NEW HOLLAND (Lancaster Co.) Ford New Holland has in troduced two new self-propelled windrowers for the 1993 season. The new 87HP Model 2450 and the 100 HP “2550” are available with 12-foot, 14-foot, and 16-foot headers. Both windrowers feature new, quiet cab designs with im proved visibility, easy-10-opcrate control systems, and seating. ‘Their 96-inch wide swath ca pability is even more important,” said Product Manager Joe Weick sel. “Both models have 102-inch conditioner rolls that can deposit the crop in wide, 8-foot fast-cur To Get Rid Of Sludge? COLLEGE PARK, MD. Every day, Maryland produces eight to nine thousand tons of wet sludge. About one quarter of this sludge is being recycled as farm land fertilizer. While application continues on the state’s dwindling farmland, Maryland is looking for alterna tive areas to put the sludge. Fore stland may be an alternative. “A prime concern with sludge application to forestland,” said Marla Mclntosh, from the Univer sity of Maryland College Park, “is the fate of nutrients in the sludge, especially nitrogen.” As part of an ongoing regional project partially supported by the Maryland Agricultural Experi ment Station, she is looking at how sludge can be applied to for estland and still be environmental ly safe. After applying sludge to forest land, Mclntosh looks at nitrate levels in the soil water the water in the soil located above the groundwater. This may be diffe rent from farmland, she said. THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATION FOR THE PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC. April 17, 1993 A SPECIAL SECTION ADVERTISERS PLAN NOW TO RESERVE YOUR SPACE PHONE 717-394-3047 or 626-1164 • GROWERS INFORMATION • FEATURE INTERVIEWS • STATE & NATIONAL ASSOCIATES NEWS • PRESIDENT’S NEWS LETTER A LANCASTER FARMING EXCLUSIVE | P Windrowers From Ford New Holland ing swaths or in windrows as nar row as 38 inches.” He said, “This results in more management flexibility and profit irrigated alfalfa growers in the cool part of the growing season. Spreading the crop out in fully conditioned, uniform swaths cuts days from curing lime. That lets growers apply irrigation water days sooner for quicker rc growlh.” Serviceability and routine maintenance of the new windrow ers are made easier by flip-up shielding and simplified design. Hydrostatic pumps connect direct An Alternative Way You cannot extrapolate from research done on farmland, Mcln tosh said. The rich organic mater ial in the layer of the leaf litter may immobilize prevent from moving into the groundwater sludge-borne nitrogen, therefore decreasing the amount of nitrogen that can leach into the groundwater. Forestland has other advantages over farmland as well: sludge can be applied year-round, forests are more accessible because they are often located near municipalities, and there is less concern with con taminating the food supply, Mcln tosh said. Applying municipal sludge to forestland has been quite success ful on the West Coast. The nutri ents in the sludge have benefitted the timber industry by improving tree growth. However, Maryland forests are very different from those on the West Coast, so local research is needed. Results of sludge application are site specific, Mclntosh said. “You cannot generalize to other IN LANCASTER FARMING DEADLINE FRIDAY, APRIL 9 ly to the engine. Transmission mo tors direct-drive power wheels to eliminate intermediate drive parts. Engines shut down automati cally if engine coolant overheats or oil pressure drops. A floating 20-indi diameter auger handles heavy crops without plugging, said Weickscl. Conditioner roll pressure adjusts easily. The elec tronic instrument cluster is easy to read and large diameter tires pro vide a smoother ride, Weicksel adds. There’s plenty of storage space for tools, spare parts, extra sickles and even a lunch cooler. areas.” In fact, she has not found improved growth in her study. Researchers in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, also participat ing in the regional project, got dif ferent results as well. Mclntosh applied three diffe rent sludge concentrations low, medium, and high to a plot of trees at the Central Maryland Research and Educational Center in Clarksville. Nitrogen increased slightly in the soil water with low sludge concentrations and returned to normal after a short time, Mcln tosh said. However, the medium and high concentrations resulted in soil water with above accept able nitrogen levels. The nitrogen levels also did not return to nor mal, even after two years. To be useful, research has to be able to predict nitrogen leakage under worst-case conditions where nitrogen is not being cycled into the ecosystem, leaving more to leach into the ground water. Maryland experienced this worst case scenario with its two-year Com p / rn " td ari "01 U>n I hLtlu *«' ko ,nj. f »usci /'"U 77,. s, /P''UlK|, o - *■ ! 11 1 I fill I ,ui, L ,'"'" ,nf of ~, uXj'J ' p'r^z,^"' , ™ 1 I *now s h ott ~ (o '"(w» p 'Pc f, «'7 u, * n r lii,l 'o||il 0 ||il o a,( °Hn / ~n" m-j s .W; fa l " "Ku/rd f,, 01 ' " u > Pa «., iSr'-X a '* itL")'*' ji> i Uk tl Ti \ \,7't “/""'"'I 1 ; t,,::: “ £z'° m :; z: L:;;; , ;v'r Jr " f r ' 10 ' r, i„ .w-.,« - ; --r I p '« >, / ° fflcial mk, Nation (cm,2" «"*«»».£“" ';,;* 1 *c ■ _ Model 2450 and 100 HP “2550 Speedrowerwindrowers are available with 12-foot, 14-foot or 16-foot dual counter-stroke sickle headers. Crops can be deposited in windrow/swath widths of 38 to 96 inches. Cabs are quiet and feature ergonomically efficient controls and seating. drought in 1986 and 1987, where rainfall was half that of normal, Mclntosh said. This may have caused the lack of growth as well as the varied results in nitrogen leaching. When water is scarce for instance, during a drought two things can happen: plants do not take up as much nitrogen and denitrification does not occur. Denitrification is the process by which nitrogen is released into the atmosphere as nitrogen gas and occurs only under waterlogged conditions, Mclntosh said. Although the high sludge con centration (714 Ibs/acre) was twice that of the medium (357 lbs/ acre), leaching levels were about IK. i 1 \ PB^^r s * ss °c£°r£* s h, < , . fcn "Sr 1( , /v<> '■ „ lf { " 11(1 Oii, , ?ALr I -^^° n c.i end „ ~ I UU the same for both. It is possible, according to Mclntosh that under better conditions, such as more rain, leaching might not occur or be as high. Nitrate leaching into the ground water is the limiting factor for applying sludge to forestland. “You need to keep a vigilant eye” on the nitrogen levels, Mclntosh said. “It is important to allow them to return to the base-line levels before re-application.” Sludge application on farmland is highly regulated, but no regula tions exist for forestland, Mcln tosh said. She hopes that her research results will aid the gov ernment in forming environmen tally sound regulations.
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