Tbdd on the Monday Hotline.
1-800-862-2229.
PHlUC+ciba-geigy
ClMBCibfrOeiov AgncuHufK Oivi«on PO BoiIMOU Greensboro NC27419
>-
chemicals and put them on to kill
weeds.
I cultivate as time permits. I am
not a fan of no-till for that reason. I
don’t like using a lot chemicals.
Now along the Eastern Shore that
is an excellent area for using no
till. We have a heavier soils up here
and I just wouldn’t do it up here.
1 don’t use herbicides in my
alfalfa because planting early
gives the alfalfa a headstart to
choke out any competition from
weeds.”
LF: Do you use any herbicides
in your corn fields?
Brubaker: “If I use Atrazine,
which I do sometimes, I never use
as much as recommended because
the carryover will kill your alfalfa.
Bladex won’t kill your alfalfa, but
it is three times more expensive.”
LF: How do you determine
what your weed problems are?
Brubaker: “I examine every
field as I harvest. I keep a tablet
with me in my pocket and note or
draw a map of the where the prob
lem patch is. This is the only way
that I can do it. I can’t walk every
row, but you’ve got to treat weeds
to get rid of them.
Shattcrcane is the biggest prob
lem. Birds eat the seeds and then
deposit them every where. There is
only one chemical to suppress it
You have to use it if you are going
to grow com, Eradicane-Extra at
$27 per acre.
This must be incorporated. It
cannot be surface applied. So you
have to hold off planting com until
mid-May. That’s the problem with
these noxious weeds.”
LF: When do you make your
first cutting and how important
to potential yield and quality is
that first cutting date?
Brubaker: “If I’m not done
planting com when it’s time to cut
hay, I stop planting com and cut
hay. Alfalfa is the kind of crop that
sets your schedule for all summer
long. A couple times I got out of
sync and I said I’d never do it
again.
Come the third week of May
when it’s in pre-bud to bud
stage,and its nice weather, I cut
hay. You’ve got to cut it then,
' V** >■.
because you know it’s going to
rain soon. I mow hay in mid-May
and I’ve kept a lot of records. I get
five cuttings, cutting 30-32 days,
have a good level of protein at 20
percent or better.
Not cutting hay at the right time
on the first cutting messes every
thing up for the whole year.”
LF: When do you make your
last cutting?
Brubaker: “We usually get a
killing frost early to mid October,
but this year it didn’t come to early
November. I usually make my last
cutting the early part of October,
but this year it was the fifth or sixth
of November. When I cut that late
in the fail I leave a four to six inch
stubble.”
LF: Will that hurt your alfalfa
stand cutting it that late into the
season?
Brubaker; “Not if you keep your
fertility up you won’t hurt it with
those late cuttings.”
LF: How do you maintain
your stand throughout the grow
ing season?
Brubaker: “I put on two applica
tions of fertilizer. One is applied
after the fust cutting of 400/lbs.
per acre of 3/9/40. And one after
the third cutting of 300 lbs ./acre of
3/9/40.”
LF: Do you use any other
nutrient besides nitrogen, pho
sphate and potash?
Brubaker: “For the first time this
year I put sulfur on the hay fields
which works together with nitro
gen and allows the nitrogen to be
taken up and absorbed by the alfal
fa plants more efficiently. It
enhances the uptake of nitrogen. I
think that is what helped me to get
eight to ten tons this year. It’s
pretty much been between seven
and eight tons, but this has been
my best year for hay.
It is all fine tuned just like a race
engine. You can get everything
just right, but if you don’t have the
moisture, if you are not irrigating
it’s all up to Mother Nature and it’s
a big gamble.”
LF: How did you select the
variety you use now?
Brubaker “1 read a lot I read
the university research and the
PSU trials on all the different
brands. There are only seven
strains of alfalfa they just get put
in different packages. Some just
did not work out for me. I would
try different kinds on different
fields. You get 40 acres to a bag
and diffferent fields might give
me different results.”
LF: What’s your moisture
level and method of storage?
Brubaker; “When I mow it
down, I don’t work up the hay a
lot Raking it and drying it helps
lose a lot of the leaves. Your pro
tein is in your leaves. In the
Harvestore I can store it any
where between 35 to 60 percent
moisture. The optimum is 45 per
cent, but you are never right on
the mark. I use some ag bags, too.
Only on my baled hay do I use
any preservatives.”
LF: How do you decide what
crops to plant and what to buy?
Brubaker: “Produce what you
need, com for energy and alfalfa
for protein. I can buy oats cheaper
than I can grow them. It is a busi
ness and you must take a business
approach. You grow only what