A2B-Lancasttr Fanning, Saturday, March 5, 1994
Units
Croi
iumt
Page one of the workshop form helps farmers evaluate
what the crop nutrient needs are.
Swine Producers Discover
(Continued from Pag* A 1)
vania Pork Producers on Wednes
day at Yoder’s Restaurant.
For farmers who may face
excesses of manure for their land,
redistribution and finding markets
may be one way to handle the
problem.
Another way would
be to seek alternative
cropping methods, such
as using forages (parti
cularly grasses in a rota
tional grazing system),
according to Dr. Les
Lanyon, Penn State
extension agronomy
specialist.
Lanyon spoke to
about 45 farmers at the
meeting, sponsored by
the Pennsylvania Pork
Producers Council, to
update farmers on what
their alternatives are
regarding nutrient
management.
“Forage crops have
the potential to use more
nitrogen on the farms,”
said Lanyon. Fanners
Should first set up a test
ing program for their
manure to determine
what they’ll need for the
crops grown. Lanyon
told the swine farmers
not to base their tests on
assumptions, but to test
the manure to obtain
information.
Also, crop varieties
need to be selected to
best match the utiliza
tion of those nutrients.
Lanyon spoke about
the results of tests that
showed that different
loads of manure from
the same site can vary
greatly in all three nutri
ents nitrogen, pho
sphorous, and potas
sium. Also, how that
manure is stored and
applied can vary the
nutrients available to the
plant.
Farmers should look
closely and monitor
phosphorous levels m
the soil, because that
could be a major con
cern later on if nutrient
management legislation
is amended. Pennsylva
nia could face the same
situation as southern
states that already limit
farmers in the amount ol
not only nitrogen, but
phosphorous, that can
be applied to Helds.
Farm Nuiriepi Evaluation
For now, farmers worried about
excess nitrogen could use marginal
land as grazing. Chet Hughes, Lan
caster livestock agent, spoke about
a group of farms in Sampson
County, North Carolina (the
number-one hog-producing coun
ty in the nation, according to
Hughes) that make use of intensive
Topped the Penn State alfalfa
germplasm trials at Landisville, PA in
1990 with a record yield of 9.28 tons per
acre! That record still stands. The #1
yielder in '9l MD state test, back in the
top again in '92. Plenty of additional
data from Mid-Atlantic and Northeast
tests in '9l, '92, '93.
High stand scores show outstanding
winter hardiness.
Inquire for complete trial data.
mlrement for Yield
P2QS
CxDxE
ism
I »»D«E
grazing technology for stocker
cattle.
Sampson County has a total of
146,000 sows that produce about
1.7 million hogs per year. A typical
farm has about 1,200 sows, with a
contract finisher producing about
2,800 hogs annually.
The North Carolina swine pro-
Page two of the chart helpa producers* determine what
nutrients are produced on the farm. At the bottdhi, fanners
can then determine If they need nutrients or have a possible
nutrient excess.
ducers use bermudagrass and
fescue in their stocker operations,
using small paddocks. Tests
looked at the quality of the grass as
forage and its effect on ADG,
which looked good in all the exam
ples of farms using grazing,
according to Hughes.
A wide variety of grasses which
Top honors
the region...
State Yield Trials
Persistence
Farm Production
MEDALLION
IS A NORTHEAST VARIETY
DEVELOPED ONLY FOR THE
MID-ATLANTIC & NORTHEAST
INDEPENDENT
PENN STATE & MD TRIALS
DEMONSTRATE THE REGIONAL
ADVANTAGE YOU CAN HAVE ON YOUR
FARM!
Farm Nulritnl Evaluation
* Northeast Developed
* Northeast "Germplasm"
* Northeast Performance
* Optimized For Your Conditions
can use up quantities of nitrogen in
manure can be put into place here
in Pennsylvania.
Dr. Ken Kephart, Penn State
extension swine specialist, indi
cated “compelling" evidence for
using a system of deep pack bed
ding for grower/finisher herds.
(Turn to Pag* A 29)
in