Low-Input Farming
(Continued from Page.AZO)
in oats. Stollzfoos is
mg with his hay fields and leans
more toward mixes such as
orchard grass and alfalfa. This year
he put 20 units of nitrogen in the
form of ammonia sulfate on his
hay, which usually gets nothing, to
sec how it works out.
Hess looks into low input
For the past 11 years, Claude
Hess has avoided using drugs and
antibiotics in his pullet operation.
He reported that the birds arc lay
ing more eggs, and the eggs are of a
belter quality than he had been
getting.
“Then I began wondering if I
couldn’t do the same thing with my
soil,” he said. That’s when he
became interested in low-input
farming.
Three years ago Hess got into
land in a big way when he began
purchasing land on to which to
spread his chicken manure. Cur
rently he has more than 600 acres
scattered around southeastern Pen
nsylvania, the home farm is in
Manhcim.
The Stoltzfooses farm In Kinzer, a town southeast of Lan
caster. From left, Lucy holding three-month-old Charlene;
Hilda, 6; Roman; Delmar, 2; and Dwight, 8.
fjm
an extremely effective way to get
sucker control too. In sequential
application with MH or all by itself.
So look into the benefits of
Prime+. Whether applied alone, or
in a sequential over the top applica
tion with MH. it’s a great way to get
Hess, a member of Professional
Farmers Institute, began sending
away for information on low-input
farming, signing up for courses,
and talking to people. He also
hired an agronomist to take care of
recordkeeping, soil tests, crop
checks, and recommendations.
“I’m going slow because I’m
not sure where I’m going (with
(low-input farming). I’m in the
learning and question stage,”
stated Hess.
The winter of 1986-’B7 Hess
began to implement some of the
ideas he’d been hearing about. He
spread calcium in the form of high
calcium limestone and chose alcitc
clover, because it is a natural nitro
gen source, to spread in with 35
acres of wheat for a cover crop.
The next fall he left the shredded
fodder for residue, which he incor
porated into the soil with a chisel
plow the following spring.
This spring Hess hydroseeded
80 additional acres in alcite clover,
putting seed in liquid nitrogen and
spraying it over the field. He also
used liquid N and 10-20-20 starter
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in the fields where chicken manure
wasn’t available. Where com had
been the year before, he sprayed
Furadan anti herbicides. Limes
tone had been applied earlier in the
year while the ground was still fro
zen to avoid compaction. Insecti
cide use has been cut by about 25
to 30 percent, and herbicides have
been cut 25 percent for soybeans
and clover.
Hess uses a chisel plow on his
fields as well as a field cultivator
with a 5-row spike harrow. He also
purchased a new cultivator that
works in no-till and ridge-till
applications. He wanted this flexi
bility in case he decides to try his
hand at ridge tilling. The cullivater
is reputed to aerate soil between
rows thereby supplying air and
water.
Hess believes in crop rotation,
not using muriated potash, and
keeping the manure in top layer of
the soil because “if it is plowed
under the ground and it gets no
oxygen, it can get into the drinking
water more quickly. Manure and
trash should be near the surface so
they’ll decompose aerobically.”
He also believes that farmers
should use calcium generously.
“Don’t cheat on calium: it’s cheap,
helps balance the soil, and, in cal
cium carbonate form, you can get
carbon in the soil.”
The underlying message from
both Hess and the Stoltzfooses is
that a farmer interested in low
input farming should do his home
work. Like Hess, the Stoltzfooses
did quite a bit of research before
they began working with low
input farming so that they
wouldn’t have a crop failure. And
that’s the route they recommend
for any farmer interested in chang
ing his farming practices.
“When farmers call up and ask
how I did it, I tell them we got
away from munated potash,
excess nitrogen, and chemical pes
ticides,” said Stoltzfoos. “We sug
gest experimenting with small
plots in different parts of the farm
such as the orchard, garden, hay,
and corn to see how it works.”
Although the farm is much
improved, the Stoltzfooscs feel
they still have a long way to go
before their crops, soil, and ani
mals arc in balance wilh each
other. “We’re still suffering from
Underlying message
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.
Prime* CIBA-GEIGV
01—ClM Qt|i.AtriculHwlOM>kin.FO Sox 1000 Qi««Mbon> NCZ74I*
Lancaster Farming, Saturday, June 18, 1988-A2l
chemicals,” they said. “We’d like
to get the soil in better shape, gel
the chemical residues out and build
humous and organic matter so the
soil is less credible.”
Hess also feels he’s got a long
way to go. but he’s taking his time
so he can achieve a balance
between using chemicals and not
PSU College Of
Students Win
Speaking
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre)
Six students in the College of
Agriculture received cash awards
this spring for their winning pre
sentations in the annual Guldin
Speaking contest at Penn State.
First prize went to Jill L. Kutz,
daughter of Du Wayne A. Kutz of
Tunkhannock, for her presenta
tion, “Promoting Nature’s Most
Nearly Perfect Food.” Her speech
dealt with the promotion of dairy
products,including promotional
trends in the 1980 s. Jill is a junior
majoring in agricultural econom
ics with a minor in speech
communications.
Second place went to Ann
Grumbine, daughter of Ray and
Martha Grumbine of Myerstown.
Her speech, “Just Plants,” focused
on the asthetic quality of house and
landscape plants and said that they
enrich the quality of our lives. Ann
is a junior majoring in horticulture.
Laurie Winward, daughter of
Mr. and Mrs. John Winward of
Whitchouse Station, New Jersey,
won third place. Her speech, “Che
micals In Our Foods,” focused on
sorbic acid and how and when it
creates problems of toxicity. Laur
ie is a senior majoring in food sci
ence. Other winners were:
David E. Blank, son of Elam R.
and Dorothy Blank of Parkesburg.
His speech, “Farmland vs. Urban
Pressure,” was concerned with the
issues of farmland preservation
and outlined current measures to
protect agriuclutral land. David is
a senior majoring in agricultural
education.
William Hoffman, son of Lynn
• s >
4 >
using any additive. “The bottom
line is dollars and cents,” he
explained. “But coupled with that
is stewardship of the soil. Too
many farmers arc mining the soil.
You should feed it so it will feed
you and your children and
grandchildren.”
Ag
Contest
and Pepper Hoffman of Pennsyl
vania Furnace, gave a speech on
“Chemical Pest Control: Issues
and Answers.” It focused on the
use and misuse of pesticides in
agriculture. William is a junior
majoring in agricultural econom
ics and rural sociology.
Jose A. Alcantara, son of Claude
and Evelyn Adams of Northum
berland gave a talk on “Agrofore
stry.” He discussed the use of bio
mass (the volue of minute animals
and plants such as protozoans and
blue-green algae that live in a
given habitat or area) as a potential
source of fuel. Jose is a senior
majoring in forest science.
The Guldin Speaking contest is
made possible through funds
donated in memory of Paul R. Gul
din, an agricultural leader and
poultry farmer in Berks County. It
is sponsored by the Coaly Society,
the student honor society in agri
culture at Penn State.
Finalists were judged by a panel
of students and faculty. This year’s
faculty judges were Maureen
Montgomery, coach of the Penn
State Speech Team, Dr. Robert
Wideman, assistant professor of
poultry science and Dr. Connie
Baggett, assistant professor of
agriculture and extension educa
tion. All students in the College of
Agriculture are eligible to
compete.
RCMA Asks
Members
To Avoid
Boycott
BATAVIA, N.Y. The Reg
ional Cooperative Marketing
Agency issued a reminder on Fri
day to Us members, supporters and
interested parties that it is the
group’s policy not to “support,
participate in or condone any
activity which might be considered
a boycott.”
According to William Zubcr,
RCM A president, RCMA appreci
ates the support it has received
from many sources during its
battle to secure fair farm prices.
However, Zubcr said that RCMA
in no way supports a consumer
boycott of supermarkets which
purchase milk from dealers who
oppose RCMA.
“Participation by RCMA or its
members in a consumer boycott
could be viewed as illegal and
RCMA has worked very hard to
avoid any suggestion of illegality,”
he said.
Zuber pointed out that members
can help RCMA improve farm
income by signing-up neighbors
who have not joined the organiza-