A26-Lancasttr Farming, Saturday, May 9, 1992 Growers Believe Proper Timing Helps Ensure Bountiful Tomato Harvest (Continued from Pag* Ai) irrigating, it is hard to tell exactly according to Hcrshcy. And while Started out dry what to do. Often times water is advene weather affected other In a “normal” growing season, lost to evaporation. "Are you bet- nearby tomato growers, Hcrshcy as long as enough rain arrives on a ter off slopping them up once or and Frank were fortunate to escape timely basis, the plants will sur- hitting than a lot of times with a a lot of it. vive and thrive, no matter what the little bit?" he said. "You don’t And the weather reports were heat stress conditions. But the past know." often conflicting, according to growing season started out dry and Hcrshcy. When the weather report continued that way throughout Don’t repeat cycle called for rain, and it didn’t come, "At least sometime during the the growers decided to irrigate, summer you get a significant thun- As for next season, Hershey is derstorm or something to give you concerned that there be enough to some relief," said Hershey. "But replenish the stream if another last year we had nothing." drought occurs. But the growers were prepared. They brought out the irrigation lines. In some cases, they needed only 200 to4oo feet But a six-inch main line, drawing water from the Conoy Creek, stretched 6,000 feet. And the growers were busy mov ing the line all season tong. When the rotations were com plete. the growers had applied about eight inches of water to all the craps—not all evenly, but the crops received enough water to keep them growing. Irrigation necessary The farmers agree that irrigation is absolutely necessary to growing tomatoes. Without irrigation, tomato yields drop severely, and in many cases, farmers lose money. “Just about every year you can figure you’re going to have to irri gate some,” said Hershey. “But last year was the first that we had to irrigate them the whole way along. Just constant water on them.” “After a year like last year,” said Prank, “you look at that because die guys that couldn’t put wateron, most of them lost money. There’s too much risk involved not to have water available.” The growers use an overhead sprinkler system which distributes the water in a 40-foot radius. Her shey said that, when it comes to Working to set the timing mechanism, Dale Frank makes adjustments to the six-cup carousel. yea in Hershey for outstanding-tomato yield. Jamas F. Kohl, vice president, Furman Foods, presented the award. Hershcy said that this year they don’t want to repeat the cycle. But if another drought occurs, they intend to use the nearby water source if necessary. The growers were concerned about the water being drawn from the Conoy Creek throughout the season. The creek was running slowly until early spring, and now, because of the rain, "it lodes as good as I’ve seen it in about the last three yean,’’ he said. “Fortunate ly, between Elizabethtown and the river, we’re the only guys that are drawing out. “There’re things we should have done last year that we didn’t do,” said Hershey. “We didn’t sidedress any nitrogen at all. But we were moving pipes, so it didn’t get done. And so one field had 29 tons, and maybe we could have had 32 out of it. This year we’re going to make more of an effort to make sure it gets done.** Frank said that they usually sidedress after cultivation with about 28 pounds of liquid nitrogen. Crop saves us Last season, by July, Hershey said, the growers knew what the com season would be like. A drought was well on the way. So the growers put more emphasis on the tomato crop, which Hershey said was “the one thing that’s going to save us.” The plants were irrigated up until harvest time. Some plants could have used even more. It’s scary “It’s scary,” he said. ”1 don’t mind putting water on, but is the water going to be there?” To help the soil retain water, Hershey and Frank follow a strict soil program that involves planting cover crops over the field (barley) and subsoiling. Because of the heavy load from the 20-ton trailers during harvest, the soil is com pacted and needs to be V-ripped. Also, Frank and Hershey soil test every two years. In the past, according to Frank, the growers also obtained nitrogen tests and recommendations from a regional agronomist. The agronomist recommended 80 pounds of nitro gen per acre. But Frank said that only 30-50 pounds of nitrogen were applied. The growers have been watch ing the pH steadily to maintain it between 6.3-6.5, and applying lime when necessary. The lime applications are necessary because of the application of broiler man ure, which tends to lower the pH. The growers also apply dairy manure to the fields. To aid in dis ease resistance, the growers also rotate to other fields especially to fields that have not grown tomatoes. Controlled weeds Last year, according to the pro cessor reports, Hershey and Frank controlled weeds with a preplant incorporated treatment of Devrinol at three pounds per acre. Post applications of Lexone DF at 0.33 pounds per acre and Poast at 1 pint per acre were applied for broodleaf (velvetleaf in particular, according' to Hershey) and grass weeds. The crop was on a 10-day spraying schedule. Fungicides were applied (for anthracnose control), including Champ at four pints per acre, Bra vo 720 at three pints per acre, and Asana XL at 6 ounces per acre. Butacide was applied at 0.7 S pints per acre for Colorado potato beetle control. Ethrel, to improve yield, was applied at three pints per acre dur ing clear weather. Hershey said that not all of the chemicals were used by the grow ers. Because of the drought, at least 25 percent of the pesticides avail able were not used. Cultivate twice Normally, the growers cultivate twice during the season. This year, Hershey said they intend to get some cultivation in. Harvest, using about 8-10 labor ers, began August 8 and lasted through September 3. Most of the harvest was completed in a 15-day period, according to Hershey. After harvest, some of the acreage was chisel plowed. The stalks are a problem, however. Hershey said piles of the stalks were difficult to shred. Some of the best acreage yielded as much as 29 tons per acre. Hershey said that a combina tion of factors contributed to a good yield. Steve Hershey Inspects the transplants at the Dale Frank farm. Loose and fluffy One field “had been in soy beans the year before, and it had cow manure,*’ he said. “The ground would have been in perfect condition sobyeans tend to make it really loose and fluffy.” But having good yields depends on many factors, including good transplants and loose, healthy soil. “Tomatoes are a detail crop," hesaid. “It’s like the cows. I mean, you can’t skimp, you can’t cut cor ners.” If you do, said Hershey, “In the long run you’re saying Tm saving a little money,’ but in the long run, I don’t think you’re doing yourself a favor.” The tomato growers will be try ing a new variety this year, OX-4. The Early Pear, a prevalent plant in the operation, is a peeler variety for canning. The Laßoche variety, according to Hershey. was his favorite because of its standability. * ’Everything last year did within Western Cows Make More Milk DOYLESTOWN (Bucks Co.) In 1961, for the first time, an entire state’s dairy herd averaged over 10,000 pounds of milk per cow. The state was California. Now a state has exceeded an average of 20,000 pounds per cow. That state is New Mexico. In 1961, New Mexico ranked 33rd in output per cow among the lower 48 states. For 1991, the top nine states in output per cow are in the western U.S. Connecticut is the only non-western state to make the top ten by this measure of dairy productivity. Pennsylvania ranks 16th, with a 1991 average output per cow of 13,106 pounds of milk. The U.S. average for all states is 14,868 pounds Top Ten States in Output/Cow 1991 1991 Output/Cow (lbs) Rank in 1961 20.394 33 18,814 18,623 18,032 17.461 17,338 16,590 16.461 15,975 15,879 State 1. New Mexico 2. Washington 3. California 4. Arizona 5. Nevada 6. Colorado 7. Oregon 8. Idaho 9. Utah 10. Connecticut range,” he said. Nothing stood out from the rest Hershcy believes the award, sponsored by Penn State and Fur man Foods, Northumberland, hon ors their work and helps them set goals. "It’s the same thing with DHIA and cows,” he said. Her shey said the year-end DHIA aver ages are published every year, which list, in order, the top milk producing herds in the stale. He looks at the award as a challenge. “It’s an encouragement,” said Frank. ”You always try to best yourself.” Frank said timing will dictate the success of any operation. And keeping up with the details and managing the ground and plants in the right ways are essential and mean more than awards. “It’s nice to try to be better,” he said. “I’m not really out there to make awards. I’m out there to make a living.” 21 25 26 13
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