A26-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, May 26,1990
(Continued from Pago AD
of maximing those windows when
a fanner can produce a crop.”
Research on the “biomass,” or
amount of living matter generated
by plant test plots, has been under
taken on the dairy and poultry farm
of Paul Clugston in Halifax, a town
north of Harrisburg. By knowing
the total biomass produced on spe
cific plots, technicians can pin
point how many pounds of nitro
gen are being taken up by the rye.
Effects of manure
Plots of land measuring 20 feet
by 1,000 feet, totalling approxi
mately 7.6 acres, were used to test
the effects of nitrogen from man
ure on rye. The rye was seeded in
mid-November last year. One plot
had no rye, but was broadcast with
manure. In another plot, manure
was spread in one rye strip; still
‘Not all the good
ideas that farmers
are incorporating
come from univer
sities or private
research places,
but it’s the far
mers themselves,
creative people,
who have come up
with a number of
creative manage
ment techniques
that work.’
another rye strip received no man
ure. The rye growing in the manure
plot grew higher with more density
than the one without manure.
“You can see the difference
where the manure was applied and
where it wasn’t,” said Clugston,
who farms 219 acres of land. His
operation includes 101 cows and
95 heifers and calves. In addition,
Clugston raises 134,000 broilers
per cycle, under contract to Pen
nfield Corporation. '
Multiple observations three
replications of the same treatment
in a randomized pattern of the
rye grown in the manure-treated
*> \ -y WTt,
®>; ‘-f'X %. iJ' %;c* ♦; *£*,
- *» *-***** v' i •*, I N
Leon Weber, on-farm specialist with the Rodale Institute, points to a field that was
sampled. Plots of land measuring 20 feet by 1,000 feet, totalling approximately 7.6
acres, were used to test the effects of nitrogen from manure on rye. The rye was
seeded in mid-November last year on the Clugston farm test plots.
* *
t H.‘*
Rye May Absorb Excess Nitrogen
and non-manure areas will deter
mine how much of the nitrogen
from the manure was taken up by
the plants.
Com will be planted under the
same conditions to determine the
effects of the previous rye cover
crop on the growth of die com.
Other objectives
Other test objectives, according
to the researchers, are to determine
the leaching of nitrogen; the
effects of planting a sorghum and
Sudan grass hybrid forage crop on
absorbing excess nitrogen; and
how the rotational cycle affects
nitrogen in the soil.
“Sometimes things look good
on paper, but what’s important is
to see how things actually work out
on the farm, and how it works in
with the cycle of cropping sys
tems, and what are the labor,
machinery, and weather con
straints farmers are facing,” Web
er said.
He said that farmers grow the
rye to produce forage for dairy.
“He has to balance two things
he wants to get maximum rye pro
duction, which requires some
nutrients.” At the same time, after
com is planted, the farmer wants to
‘ ‘ minimize the amount of nutrients
that arc going to get in the ground
water system compared to what
gets into the crop,” he said.
Some farmers spread the man
ure or place liquid nitrogen down
when they plant. Unfortunately, if
a heavy rain follows, much of the
nitrogen is washed away or leach
ed into the groundwater. “But if
the-rye is planted early, this does
not seem to be a serious problem,’ ’
said Lanyon.
Reduce leaching
“So you can reduce the risk of
leaching if you just put a small
amount of nitrogen there to get it
started and then come in a little
later and sidedress making nit
rogen available to the plant when
it’s going to be taking up the great
est amount,” he said.
According to Weber, by com
bining the nitrogen application
with the cultivation, farmers can
reduce the risk of runoff or leach
ing from heavy rains.
“Farmers,” he said, “can pile
on the nutrients and get back lots of
production. But there can be some
off-farm consequences, in terms of
what’s really happening tp the
environment. So what we have to
do is balance what we’re doing
,-,v*
“You can see the difference where the manure was applied and where It wasn’t,”
said Paul Clugston, who farms 219 acres of land In Halifax, Pennsylvania. In the left,
manure was spread for the rye cover crop; on the right, where the stalks are smaller,
no manure was spread.
with our nutrients in terms of being
able to get the production that the
fanner needs and, at the same time,
to minimize the effects off the
farm.”
Rodale Institute and Penn State
are working with the farmer to
“put some of these things out on
the field and see what works and
what doesn’t,” said Weber.
“What are the limitations, what
are the constraints that farmers
‘(The farmer) has
to balance two
things he wants
to get maximum
rye production ,
which requires
some nutrients . At
the same time, he
wants to minimize
the amount of
nutrients that are
going to get in the
groundwater system
compared to what
gets into the crop, 9
face in trying some different man
agement techniques?”
Plant earlier
“Rye can be planted later than
Paul Clugston harvests the rye crop on his farm In Hali
fax, Pennsylvania. The rye is used for forage for his dairy
operation.
other winter cereals,” said
Lanyon. “But early planting will
contribute to earlier harvest and
better nitrogen uptake in the fall.”
Because the rye can be planted
earlier, it can be harvested earlier,
which gains time to plant com and
speeds the demand for labor. The
time is crucial, because weeks
and money—can be lost. In Clug
ston’s case, the sorghum and
Sudan grass hybrid forage crop can
be harvested before com silage
harvest, which allows him to plant
rye earlier.
“Plus,” said Lanyon, “the
sorghum and Sudan grass hybrid
can be planted after the ideal times
for com plnating with little yield
loss. This flexibility spreads the
spring work load.”
Lancaster Girl
Wins Scholarship
SHOEMAKERSVILLE (Berks
Co.) Aimee Eopcchino, a
senior at Conestoga Valley High
School in Lancaster is the Region
I winner of Keystone Farm Cre
dit’s Annual Scholarship.
Region I, for purposes of Key
stone’s scholarship program, con
sists of Chester, Delaware, Lan
caster, Lebanon and Lower Dau
phin counties.
Ms. Eopechino is the daughter
of Dr. and Mrs. Alfred Eopechino;
she plans to enter Penn State Uni
versity where food science will be
her major emphasis of study.
In addition to her outstanding
scholastic achievements. Ms.
Eopechino participated in school
as a member of the cross country
track team, editor of the yearbook
and as a cheerleader; she was
involved in both music and drama,
and is a member of the National
“I put a lot of effort out working
with Penn State,” said Clugston.
‘‘l don’t get paid for any of this.
But the information that I can col
lect from this and try to use it is
hopefully where the benefit is.”
“I think everybody’s becoming
aware that there are some prob
lems in terms of what’s happening
with our groundwater,” Weber
said. “And there are a lot of far
mers who are very conscious of it
and very conscious about land ste
wardship. Not all the good ideas
that farmers are incorporating
come from universities or private
research places, but it’s the far
mers themselves, >creative people,
who have come up with a number
of creative management tech
niques that work.”
Honor Society. She attended the
1989 PA Governor’s School for
Agricultural Sciences, is a Girl
Scout, a member of her church
youth group, does community vol
unteer work and is listed in Who’s
Who Among American High
School Students.
Applicants for Keystone’s
scholarship award must be a high
school senior, live in Keystone’s
IS county territory, and plan to
major in a field of agriculture or
agri-business at a four-year col
lege on a full-time basis.
Keystone Farm Credit, ACA
serves the agricultural community
in southeastern Pennsylvania with
long-, intermediate-, and short
term loans as well as other varied
financial products and services. It
also provides country home mort
gages for eligible properties.