(Continued from Pefle A2l)
developed the technology.
Morse spoke about the no-till
transplanting equipment that he
helped develop and refine for the
past five years. The device, which
can adapt to any finger or carousel
type transplanter, is called the Sub
surface Tiller-Transplanter, or
SST-T for short
Morse, who wore a baseball cap
with the inscription “Say Yes To
No-Till,” said that the no-dll
approach to transplanting veget
ables began with a producer who
wanted to grow cabbage in a coun
ty south of Blacksburg, Va., on a
slope that was prone to severe ero
sion. Researchers started a hand
transplanting trial with a cover
mulch, which worked fine, but a
commercial, high- volume appli
cator was needed. This led to the
development and refinement of
SST-T for commercial use.
Steve Groff has about nine acres
of no-dll vegetables this year.
They include one acre of broccoli
and eight acres of tomatoes (three
acres fresh market and five acres
commercial). The tomatoes are
grown using a hairy vetch cover,
pioneered by Dr. Abdul-Baki, who
developed the cropping system at
the USDA-ARS Beltsville Agri
cultural Research Center.
Before using the
transplanter system on
broccoli, Groff uses a »
rolling stalk chopper to I
flatten and crimp the I
mulch cover (Groff uses I
a combination German I
millet and forage soy- I
bean mixture). I
The two-component I
system, according to I
Morse, uses a subsur- I
face tiller which works |
like a deep-tiller to ■
loosen the ground I
underneath the mulch. I
Then a transplanter, fin- I
ger or carousel type, can I
be used to insert the plug I
plants. Two shoes then I
roll over top of the soil, I
packing it around the I
plug - r . I
While some of the I
millet/soybean cover I
may recover after roll- I
ing and crimping, the I
weeds are kept at a level I
that they don’t affect I
potential yield. On the I
Groff farm, a demon- I
station made use of the I
stalk chopper and the I
transplanter. The broc- I
coli was planted in rows I
18 inches apart with 18 I
inches between plants. I
The advantage to I
using broccoli with this I
method is the faster
canopy, allowing the
natural mulch to break
down and retain mois
ture while stemming
weed pressure.
The SST-T has been
used successfully with
16 different crops,
including most species
of cabbage, in addition
to broccoli, cauliflower,
tomatoes, potatoes,'
cucumber, waterme
lons, and pumpkins. All
vegetable crops seem to
work well with this no
till approach, according'
to Morse.
Morse worked on a
successful no-till trial:
No-Till Vegetables Trap Soil Moisure,
Stem Weeds, Keep Harvest Clean
The only drawbacks to using the
SST-T and no-dll material are that
there are some concerns, because
of the potential for moisture reten
tion. about slugs (not experienced
at the Groff farm) and the fact that
mulches cool the soil. As a result,
according to Morse, no-till works
well with late-planted vegetables.
The SST-T has been modified
over the years so that it is a one
pass machine. In one pass over the
field, the tiller breaks up the cover,
deep tills, transplants, fertilizes,
and even lays a drip irrigation line.
This helps keep soil compaction
GLENMOORE (Chester Co.)
Chester County 4-H Beef Club
members recently held their first
steer and heifer show of the season
at the Devereux barns in
Glenmoote.
The show this year featured the
largest Angus breeding division
ever. In the March heifer class,
local winners included 1) Kasey
McAllister 2) Eliza Walton 3)
Bennett Walton. In the April heif
er class local winners included 1)
Eliza Walton. The September
heifer class local winners included
1) Bennett Walton. Grand Champ
ion Angus heifer went to Kasey
McAllister Reserve grand champ
ion Angus heifer went to Eliza
Walton.
pPelMli'G 3 HMfJ]
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Also, using no-till reduces the
amount of weed seed that can ger
minate in the soil. This produces
what Morse refers to as a “stale
seedbed,” ideal for growing any
type of vegetable crop.
“Pumpkins ate a particularly
good crop for no-till systems,” said
Morse.
Morse said that Virginia farmers
have expressed interest in the tech
nology mostly because it allows
them to work the fields and harvest
when they choose. He has seen
good results, too less early
Judge for the day was Brian
Beam of Elverson. In judging the
market steers some of the require
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of the steer’s frame, and how lean
in fat they are since most Ameri
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Features:
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Reg. $506.00
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Of:
blight with tomatoes (soil does not
splash onto the leaves) and less late
blight with tomatoes and potatoes.
“We encourage people to give it
a try, even a little bit, say a half
acre or so,” said Morse. “Work
with county agents and growers
such as Steve Groff.”
Groff recently purchased the
rolling stalk chopper for use on all
the vegetable acres.
“The beauty of the machine is
that it is fast and easy to use,” said
Groff. The transplanter was rented
from the Keystone Soil and Water
Club Holds Show
In the market steer division
class winners included Class 1 1)
Jonathan Howe 2) Sara Howe.
Class 2 1) Sara Howe 2) Jonathan
Marsch 3) Ed Boback. Class 3 1)
Nathan Howe 2) Julia Howe 3)
John Lewis. Class 4 1) Phillip
McAllister 2) Jamel Chatman.
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acre.
To rent the machine, for produc
ers in Lancaster, contact the coun
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299-5361; for York producers,
contact the district at 7SS-2966;
and for other counties, contact Ron
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(717) 586-1019.
Also at the field day, trials
included die advantages of narrow
tow com, no-till soybeans, no-dll
tomatoes, early tomatoes, process
ing tomatoes, and no-till
pumpkins.
Class 5 1) Nathan Howe 2) Ben
nett Walton. Class 6 1) Kasey
McAllister 2) Kasey McAllister 3)
Adam Byrne. Class 7 1) Becky
Byrne. Grand champion steer
went to Kasey McAllister and
reserve grand champion steer
went to Nathan Howe.
sl,
Rt. 272 South IHM
14 Herrville Road
Willow Street, PA 17584
Ph. 717-464-3321 or IfflAl
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