Page 4—Com Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 11,1 (OdWEJJ 3TMJK JOTS PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC. Northumberland Farmers Win Corn Growing Contest JUDY PATTON Union Co. Correspondent WATSONTOWN (North umberland Co.) “I treat my crops like I would a baby—l make sure they are never short on the nutrients they need to grow,” said Jody Hock of Kevin-Charles Farm when talking about the keys to rais ing good com. With his partner and brother in-law Lance Gresh, Hock grew corn yielding 212.4 bushels per acre in 1994, which earned them the first place award in the three-acre plus harvest size, shelled grain class of the Pennsylvania Corn Growers Association contest. Watching the planter (a John Deere 7200 six-row) closely to make sure it is functioning properly during planting is also important to Hock. He checks for seed depth of 1-1 1/4 inch es and no skippers in the 30- inch rows. As a result, there were 25,522 plants per acre on the award-winning plot. Since they started crop farm ing four years ago, Hock and Gresh have tried several vari eties of com hybrids, but they settled on Pioneer as their pref erence. The winning plot was Pioneer 3293. Using Pioneer hybrids on 99 percent of their 265 acres of crop ground, they got overall yield averages of 160 bushels per acre of corn and 43 bushels per acre of soy beans. The partners now have a 50- 50 rotation with com and soy beans going on their ground, which has sandy loam soil on the home farm and heavy clay on the 90-acre rented farm. The rented ground is in half-acre contour strips, as it is very hilly. All their crop acreage was laid out according to a Soil Conser vation Service plan. Using advice from Kepner’s Farm Supply for crop planning, Hock and Gresh fertilize most ly with 8-32-16 starter, side- Introducing TOP DRY GRAIN BINS •DRY UP TO 1000 BU, PER HOUR SONES GRAIN SYSTEMS Muncy, PA • 717-584-2282 dressing with nitrogen and top dressing potash and lime as needed according to soil tests. They no-till bean stubble acreage and mostly chisel plow the rest for better weed control. From the Corn Growers Association guidelines, they can choose the best time for marketing their crops. They have a storage capacity of 36,000 bushels. Hock learned about crop raising from working with Northumberland County farm- HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.) Pennsylvania’s com stored in all positions on December 1, 1994 was 104.1 million bushels, up 13 percent from December 1, 1993. On-farm corn stocks amounted to 95.0 million bushels, while off-farm stocks were 9.1 million bushels. Wheat stored off farms totaled 6.1 million bushels. Soybeans stored off farms totaled 2.9 mil lion bushels. Barley stored off farms was 1.2 million bushels. Oats stored in all positions was 6.0 million bushels, 5.3 million on-farm and 735 thousand off farm. Pennsylvania’s on-farm slocks of wheat, soybeans and barley arc not published sepa rately but instead arc included with an unallocated national total. Hay stocks on-farms on December 1, 1994 were esti mated at 2.72 million tons, up 10 percent from a year ago. On December 1, 1994, there were 248 off-farm storage facilities (mills, elevators, warehouses, terminals and pro cessors) with a total grain stor age capacity of 28.9 million bushels, down 9 percent from December 1, 1993. On December 1, 1994, on farm storage capacity was 160 million bushels, 6 percent less symo-life SOIL FERTILITY PROGRAM Has More To Offer Efficiency is The Key to Profit! We test your, soli and make recommendations as to needed nutrients, based on; • The capacity of your soil to produce • The genetic production potential of your crop. • The type of livestock you are feeding. . CSA Liquid Micro Nutrients • Organic Blends Manufacturers of Seven Lick Dutch Country Brand Fertilizers Symo-Llfe, Inc. fol Ln 3507 US 62 Mlllersburg, Ohio 44654 year ago Barley stored in all positions on December 1, 1994 totaled 279 million bushels, 16 percent below stocks a year ago. On farm stocks totaled 166 million bushels, 14 percent below a year earlier. Off-farm stocks were 113 million bushels, 19 percent below last year. U.S. hay stocks on farms on December 1, 1994 are esti mated to be 104.4 million tons, Pa. Master Corn Growers Association 3 percent above a year ago, The total number of off-farm storage facilities in the U.S. on December 1, 1994 was 11,595 with a total grain storage capac ity of 8.38 billion bushels, down 1 percent from a year ago. 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