Corn Grower Presiden
EVERETT NEWSWANGER
Managing Editor
QUARRYVILLE (Lancaster
Co.) —“If weeds arc not con
trolled, you are going to get a
greatly reduced crop. The most
single limiting factor in com
production is water, and weeds
take it.”
The author of this quote.
Grant Troop, president, Pen
nsylvania Master Com Grow
ers, knows how to grow a good
crop of com. But he is also very
sensitive to the environmental
health of his land.
“Weed control depends on
chemicals,” Troop said. “But
with what EPA has done in the
last 20 years, a lot of safety has
been insured to the environ
ment. The chemicals that are
dangerous are not on the market
UNIVERSITY PARK
(Centre Co.) —This year will
certainly go down as the “talc
of two seasons” for com pro
ducers in Pennsylvania.
On one hand, those in south
ern counties had generally
excellent growing conditions
and very good yields. For those
in central to northern counties,
a short cool season magnified
any management mistakes and
reduced yields and grain
quality.
There’s something to be
learned from both seasons.
In the southern areas, the
record yields reflected the use
Lancaster Farming Official
Corn Talk Publication
With this issue of Com Talk. Lancaster Fanning becomes the
official publication for the Pennsylvania Master Com Growers’
Association, Inc. (PMCGA). Officials of the com growers recen
tly asked Lancaster Farming to publish their quarterly newslet
ter because of the added exposure their Com Talk section will
receive from Lancaster Farming readers, members and non
members alike.
“We’re excited about this new arrangement with Lancaster
Farming and appreciate their support of the project,” said Grant
Troop, PMCGA president
Three more issues of Com Talk arc planned for 1993 —spring,
summer and fall, with April 17 as the next issue date. Each issue
will contain useful grower information, interviews with com
growers, association news from both the state and national asso
ciations, and messages from advertisers.
PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC.
anymore. Many of the earlier
chemicals I didn’t use anyway
because of the suspicion of dan
ger. I use all the safeguards and
recommendations on the label,
and I feel I’m doing a safe job
of farming. It works for me.”
Troop graduated from Penn
State with a degree in agronomy
in 1973 and immediately started
to work the family farm west of
Georgetown. Before his time’,
the farm was a concentrated
livestock operation, and there
were only four large fields on
the farm. These fields contained
“gullies deep enough to bury a
car in them.” But strip and con
tour farming were initiated and
developed in the ‘6os. Now the
land is in 21 small fields and can
be called a model conservation
(Turn to Page 7)
YLVANIA MASTER
/RN GROWERS
ASSOCIATION
ween The Rows
Dr. Greg Roth
Penn State Agronomy-
Assistant Professor
of continually improving man
agement and hybrids combined
with a reasonably good season.
Another factor that contributed
to the high yields was cooler
than normal temperatures.
While it’s tree that com grows
well on hot summer nights,
these high temperatures also
cause the plants to “bum off’
more of the sugars produced by
photosynthesis during the day.
Cool temperatures reduce
this process, known as dark
respiration, and these sugars
eventually contribute to higher
yields.
(Turn to Page 3)
Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 13, 1993
Has Model Conservation Farm
Grant Troop, president, Pennsylvania Master Corn Growers, believes you can grow a
good corn crop and still be sensitive to the environmental health of the land. Photo by Everett
Newswanger, managing editor.
Farm Calendar
Moiul;i>, I el)ru;ii \ 15
Penn State Crop Production
Satellite Seminar, Grain
Crops, contact your local
extension office.
TMM
luos<l;n, l Vl>ni;u \ 16
Ag Information Series, Produc
ing Quality Com Silage and
Troubleshooting Com Pro
duction Problems, Unilec
Building, Dußois, 7:30
p,m.-9:30 p.m.
S»»du\, February 21
NCGA Com Classic, San Anto-
Lebanon Valley Expo
i,ge.
Animal National Confer
ence, Syracuse, N.Y., thru
Feb. 25.
(Turn to Page 3)