The Southeast, including most of Georgia, South Carolina and parts of North Carolina and other slates, was hit hard by drought while Midwest farmers were flooded out of home and farm dur ing 1993. The total impact of the drought has not been assessed because harvest is not completed. Georgia Extension specialists note that the drought will reduce 1993 yield potential and can also delay or affect harvest For example, some peanut farmers are having difficulty harvesting the drought damaged crop. What can drought-hit farmers do to plan for 1994? Look back to 1980, 1986 and 1988... other severe drought years... and see What Drought-Hit Farmers Can Do what was recommended then. Here are some things to look for: 1. Yields of drought-damaged crops grown under conditions of good soil fertility will be higher than those where fertility was poor. 2. Crop response to fertilization is good in times of stress, may be greater than when growing condi tions are optimum. A good fertili zation program insures best utili zation of the moisture that is available. 3. Nutrient carryover due to the drought will not be as great as many farmers might estimate. If drought-damaged crops are harvested as hay or silage, nutrient removal will be greater than for grain crops. 4. Soil compaction will increase drought damage. Look at fields and find where soil compaction has increased drought damage, plan to correct this problem for the 1994 crop. S. The best way to determine fertilizer needs for the 1994 crop is the use of the best management practice... soil testing. The deep sandy soils of die Coastal Plain will not hold nitro gen or high test levels of potas sium, so soil testing is the answer to making sure the right fertilizers are used on the 1994 crop. This will be important if the winter is wet, with heavy tains to leach the nitrogen and potassium. Pho Lancaster Farming, Saturday, Octobar 2,1993-C3 sphorus will not leach, so the soil test will assay phosphorus needs for 1994. Fall is the best time for sam pling for soil tests. Fall sampling allows a better job of collecting samples at a uniform depth. Soil testing laboratories are usually not as busy, so turn-around time is short. That means farmers can begin planning needs and purch ases for 1994 crops. Farmer fertil izer dollars may be short in 1994, so soil testing will tell what is needed to make the best crop for the money. The mistake to avoid is to do nothing and put out too little or more fertilizer than is needed with a tight financial situa tion. Fertilizer is a good invest- ment, returning three or four dol lars or more for each dollar invested. Don’t be short on this important input in 1994. For more information, contact Dr. Noble R. Usherwood, South east Director, PPI, 655 Engineer ing Drive, Suite 110, Norcross, GA 30092. Phone; (404) 447-0335, or Dr. W.R. (Bob) Thompson, Jr., Midsouth Direc tor, 621 Sherwood Road, Starkvil le, MS 39759. Phone: (601) 323-8543.
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