«C CRN TALK
V PENNSYLVANIA MASTER CORN GROWERS ASSOC., INC.
Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 16, 1996
Grower Talks About ‘The Sun, Rain, And The Increase ’
CAROLYN MOYER
Bradford Co. Correspondent
CANTON (Bradford Co.)
“I only plant the com. The good
Lord gives the sun and the rain
and the increase,” said a humble
Tom Pepper Sr. as he talked
about his successful com crops
and his first-place finish in the
five-acre com club’s three
year-average com class last
year.
He took the prize with an
average production of 200.3
bushels per acre. Althousi this
is the first time he has been at
the top of his class, Pepper is no
stranger to the winner’s circle.
Farmers Prove There
Are Lots Of Variables
In Corn Growing
GAIL STROCK
Mifflin Co. Correspondent
McCONNELLSTOWN
(Huntingdon Co.) Elwood
Kyper farms more variables
than a lot of farmers.
Every farmer watches the
sky for weather changes, tests
soil in the palm of his hand for
moisture, and nibbles at ker
nels for crop maturity.
But the land Kyper owns in
Woodcock Valley near Mc-
Connellstown, and rents along
the Juniata River, contains
Gass II and 111 soils.
From shaley Berks on the
hills to Philo and Batbar flood
plain with com yields compar
able to Hagerstown soils, Ky
per produces a good living and
satisfying lifestyle from this
Ak€®H
Farm Calendar
Ag Administration Building.
University Park, 9 a.m.-3:30
Research and Extension
Pepper began entering his
production data with the SULB
RA Crop Management Associ
ation in 1990. He started getting
awards in 1991. In 1993 he
placed second in the hand
harvest class for ear com with
197.8 bushels per acre. In 1994
he took second place honors in
the three-year average com
class with 185.7 bushels per
acre.
“We have increased gradual
ly every year,” noted Pepper. “I
think the SULBRA Crop Asso
ciation has certainly been a big
help to us.”
(Turn to Pago 3}
land. It just takes timeliness,
patience, and a wider variety of
farming methods.
Kyper farms more than 900
acres with relative Keith Strait
and in cooperation with Mike
Lang and Russell Kyper. They
plant 400 acres of com. In ad
dition, Russell plants 70 acres
of com from his own ISO till
able, and Mike plants 50 acres
of com from his 100 tillable
acres.
Because of such variable
soil qualities, they spread the
risk of farming over 150 acres
of wheat, 100 acres of timothy,
95 acres of alfalfa, 55 acres of
green beans, 50 acres of soy
beans, 35 acres of sorghum, 23
acres of tomatoes, and 15 acres
of oats.
(Turn to P«fl* *)
fMI
jp L'.Jglh.
State Agronomy Farm,
Longacre Potato Farm,
Tionesta.
Tom Pepper, right, and grandson Nate Wooster pose near their full corn
crib. Pepper also grows corn for silage and high moisture corn which are fed
to his barn full of dairy cows.
PLANNING FOR
THE 1996
CORN CROP
It’s hard to believe, but
another com planting season is
just around the comer.
The new season should be an
challenging one. High com
prices, more com acres, and
some high input costs will test
YLVANIA MASTER
RN GROWERS
ASSOCIATION
Between The Rows
Dr. Greg Roth
Penn State Agronomy
Associate Professor
our management skills again
this year.
This winter I visited with lots
of com growers at winter meet
ings around the state. I came
away with the message that our
business is still as interesting as
it always has been.
Here are some of the issues I
heard about that we need to
consider in 1996.
One issue was that, across
the board, we all still need to
think more about the basics of
com production. For example,
in many areas, just avoiding
late planting is a continuing
challenge. Planning ahead by
managing our equipment and
labor resources to finish on
time will go a long way to
(Turn to Pag* 30)