Page 4-Com Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, March 16,1996
Variables In Corn Growing
(Continued from Pag* i) number of droughts since as a group could pool their com
Throw in 300 head of Hoi- 1988. We select for high tests to take advantage of the higher
stein grade heifers fed on con- weight, too,” said Elwood said, price that goes along with high
tract, 500 feeder lambs, a Car- They plant 105 to 115-day gr volume -if they would all
gill seed dealership, some ser- com. agree to sell at the same time,
vices such as trucking and Com yields average 130 Kyper checks the maricet
snow removal, and you have a bushels per acre. Elwood said price of com every day. “I
farming lifestyle based on co- that in 1984, com planted eariy haven’t contracted for 1996
operation, an approach that on the hill “got hammered” yet. Last year we contracted
was staited several generations while combining their first 7,000 bushels. I would like to
ago with Elwood’s father and 200-bushel per acre on the bot- use futures and options more.”
Russell’s grandfather. tomland. Kyper improves soil Elwood jokingly said he
In their operation, Elwood conditions with conservation never got far in life because the
owns of the equipment, practices such as strip farming, farm shop is only a mile up the
sprays the crops, studies mar- Installing sod waterways, sub- road. But Elwood’s desire to
keting strategies, and makes soiling, and installing tile in the learn has taken him further,
mosts management decisions, bottomland. ' “I like to know what’s going
Mike does just about all of the Most of the com is shelled as on and to have input. I’m inter
planting. Keith tills, fertilizes, dry grain with a John Deere ested in com production and
and limes. Russell puts his side hill combine, some is marketing. When you’re in
agronomy degree and work ex- chopped for silage, and about volved, you share ideas and
perience as a Lancaster County 4,000 bushels are picked as dry learn from others.”
crop consultant to use as field ear com. Russell soil tests Elwood is serving his sec
scout and crop analyst. Barb every three years. They use ondoutoffouryearsasadirec
keeps the record books and conventional and notill plant- tor for the Pennsylvania Master
handles the day-to-day “911” i°g. and varying degrees in be- Com Growers Association. He
farming distress calls. tween. is a Walker Township supervi-
All of them place high pri- Phosphorus (10-34-0 liquid) ser, wildlife coordinator, and
ority on machinery mainten- is applied with the planter past president for Huntingdon
ance. All in all, Elwood joking- while nitrogen is either applied County Farm Bureau, and has
ly says they all get their 40 wil h the herbicides or side- served nine years on the ASC
hours in each week. dressed. They feed 40 percent committee. He is a member of
“Our farmland won’t allow of production to the livestock
for just the com and soybean and market 60 percent to other
rotation. You can’t do the same farmers and area feed mills
thing in every field,” said El
wood, a Pennsylvania Master
Com Growers Association
board of director. ‘Timing is
all important. We don’t have
the luxury of Hagerstown soils.
We farm from shaley hills to
creek bottoms. When spring
comes, we start at the top and
work our way down.”
“We have fields you can
walk on all day and never get
off the rocks!” Russell said
with a laugh. (Humor and pa
tience are on the list of crop ad
ditives!) “We can document
com yields from below SO to
200 bushels per acre.”
“In selecting hybrid seeds,
the vareity has to be able to
handle stress. We’ve had a
N .
Machinery maintenance ranks high In priority on
helper term. Russell, right, and Elwood prepare an
IH 544 for painting.
El wood tends to shy away
from quoting a specific cost of
com production per acre be
cause of all the variables.
“Other businesses seem to
be able to come up with an ac
curate cost of production. We
as farmers are in business. But
it’s hard to put a dollar cost on
things. There arc so many vari
ables. Land costs, for example,
arc different in different areas.”
Kyper concentrates instead
on better marketing and cutting
costs. He gets together with
several area farmers to reduce
costs by buying 12 to IS load
of nitrogen, shopping by phone
for the best price. Kyper’s
operation uses five loads.
He also believes producers
CORN SILAGE
EXTREMELY VARIABLE
R. S. Adams
Dept, of Dairy
And Animal Science
Penn State
The drought and atypical
conditions last fall have
resulted in numerous problems
related to com silage quality.
In some com silage, soluble
protein levels are considerably
below expected. These should
be confirmed by testing another
sample since sampling errors
and laboratory errors may
occur in some cases.
If verified, the low soluble
protein values may be related to
lack of fermentation because of
low moisture or sugar contents
in drought-stricken areas, as
well as other factors. Silage
with a pH of more than 4.8 also
may present greater risk of
mold, mycotoxin, and other
microbial problems, as well as
higher dry matter losses.
Acid detergent fiber (ADF)
and neutral detergent fiber
(NDF) are unusually low in
some silages due at least in part
to lack of plant growth and/or
early maturing grain and prop
ortionately higher grain con
tent. Since energy estimates on
forage test reports usually are
based on fiber content, TDN
and net energy values may be
(DdDiN mi mmm
Pennsylvania Master Corn Growers Association
board member Elwood Kyper of McConnellstown
does his marketing homework to get the most for his
corn.
the American Farm Bureau
Grain Quality Advisory Com
mittee.
The Kypers are proud of
their community, their co
operative way of farming, and
of seeing their three daughters
unreasonably high.
Practical energy maximums
for com silage fed to cattle are
72 percent TDN and .74 Meal
NEL per pound of dry matter
(DM). Conversely, unusually
high fiber contents in com sil
age may result in reported TDN
and NEL values that are appre
ciably below expected mini
mums of 60 percent and .63
Meal NEL per pound, respec
tively for use in ration
formulation.
Ann Reynolds, Amy Smith,
and Sandy Bednoski
through college.
“We have to do as good a job
as we can with what we have to
work with,” Elwood said.
The TDN and NEL values of
com silages with hard overma
tured kernels may need to be
reduced by an absolute 4 to 6
percent TDN and .04 to .06
Meal of NEL per pound DM,
unless other factors, such as
moisture content have been
used by the laboratory to adjust
for hard grains. Such would not
be necessary if harvesters were
equipped with kernel breakers.
When low fiber values occur,
it is important to make certain
that adequate forage NDF is
present in the diet via heavier
feeding of silage or other for
ages And by including some by
product feeds with higher NDF
content in the concentrate por
tion of the ration, if necessary.
High fiber values may stem
from pollination failure or
extremely growthy com plants
with a low proportion of grain,
as well as excessive DM losses
during storage from seepage or
lack of preservation.