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.”
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