f PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC.
Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 8,1994
If looking at the corn crops Is any Indication, it could be a banner
year. At the Raymond Rinker farm In Upper Fairfield Township, near
Montoursvllle, com measures about 13 feet tall. At the Lycoming
Mall farm, corn measures 14 feet tall, with ears on the stalk about
head-high.
Pa. Crops Conference
Slated For January
CARLISLE (Cumberland
Co.) A new crop production
conference which brings
together com, soybean, and for
age crop producers will be held
January 16-17,1995 here at the
Embers Inn and Convention
Center.
This conference will be cos
ponsored by the Pennsylvania
Master Com Growers Associa
tion, the Pennsylvania Forage
and Grassland Council, and the
Mid Atlantic Soybean
Association.
The conference will focus on
technologies essential to crop
producers in the state. This
maiics the first time a joint con
ference of this magnitude has
been held in the state.
Keith Eckel, president of the
Pennsylvania Farm Bureau, is
scheduled as the keynote
speaker on the first day of the
conference. He will discuss
Pennsylvania Agriculture in the
year 2010 and the adjustments
necessary to be part of the
industry then.
Know Farm’s‘Microenvironment,’
MONTOURSVILLE (Lycoming
Co.) “You have to know the micro
environment of every place you farm in
order to be able to make an intelligent
choice in seed com selection,” said
Curt Rakestraw, newly elected presi
dent of the Pennsylvania Master Com
Growers Association, Inc.
During an interview early last month
with Lancaster Farming, Rakestraw
toured several of the 31 different farm
sites he rents in the farm valley north of
North White Deer Ridge. At one Penn
State research test plot (one of several
early to medium season plots statewide)
on land leased from Joe Youman’s
Farm in Fairfield Township, Rakestraw
spoke about some of the important fac
tors growers should consider when
picking a variety.
A few years ago, the term “soil qual
ity” became fashionable. As with most
fashionable items, I resisted using it ini
tially. But the more I visit com fields
around Pennsylvania, the more I see a
need for us to think about soil quality
and how we can maintain it in our pro
duction systems.
What are the symptoms of a soil that
is lacking in quality? Soil scientists tell
us that this would be a soil that is lacking
in properties that are essential for it to
The keynote speaker for the
second day of the conference
will be John Holt, a farm man
agement professor from the
University of Florida. John is a
widely recognized and enter
taining speaker on farm man
agement issues. He will address
“Getting the Most Out of Your
Employees” and “Getting the
Most Out of Your Manage
ment” in two presentations.
The conference will also
include a variety of breakout
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Says Corn Grower President
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Farming Staff
SOIL QUALITY
AND CORN
PRODUCTION
Ak(p>Q)ii
Farm Calendar
Nouinlur 7
Agronomy Ag Service School,
Arena Restaurant, Bedford,
contact Melanie Barkley
Penn State Dußois Campus,
Dubois, contact Sue DuFour
Days Inn. Meadville, contact
Rakestraw farms about 1,100 acres of
crops (700 acres in com, 150 acres in
small grain, and 150 acres in hay) with
his brother Dave. Curt said that a farmer
must know the qualities of the soil and
the environment as a whole.
“We have some clay and rock.” he
said. “They say this is where the gla
ciers did their most damage. The edge of
the glacer was right here. So we get a
little bit of everything around here.”
Rakestraw said a lot of the land he
rents to grow com has a lot of different
varieties of soil, ranging from a Hager
stown silt loam to shaley loam to red
clay. At one farm near the Lycoming
Mall, he said “we were told there were
17 different soil types in three of the
strips,” he said. “And I believe it.
When you plow it, it just changes every
hundred feet or so.
YLVANIA MASTER
>RN GROWERS
ASSOCIATION
Between The Rows
Dr. Greg Roth
Penn State Agronomy
Assistant Professor
perform well. This could include factors
such as fertility, biological activity,
organic matter, or physical properties.
As a com specialist, my perception of
soils that are lacking in quality are those
where com grows less vigorously than
others, where water appears to run off
rather than infiltrate, appear to have few
earthworms, and those where the com is
the first to show signs of drought. For
the most part, these problems are related
to physical and'biological problems in
the soil rather than soil fertility issues.
We have known for a long time that
certain practices can contribute to a
degradation of the soil. It is well docu-
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TMM
Tom Zundcl (412) 662-3141
Brynwood Inn, Lewisburg,
contact Norm Conrad (717)
Sinbad’s Restaurant, Wys
ox, contact Mark Mdddcn
(717) 265-2896 for details.
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