A34-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 31, 1991 PMMB Visits Farms (Continued from Page A 23) ted was in the form of short notes about the crop and forage condi tions found on farms they visited in 37 counties. Though conditions have been reported to vary within each coun ty, and from farm to farm, their findings offer a glimpse at what kind of drought damage they found during the several-day first hand look. In the report’s cover letter to the board, which was signed by the both men, they said, “We feel we have received sufficient informa tion to give our best estimates of the potential yield and what we feel the produciton might be at maturity. “Rainfall from now until harvest will help soybeans and grasses. However, com is setting ear now, and this will determine total yield. We must also take into considera tion that many farmers have not been able to pay back the money they borrowed during the 1988 drought.” The report basically consists of quickly jotted notes by both men; Chester County My home county We had one and one half inches of rain at the very critical time of pollination and setting of the ear. The com in this area has a potential yield of 120 bushes in a good year, with a reduction of yield this year of about 15 percent. Lancaster County Similar to Chester County com showed much drought damage. Stalks were approximately 5 feet tall, ears about 6 inches long and not fully filled out. If com is used for silage the potential yeild would be 25 tons per acre with an esti mate of 10 this year. Many dairy farms in this area will use all the crop for silage, having to buy their grain needs. Silage tonage poten tial in this area would be 25 tons in a normal year with about 8 tons per acre this year. Lebanon County Com shorter, soil red, the pas tures gone, the alfalfa dry and 4 inches tall. The corn’s potential at 90 bushels yield this year 20 bushels. Dauphin County Com stalks were short and no ears appeared. Poultry in this area will not cal fodder and their very small yield of com will be about 7 to 10 bushels. Some beef and dairy farmers arc chopping green alfalfa for feed now, therefore, there will not be any haylagc left to feed next winter. Perry County Not many dairy farmers to buy com for silage, crop farmers do not know what they will do with this com. Soybeans arc doing fairly well, but beginning to show signs of lack of water. Juniata County More of the same conditions, they had a rain shower several days earlier, but we saw no signs of it as we passed through. Mifflin County We saw several fields of com that yielded 50 to 60 bushels and next to it were crops that would yield approximately 25 bushels. This com had been planted early. Huntingdon County We spent the first night here. The prison farm’s com was dark green but short; it looked like half a crop. The oats looked like they would yield about one-third or 30 bushels. Second cutting alfalfa was short some areas had good rain which might help to a degree. Blair County Approximately the same condi tions. Yield might be 45 bushels. Cambria County Fields appeared a little greener. Oats would yield 65 bushels, com 75 bushels. Yields would be reduced by 10 to 15 percent of normal. Indiana County Cabbage looked good; corn looked normal and appeared to be in the 85-90 bushel range. Blueb erries looked good and were being picked. Armstrong County Yields about the same as India na County. Fields looked greener due to gas wells in the middle of them. Butler County Near normal yeilds. Alfalfa sec ond cutting looked good, but not yet harvested. Mercer County Grove City Area. Crops appeared nearly normal, but were starting to show lack of water. Venango and Crawford counties Com was growing nearly nor mal, but starting to need water in this critical time of pollination and ear setting. Around Meadville (Crawford County) crops began to show signs of stress conditions. Around Titusville the grass was gone one farmer said he was feeding next winter’s stored feed to 1,000 head of 400-800 pound beef cattle. Com might yield about a half crop. Clarion and Jefferson counties Looked like about half a crop of com. A few showers could make or break the crop. Clearfield County It had been raining here, crops with more rain could make SO to 60 bushel with a potential of 90 bushel in a normal year. Centre County Showed a definite lack of rain; some com suffering; soybeans did not germinate well. Some fields showed a total loss of the com crop no ears emerging at all. Clinton County Travelling Route 64 from Centre County into Clinton Coun ty all appeared lost There are not many dairy or beef farmers to use this com for silage. Com plants look like pineapple plants. Union County Starting to show stress conditions yield approximate ly half a crop if it rains. Northumberland County Hundreds of acres of com only three to five feet tall. Soybeans average six inches in height should be two feet tall. Much of the seed never germinated. Montour and Columbia counties Conditions were not good. Some of the area may get one-third to half a yield. Luzerne County Same as Montour and Columbia A large crowd of fanners watch a new combine demonstrated at the C. B. Hoober and Son field day along Route 301 just into Maryland at the Delaware state line. Hoober Field Day Shows Case IH MIDDLETOWN, DE Across the fields of the Coleman farm, a little whirlwind moved laz ily, floating pieces of com fodder into a circular pattern. The whirlwind was caused by $1,500,000 worth of working trac tors and other tillage and harvest ing equipment showing off at a field demonstration sponsored by C. B. Hoober and Son, the Case IH dealer with headquarters at Inter course and Middletown. The demonstration day was held along Route 301, six miles south of town, just over the state line into Maryland. Along with a full line of Case IH tractors, a number of new type machines were working. For example, a combine with a com counties. Some areas might pro vide about half a crop silage. Carbon County Hazleton Area (traveling to Car bon County). The mountains seemed greener and the com looked better. Schuylkill County Looked better than the neigh boring counties, but still not good. Com yield looked like 50 to 70 bushel. Lehigh County Looked the best of all counties for com. Yield about 90 bushel; soybeans 45-50 bushel a near normal crop. Berks County Com yield 90-100 bushel; soy beans 50 bushel, alfalfa normal. Adams County My son’s fields were appraised by Federal Crop Insurance adjuster (first one hundred acres of his 400 acre crop) and appraised at a zero bushel yield. Bedford, Fulton, Cumberland, York, Franklin, and Adams counties Chairman Lanius traveled throughout these counties and found yield to be approximately 30 percent There is the possibility of high nitrates causing sickness in the cattle in the event they are fed too extensively. It will be necessary to feed hay or haylage in the ration, and much of it will have to be purchased. Equipment In Action head that shreds the com stalks at the same time the corn is harvested. No additional chopping of the stalks is necessary before no-til or grain drilling operations. An eight bottom plow with 18-inch boards that switches plow ing angle from the tractor seat to accommodate the return trip through the field was working. A new packer that has no center bearings was shown. The new Case IH combine with a lateral floating “flex“ head plat form follows the field contours. A tool to break up the hard pan and not disturb the top of the ground was demonstrated. Charles Hoober, owner, said this tool meets the requirements of the soil conservation programs to leave 30 New Feed Laboratory Opens LITTLESTOWN (Adams Co.) Myers Analytical Laboratory has scheduled an open house to showcase their new testing labor atory and other recently completed facilities on Thurs., Sept. 5, from 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Featured speaker is Dr. Mar shall E. McCullough, a leading ruminant nutrition consultant. “We recently completed the new testing laboratory and felt the time was right to have an open house,” said Ginger Myers, who runs the laboratory. Included were renovations to a bam in which 22 tie stalls were removed and a new laboratory was installed in the sprir\g this year. The Myers Analytical Laborat ory, which employs four full-time, can perform 300-400 samples per week on forage, soils, and water, and routinely analyzes the nutri- York Fair To Feature Ag In JOYCE BUPP York Co. Correspondent YORK (York Co.) — Imagine stalking com borers in the back forty from your office desk, or tracking down a wandering Bossie and her calf via your computer screen. Science fiction, you say? Then stop by “NASA’s Link to Agricul ture,” a display at the York Fair depicting how tomorrow’s agri culture problems can be solved percent of the residue on top of the ground. Not a sub-soiler, the machine acts more like a split tiller. Hoober said business has been good this year. He noted that the new management at the Case IH company has agricultural back ground and said they will direct the company in favor of agriculture. Hoober also said that with the company’s programs farmers have incentives to purchase equipment now. “We have less farmers,”Hoober said. “But we have more farmers who cover 1,000 acres or more. They farm more acres with less equipment to justify the cost of the equipment.” tional values of livestock feed. The tour begins at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday with a hog roast lunc heon at noon. McCullough, professoj emeri tus of animal nutrition at the Experiment Station of the Univer sity of Georgia, has written he book, “Optimum Feeding of Dairy Cattle,” which introduced opti mum rations, or total mixed rations (TMR), for dairy cows. He writes regularly for “Hoard’s Dairyman” magazine and “Farmshine” newspaper. McCullough will speak at 12:30 p.m. on the topic, “Planning for the Feeding of Dairy Cows Under Drought Conditions.” “We feel extremely fortunate to have Dr. McCullough speak out our open house,” said Myers. Reservations are requested by con tacting Myers at (717) 359-4216. Space with today’s space-satellite technology. “NASA’s Link to Agriculture” is a sight and sound, question, answer and handout program scheduled for a four-day run at the York Fair. The York visit is one of only two being made to Pennsyl vania fairs by the traveling education-public information dis play on satellite computer imagery. (Turn to Pag» ASS)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers