Page 2—Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 13,1993 I (SdDIM -TPMJK MIWS il % PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC. Prize Yield May Bode Future CONNIE LEINBACH Berks Co. Correspondent MERTZTOWN (Berks Co.) Larry Moyer may not have farming in his blood, but this recently turned livestock and com farmer found he has a knack for it. Moyer recently won top hon ors in the Pa. Com Grower’s Association regular category. Moyer topped the competition with 214 bushels per acre in the five-acre contest. It was the sec ond time he’d entered the contest. An insurance agent and financial planner for the last 28 years, Moyer also took up farm ing when he married his wife, the former Linda Gillespie, four years ago and moved to her family’s farm. He and farm manager Marion ‘Tuff’ Wilson chuckle as they recall how they didn’t expect to win any awards in the contest, let alone top. “We knew we had good yields,” Moyer said. “But we didn’t know we had that much.” Wilson explained that when the Doebler representative heard they were planning to enter the contest, the agent sug gested they try a new variety on the five-acre plot 73XP. So they did. Because of the wet season, they didn’t harvest the crop until two days before the con- Extent , Quality Unknown For Unharvested Corn VERN ACHENBACH JR. Lancaster Farming Staff STATE COLLEGE (Centre Co.) The consensus of opin ion is that a significant amount of the 1992 com crop went unharvested and, of that which was taken in, mold-related problems may be widespread. Much information has been forthcoming in the past two months on the advisability of feeding moldy feeds or harvest ing fields of still-standing com for use as feed. Existing agricultural data collection services and agen cies do not have procedures in place for making a determina tion of the amount of com still standing. Kim Neilsen, an agricultural statistician with the Pennsylva nia Agricultural Statistics Ser vice (PASS), reviews the offi cial surveys and compiles the PASS field crops and crop weather report. He said PASS does not have an accurate tool in place to measure the amount of com still in the field. Their survey asks farmers what percentage of their expected crop has been harvested. For High Corn Success test deadline. The last day they harvested was Dec. 30, Wilson said. It look that long for the mois ture content to go down. “Last year, 19 percent was the wettest com I had,” Wilson said. “This year, that was the driest.” Moisture levels this year, he said, ranged from 19 percent to 24 percent. Moyer ruminated on the irony of it all. He’s doing a good job following his father in-law’s footsteps, although he never knew the man. His father-in-law, the late William Gillespie, in 1972 won the same award with Pioneer 3369 A. Gillespie, who was principally a beef and com far mer, was named Pennsylvania Livestock Man of the Year in 1985. As such, his picture hangs in the Farm Show Com plex. All this was done during Gillespie’s retirement after a career in New Jersey as territor ial manager for Beacon Feeds. Gillespie always wanted to get back into farming, and he spent 10 to 12 years searching several states for the ideal farm, Moyer said. He found it outside of Mert ztown on a piece of land tucked into the far northeast comer of Berks County, extending into Lehigh County. He named the 250-acre site. He said that if the com has been standing and the farmer decides to use it for chopped bedding, or for cover crop, etc., the farmer then reports a 100 percent harvest, though he actu ally may have lost much of an expected crop. The last'weather and crop report in December was on the 20th and it showed a statewide 85 percent com harvest. That amount had not changed as of Jan. 3. From those reports, it’s pos sible that the state’s com pro ducers could have suffered a loss of as much as 15 percent of their crop, though it is not easy to support such an estimate. The main reasons given for not being able to get into the fields to harvest com was that the soil was too wet, the com too immature, or the crop was too high in moisture. Though not representative of the condition of the entire state by any means, twa veterina rians who practice in the south central and southeastern reg ions of the state report a large increase in the incidents of mold-produced, toxin poisonings among commercial On a frigid winter day, Larry Moyer, right, and Tuff Wilson pause outside ing house on Brookvue Farms In Mertztown. complete with a stream cours ing through it, Brookvue Farms. Gillespie could tell just by looking at the soil that this was his dream spot. “We’re very fortunate to have fine soil here,” Moyer said. “It’s called Washington soil, or Virginia loam. It may be the finest soil in the Lehigh Valley.” It’s high in potash and pho sphate, Wilson said. So for his second career, Gil lespie became a farmer, raising cattle and com, adding hogs 20 years ago. He hired Wilson, a hog expert who had worked for the former A & B Meats, as manager eight years ago. The hog operation is proving to be so successful that Moyer is looking to expand his pro duction fivefold. “Last year we doubled pro duction,”-he said. “Next year we will triple it.” Now, however, he can’t fully utilize his sows because of the limited space in his farrowing house. A new farrowing house livestock and poultry. and, if it ingests enough, will The advice from them is physically vomit from it. straightfoward: test. * “The other we’re seeing is And they both highly recom- Fusarium rosi,” Traycr said, mend using the state facility at adding that this is the mycoto- Summerdale, because of its xin which produces an accuracy, expense and estrogen-like chemical which reputation. stimulates some of the same “We’re in for a bad year,” said Timothy P. Trayer, DVM, a full partner in the Lancaster County-based association of Hutchison, Trayer and Reid. “We would strongly recom mend, if there is a concern, send (a feed sample) to Summerdale Diagnostic Lab. They have the best and most cost-effective anaylysis in the country,” Tray er said. A large part of Trayer’s clientele consists of swine pro ducers and the veterinarian said he has seen some of the prob lems associated with mycoto xins, which is the name for tox ins produced by molds or, more correctly, fungi. “Most commonly, what we’re seeing is the feed refusal factor associated with vomito xin," he said. “What usually happens with this is, the animal only eats enough to stay alive, lends to chew and spit back out . m and grower-finisher building scheduled to be built this spring will relieve congestion. “We’re working in less than ideal conditions here,” he said. Ideal conditions developed after the building are complete will complement his already successful attempts at finishing his hogs sooner. Moyer stumbled upon a new type of hog feeder, called an Ad-Lib Feeder, developed in Scotland. Its principal is simple: Pigs are separated from each other, minimizing aggres sion, and the feed is contained within each pig’s space, signif icantly reducing waste. The trough of the feeders are made of polymer concrete, which is virtually impervious to corrosion from saliva, water, and other farm-related acids. Moyer said he installed the feeders for his 525 head of hogs in August and already he has obtained an increase in average weight gain for each pig. “We did nothing different except put in these feeders,” he responses in animals as does real estrogen, especially in female swine. “You’ll see all age females coming into a false heat,” Tray er said. The females won’t stand still to be mounted during this false heat, he said. “Once you remove the feed, it takes two to three weeks to clear the body; but once it clears, the animal is reproduc- tively back to normal.” Trayer said the most devas tating myctoxin is aflatoxin, which is ironically also a prob lem of concern during drought, because dried-out shell com cracks and exposes the starch to fungal attack. He said that at certain levels of ingestment, the animal will have serious side effects, such as damaged livers, stunting of growth, and overall increased death loss of livestock. Strangly enough, the com said “They’re getting to market earlier and at heavier weights.” Moyer and Wilson were so impressed that Wilson sug gested Moyer sell the feeders here. That’s how he became the distributor for the United States. Now he travels around the country to state potic con ventions where he shows the feeders. His wife Linda is happy to be living on the farm her father bought while she was in college. “I’m sure he’d be thrilled to know how things are going,” she said about her father. Moyer smiles as he considers the path his life has taken. “I never lived on a farm,” he said, “But I’m fascinated b> farming.” He notes that Wilson is < chief source of expertise ant that he and Wilson make a good team. “He’s a terrific asset,” Moyer said. “I wouldn’t be able to do this without him.” still in the field may be no more of a problem than that already taken in. “Some of the first com com ing out of the field was actually the worst," Trayer said. ‘The first had already produced toxin while in the field. One of the first calls I got was (associated with) .. . new com back in October and Novemeber.” He said that once com is identified as a problem, it can still be used as feed, if it is diluted with an adequate amount of unaffected com so that toxin concentrations are pushed below the threshold of producing a reaction in the animal. He also said that this year two feed additive products are being used to help absorb tox ins out of the feed. Both are included into the feed at a rate of about 10 pounds per ton and cost about $2.50 to $3 per ton to treat. Other advice from Trayer was that if mold is visible, us a mold inhibitor when storing the grain. However, be aware that mold inhibitors whill not absorb propionic acid. (Turn to Page 4) irrow-
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers