VOL 38 NO. 6 ANDY ANDREWS Lai, caster Farming Staff CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.) While conventional tillage provides short-term benefits, in the longrun, according to a USDA soil tilth engineer, crops and produc tion can suffer. Dr. Thomas S. Colvin, USDA Ag Chemical Disposal Program Expanded Daniel Hogeland, NewtrthnsfttWn, Lebanon County, and Boyd Wolff, Pennsylvania secretary of agriculture at Hoge land’s 40 acre produce farm where the CHEMSWEEP prog ram was in operation to help farmers get rid of unwanted chemicals. Curator Says Present Agriculture To Become Obsolete EVERETT NEWSW ANGER Managing Editor MANHEIM (Lancaster Co.) —Because of genetic manipu lation, the curator of agriculture at the Smithsonian Institute told farm leaders the principle plants and ani mals of the future don’texist today. Dr. G. Terry Sharrer spoke to the Ag Issues Forum on Thursday morning. In a quiet voice, but with ideas that captured great imagination, Sharrer asked what it would mean if you could produce,2,ooo bushels of com per acre, or 300 bushels of soybeans. What if your cows gave 55,000 pounds of milk per year or your sows had 35 piglets per litter Holiday Deadlines The Lancaster Farming office will be closed Friday December 25 in observance of Christmas day. Early deadlines will be followed the week of Christmas. These deadlines are as follows: Public Sale Ads 5 p.m., Fri., 12/18. Mailbox Markets —5 p.m., Fri., 12/18. General News Noon, Tue., 12/22. Clasified Section C Ads 5 p.m., Mon., 12/21. All Other Classified Ads 9 a.m., Tue. 12/22. Four Sactiona Tillage Practices Topic At Carlisle Conference engineer at the National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, lowa, said farmers should take time to recon sider how and why they apply con ventional tillage practices in their overall soil management at the 19th annual Mid-Atlantic Conser vation Tillage Conference at the Embers Inn on Thursday. Colvin spoke about the conclu and raised nine out of ten to market on 1.6 pounds of feed per pound of gain? Or what if you could raise five pound broilers in 21 days? Sharrer said even now biotech nology has produced the first mod els that will make these production figures possible. For example, each type of plant is controlled by a gene that gives optimum growth according to temperature. If you put the gene for growth from a plant that does well in a cool cli mate into a plant that needs warm weather, you increase the capabili ty of the warm growing plant to grow in a cooler climate. By insert ing the “biological thermostat” or cold hardiness of winter rye into The Lancaster Farming office will also be closed Friday, January 1 in observance of New Years day. Early deadlines will be followed the last week of December as follows: Public Sale Ads —Noon, Thur., 12/24. Mailbox Markets —Noon, Thur., 12/24. General "News —Noon Tue. 12/29. Classified Section C Ads —5 p.m., Mon. 12/28. All Other Classified Ads —9 a.m., Tue. 12/29. LaneMtor Farming, Saturday, Dacamber 19,"1992 sions drawn by several researchers in the last several years about the detrimental affects conventional tillage has on soil physical struc ture and other properties. This is especially true in light of the cool, wet weather. According to Lynn Hoffman, Penn State agro nomist, many parts of the state still have com in the fields. Lynn spoke NEWMANSTOWN (Lebanon Co.) Agriculture Secretary Boyd E. Wolff today announced the addition of seven new counties to- CHEMSWEEP, a disposal program that helps fanners get rid of unwanted chemicals. Centre, Lackawanna, Lancas ter, Schuylkill, Somerset, West moreland, and Wyoming counties are being added to the program that enables farmers, Christmas tree growers, mushroom produc ers, nurserymen, greenhouse oper ators, fish hatchery managers and others to dispose of pesticides free of charge. “This program gives growers a chance to protect humans and the environment without the costly bills that can come irom disposal of even small amounts of hazard ous materials,” Wolff said. “The collections are funded through registration fees paid by chemical the wheat plant, wheat can be grown as far north as Siberia. A great northern bread basket can then open in the former Soviet Union and Canada, and world pro duction can dramatically increase. (Turn to Pag* AST) A well drilling near Ronks. The Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Environmental Resources, and other agencies remind farmers to Inspect wells, espe cially at the casing. Ask your well driller for information about the casing In your well their original records will prove useful and important. See story on page A7O. at the deep tillage season on when and why to use deep tillage. When the com is harvested, the cool, wet ground will compact easier and more severely. And those compaction prob lems, according to Lynn, will have to be dealt with in the spring if the weather turns dry by then. Hoffman said, for deep tillage, manufacturers, so there is no cost to farmers or to taxpayers.” Applications for the program will be mailed to most farmers in the participating counties and also will be available from county extension offices and the slate Department of Agriculture. CHEMSWEEP originated as a pilot program in six counties in November 1991. Collections in Bedford, Fulton, Lebanon, Lehigh, Snyder and Union coun ties are underway and should be completed this year. It is estimated that farmers m (Turn to Page A2S) 609 Par Copy conditions must be “dry to pow der” in order to shatter the pan and keep further compaction from occurring. Also, farmers must be wary of using heavy equipment on the moist, cool ground. They should take more time to look at the over all management rather than till the whole field, till only the areas that are compacted by the heavy tractors and trucks, such as end rows and headlands. “When we’re young, we think some of the things we sec arc brand new,” said Colvin, who said that deep tillage equipment has been used throughout farming history, with various degrees of success. He mentioned a patent obtained from a company in 1892 in Lan caster, Wis. for a deep till blade-00 a walk-bchind plow. “Every time we have a drought, we have interest in deep tillage,” he said. Farmers should try to understand that tillage is hike surgery, and deep tillage like open heart surgery. It is more of an art Rejoice The holy night when Christ was born returns again next week to embrace mankind. We, the Lancaster Farming staff, wish you a very joyous Christmas and a very rewarding new year! $19.00 Per Year (Turn to Page A 26)
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