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
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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
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* - . • DOUBLES AS A
STORAGE BIN
TT* *54010 2100
I / BUSHEL BATCH
CAPACITY
PATENT No 4 137 682
4 480 634
Lance Gresh, left and Jody Hock show their award from the Pennsylvania Corn Growers
Association for top production in the 3-acre plus harvest size shelled grain class.
ers Donald Beaver and Gerald high school, while Gresh was whom Hock and Gresh bought
Shoop after graduating from taught by his fathers from their farm.
Pa. Corn Stocks Reviewed
than December 1, 1993
Nationally, com stocks in all
positions on December 1,1994
was estimated at 8.08 billion
bushels, 36 percent more than
on December 1,1993. On-farm
stocks totaled 5.42 billion
bushels, 42 percent more than
last year. Off-farm stocks were
2.66 billion bushels, up 25 per
cent from last year.
All wheat stocks in all posi
tions on December 1, 1994 are
estimated at 1.50 billion
bushels, down 6 percent from a
year ago. Wheat stored on
farms was 576 million bushels,
down 12 percent from last year.
Off-farm stocks totaled 920
million bushels, 1 percent
below last year.'
Soybeans in all storage posi
tions on December 1,1994 tot
aled 2.10 billion bushels, up 34
percent from December 1,
1993. Farm stocks totaled 986
million bushels, 41 percent
above last year. Off-farm
stocks are placed at 1.12 billion
bushels, 27 percent above a
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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.
On-farm grain storage
capacity on December 1, 1994
for the United States was 11.5
billion bushels, down 1 percent
from a year ago.
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