merited that continuous corn, for exam ple, can degrade the soil structure, which is the soil’s ability to form gra nules and have good “tilth.” It is also known that intensive tillage can reduce soil structure and “bum up” organic matter in the soil by introducing oxygen automatic Hi-Volume ROLLER MILI for Hi-Volume Savings Cut your processing cost, save time with an Automatic Hi-Volume Grain Blower Mill. Process up to 1800 bu. per hr. (shelled corn) milo, soybeans, small grain at any moisture level. Also available with big 11-inch tilting dis charge auger reaches 10 feet for convenient delivery and lateral cross auger. Come in ... let's talk. 939 railing Spring Road II 5 O Box 219 Ch.unhotstung, PA 17201-0219 Phono 7 17-263 91 1 ! | Ryder supply -YLVANIA MASTER 'RN GROWERS SSOCIATION Between The Rows Dr. Greg Roth Penn State Agronomy Assistant Professor Inuod from Pago 1) in the soil. Tillage can also reduce earthworm populations. We also know that when soils are intensively cropped and few crop residues are returned to the field, organic matter and other soil quality factors will slowly decline. In addition, traffic on soils with heavy manure equipment and silage wagons can cause compaction, which is ' not always overcome with subsequent tillage operations. This summer I visited one farm where the com “just doesn’t grow like it used to.” Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the first time I heard that comment recently. The farmer proceeded to tell me about his system. The two fields behind the bam had been cropped to com silage for the last 20 years or so. Each fall or spring they received a healthy dose of liquid manure and were chisel plowed, disked, and planted. Com growth has been uneven, weed pressure heavy, and the field has a healthy dose of com rootworm beetles. Heavy rains seem to run off more than infiltrate. He has been reluctant to rotate because his hay fields are hilly and his conservation plan is very limiting in terms of the amount of com that he can grow there. As I thought about the problem, I began to realize that there were many factors here that could contribute to a decline in soil quality continuous com, intensive tillage, no cover crop over the winter, and frequent heavy traffic on the fields. Even the manure he was applying a low-organic-matter, nitrogen-rich slurry would have a lot less beneficial effect on the soil organic matter than the solid manure his grand father applied to the fields a generation before. On top of those factors, pest problems aggravated by continuous com were building and reducing the crop’s ability to compensate for the lousy soil conditions. There are a lot of fields in Pennsylva nia which get treated in a similar fashion and still grow decent com. This sug gests to me that soils vary somewhat in their ability to tolerate some of these abuses. Some of the deep, loamy, very productive soils in the southeast part of the state, for example, have been cropped to com for more than 30 years continuously and still produce top yields. My observations would indicate the potential for problems would be IMMMiro C.B. HOOBER & SON, INC. ■ HOOBEK EQUIPMENT, INC Intercourse, PA BMHHHHHHHHHMMMMHMHI Middletown. DE (717) 768-8231 ■ ■ TWO LOCATIONS (302) 378-9555 |DMI/ PARABOLIC SHANK 4x4 or 4x6 Main Frame $ll 025 JIO 09580046 * Lea Point Good Till 11/94 WE SHIP PARTS DAILY Via FED. EXP. - UPS - PPSH - BUS - AIR FREIGHT. ETC. HOURS FI2KWLIIII Mon.-Fri. 7 AM-5 PM; Sal.; 7 AM-Noon I<n VIH CALL US... Authorized hCouUßtWtHmlf UPS Station Com Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 8,1994-Page (0 wr mi miws PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC. The Savin . most on soils that are shallower or have been eroded and arc a bit “clayey” in texture. Lets discuss the options I suggested to the farmer I met earlier this summer. It would be great if he could rotate the field into hay for a few years and possib ly no-till his com into existing hay fields to meet conservation requirements. Another option might be to get a rye cover crop established immediately after silage harvest. A good crop of rye in the fall could help loosen the soil, build soil structure, and help to return some organic matter to the soil. This may be enough to turn the situation around. To go one step further. I’d recommend eliminating the tillage for com planting as much as possible and applying the manure in early spring, killing the rye early, and planting when the soil is fit. This would eliminate til lage and should help to improve soil tilth and soil organic matter. We may have to compromise here and spread our manure on the surface, but the rye cover and N accumulated from the cover crop should help to offset the N lost from a surface manure application. He could also consider irrigating manure on the fields. This would elimi nate the traffic from manure hauling and the resulting soil compaction. Other possible solutions could also be deve loped to address this problem, but almost all require some additional expense or compromises. I’ve seen a number of beautiful com fields this year and many of them in cropping systems that include factors such as short com rotation, irrigating manure, early planted cover crops, or more reliance on no-tillage. So, it is possible to avoid soil prob lems ‘ with some conventional techniques. If you think you are encountering soil quality problems, consider addressing them by eliminating one or more of the factors that we know is associated with this decline continuous com, traffic, lack of crop residue, or intensive tillage. If you’ve done your homework, your com will show dramatic improvements. Place mu mm ("V. Pick Up Your Wj\ Phone And S Place Your ',,l® Parts fv. /Tf Order ," -U II With I Us* 223
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