Corn Grower President Has Model Conservation Farm (Continued from Page 1) farm with almost no erosion of soil. “When the spring rains come, I would not be afraid to drink the water that comes off the lower fields because it’s almost clear,” Troop said. ‘That’s a satisfaction I get, to be able to produce a good crop of com and do it without a lot of soil washing.” Com is planted with no-till methods that allow com to fol low com each year. The crop is marketed as high moisture com. The com stalk residue left on the fields helps to keep the soil from eroding. Build-up of nutri ents left in the soil from the farm’s over-population of lives tock 20 years ago allows for reduced fertilizer needs. “It’s rare that I need anything but nitrogen fertilizer,” Troop said. “When I started fanning, the soil was very high in fertili ty. I constantly soil test because I can’t afford to play a guessing game. “At first, test results showed excessive nutrients in the soil, but now, potash and phosphor us levels are coming back to normal levels.” His experience with soil tests on his own farm makes Troop believe that many local farms have nutrient build-up on their farms. And for this reason he believes the new nutrient man agement laws to go into effect in Pennsylvania are needed. “Increasing numbers of ani mal units on decreasing acres in production makes it necessary to know exactly what nutrients you are handling and what they are and where they are ending up,” Troop said. “You hate to tell someone he doesn’t have enough land to operate,” Troop said. “But if you don’t have a way to dispose of the waste, sometime in the future you will end up with a pile of manure and no place to go with it.” In addition, Troop sees nutri ent management laws needed to guard against farmers who don’t care about the environ ment. He cited example of a rather large dairy operation located on only six or seven acres that had to depend on neighbors to get rid of the man ure. “I don’t think farmers can continue with this kind of oper ation with no acres to handle the waste,” Troop said.” Some farmers also build dairy or hog structures beside streams and even vent manure structures into the waterways during storms to get rid of the excess manure water. Troop called these “ugly situations” and said if a farmer had any conscience at all, he wouldn’t do these things. He called far- Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 13,1993—Page (DdWM TMM MIWS PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC. mers “slobs” who get fresh water from up stream but conta minate the environment down stream. “That’s where you need regulations—in ugly situations that just left to a man’s consci ence to fix up, he doesn’t do it.” In the future, Troop believes com production in Pennsylva nia will also change because of nutrient management laws. Applying manure on clean fields (plowed under com stalks) is also dangerous because nutrients can be lost with soil erosion. Conservation compliance to participate in government programs has brought on changes in com farming in the mid-West. In Pennsylvania, the nutrient man agement laws will change the way com is planted here. Members of the Master Com Growers Association have many benefits, including the exchange of ideas with other fanners, researchers and indus try people. Troop believes this exchange is a vital part of the com grower’s existence. “Com is grown is so many different ways,” Troop said. “And with the organization, you can network information with others that will help your bottom line. The margins in growing com are small, and a few blunders will quickly take the profit out of the crop.” “Sometimes when you look only at total output or produc tion, your methods can be harmful to the environment, but when you look at economic out put, what pays and what doesn’t, the limits of economy are in line with what’s best for the environment. “I find when you get to meet ings and hear what others have to say, you are forced to think through how you do things and you become more mindful when you arc doing it yourself," Troop said. /pj y For Com, Soybeans and Alfalfa Early Order Pre-Payment Prices In Effect! Drive A Little And SAVE! ftTi RD 2, Prescott Rd., Myerstown, PA 17067 1!4 Mi. Northwest of Schaeffentown (717) 949-3860 JAMES H. PATCHES 191
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers