Forage Report Compares Red Clover Varieties
Robert E. Leiby
David L. Dunbar
Lehigh Co.
Extension Office
Copies of the 1990 Forage
Trials Report are now available at
county extension offices.
The report summarizes perfor
mance data from ongoing alfalfa
and red clover trials at Landisville
and Hershey. All varieties listed in
the report have been certified or
approved for certification and are
marketed in Pennsylvania. Evalua
tion criteria include yield, fall dor
mancy (winter hardiness), disease
and insect resistance, and stand
persistence.
Consider the following points
when selecting varieties on the
basis of this report:
• Determine which of the trial
sites most resembles your farm in
terms of soil and growing season.
Performance data of varieties at
this site are likely to provide more
valuable selection criteria.
• Look at the performances of
the varieties at all trial sites. Var
ieties that do equally well at all
sites are probably adapted to a
wider range of environmental
conditions.
• Performance by years can be
an important criterion for selec
tion. Some varieties seem to
decline with age more rapidly than
others.
• For long-term rotations, the
most recent harvest-year data
should receive major considera
tion. If you plan to harvest the
alfalfa for three years or less, then
high performance during early
years should be given major
consideration.
• Disease and pest resistance
ratings in relation to yield should
be examined, especially if your
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area is known to have problems
with alfalfa diseases and pests. For
example, Phytophthora root rot
resistance may be exceptionally
important on farms with moderate
ly well-drained soils.
• Selection of a variety on the
basis of yield performance alone is
generally less satisfactory than
selections that also consider stand
score and pest resistance.
• Conditions on most farms are
such that several varieties may per
form nearly equally. There is usu
ally no need to rely on a single
variety.
• No variety, regardless of its
excellence, can thrive under poor
management. Good management
considers all aspects of alfalfa pro
duction; seedbed preparation, lim
ing and fertilization, seeding, pest
control, harvest, storage, and post
harvest treatment Many modem
varieties are better adapted to
intensive management.
New Applications For
An Old Crop
The following information was
provided by the USDA's Econom
ic Research Service:
In addition to their widespread
use in food and feed, soybeans are
an excellent source of several
industrial products, of which print
er's ink has attracted the most
attention.
Soy-oil ink is used for printing
in color as well as in black and
white, and its advantages over
traditional inks include less ruboff,
sharper, brighter colors, and easier
press cleanup. It also allows more
copies to be printed per volume of
ink-colored pigments blend more
easily with soy-oil than with
petroleum-based oil, so the ink can
be applied in a thinner layer. The
American Newspaper Publishers
Association (ANPA) has indicated*'
that at least one-third (more than
llJmatici
MILKING SYSTEMS / a
1,000) of all U.S. newspapers are
using soy-oil ink and most will
probably switch to using it within
two years because of its superior
color quality.
The price of soy-oil ink current
ly exceeds that of petroleum ink by
about 50-60 percent, largely
because more steps are required to
manufacture it. Nevertheless,
more than 35 commercial ink com
panies are now making soy-oil ink
under licences granted by the
AMP A, and research to eliminate
some of the production steps is
undo 1 way.
If all domestic newspapers used
only soy-based ink for black and
white and color, they would stimu
late an annual demand for the oil of
about 350 million pounds. Assum
ing yields of 11 pounds of oil per
bushel, some 31.8 million bushels
of soybeans per year would be
needed to support the newspaper
industry.
Soy-based ink could replace
U.S. ink imports (which totaled
roughly 980 million pounds in
1987). The impetus soy-based ink
could give to soybean production,
when all commercial applications
are considered, is almost 63.4 mil
lion bushels.
Soy-oil can also be used to sup
press dust in grain elevators. When
applied to the grain in small
amounts (0.02 percent by weigh),
it has reduced the dust by up to 99
percent Indeed, tests on com,
wheat and soybeans treated with
soy-oil have shown that it has no
effect on odor, grade, drying char
acteristics, mold growth, or mill
ing and baking qualities.
The tests also indicated that
treating grain with soy-oil may
improve insect control. FDA has
approved the treatment for use,
and the USDA’s Federal Grain
Inspection Service is considering
the matter.
Oilseed Outlook Uncertain
The outlook for oilseeds in
1990-1991 is for demand to grow
slightly faster than supply. And,
the increases in production will
mostly be in rapcsecd and cot
tonseed while soybean production
ebbs.
Although U.S. soybean acreage
declined during most of the 1980 s,
acreage in South America
increased. But South America,
particularly Brazil, may now be
approaching stable production.
Brazil’s policy of promoting soy
bean production has proven too
expensive to continue.
Meanwhile, U.S. policy
changes probably will boost oil
seed production in 1991-1992,
although the effect on soybeans is
likely to be slight, at least this year.
In the European Community,
slower demand growth and gains
in domestically produced oilseeds
will reduce the need for greater
imports. Demand growth is likely
to be more rapid in China, the
Soviet Union, and some Southeast
Asian nations in the 19905. But
production in these regions is
expected to climb as well. At the
same time, some countries and
regions, particularly Eastern Eur
ope, probably will experience little
or no demand growth in
1990-1991 and beyond.
Veal Survey
UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre
Co.) Penn State is conducting a
mail survey of veal producers in
Pennsylvania and the contiguous
states.
To participate in a survey of
management practices, production
problems, plans, suggested
research etc., and to receive a copy
Lancaster Firming, Saturday, April 6, 1991-C9
And while there is the potential
for demand growth in the Soviet
Union, actual imports are uncer
tain in light of that nation’s finan
cial circumstances. Another major
concern is the impact of the
December suspension of the Uru
guay Round of the GATT
negotiations.
Throughout the 1980 s, U.S. oil
seed acreage declined from 1979 s
peak of more than 70 million acres
to under 58 million in 1990. The
impact was mostly felt in the
Southeast and Delta states where
lower prices, production difficul
ties, and substantially lower yields
discouraged production. (In Penn
sylvania. however, soybean
acreage increased from 103,000 in
1980 to 305,000 in 1989.)
The decline in the relative
importance of the southern regions
suggests that average or slightly
better than average yields in the six
Corn Belt states will largely deter
mine U.S. production regardless of
events elsewhere. This is essential
ly what happened in 1990.
Paper Recycling Facts
Of the approximately 600 U.S.
mills producing pulp, paper, paper
board or building products, 200
depend almost entirely on waste
paper for their raw material.
Another 300 use 10-S0 percent
waste paper in their manufacturing
process.
Under Way
for you to complete, write to Veal
Research Program, Dept, of Dairy
& Animal Science, 324 Henning
Bldg., Penn State University, Uni
versity Park, PA 16802.
For more information, contact
Lowell L. Wilson, Professor of
Animal Science, (814) 863-3659
or (814) 863-3663.