f 3 (DIEM fMJE PENNSYLVANIA HASTEN CONN GROWERS ASSOC., INC. Corn Talk, Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, "January 25, 1997-Page 1 Soil Penetration, Loosening Help Improve Corn Standability Conservation Is evident op the Long Acres AalHiWsim, TtonOsta. A field day at the farm showed visitors the Importance of tillage and how to eliminate compaction. Commodity Analyst To Speak At Conference GRANTVILLE (Dauphin Co.) David Kruse, a nation ally recognized commodity adviser with Comm Stock Investments, Inc. of Spencer, lowa will serve as keynote speaker for the upcoming Pen nsylvania Com and Soybean Conference. The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn in Grantville on Feb. 7. Kruse produces the Com m Stock Report, an ag commen tary and market analysis avail able on several radio stations and by subscription on DTN,-* Farm Dayta, and the Internet. The Commstock Report has Farm Calendar -f Cumbci More Than 300 Attend Crop Field Day At Long Acres been acclaimed the Mark Twain of Commodities by R.H.B. Financial Services for its writing style, said to be the best in the industry. The Comm Stock report was one of the two fastest growing advisory services on DTN this past year. The Comm Stock report is noted for its colorful commentary and a perspective from rural America, advocating farm community interests and traditional farm values. David Kruse has been active ly engaged in fanning since 1973. He has an agronomy degree from South Dakota State University and lives on fMI Dave Hartman, (717) 784-6660. Monroe Crop Management, Donna Foulk, (717) 421-6430. 7-9 o.m. (Turn to Pagt 33) and manages a 600-acre com/ soybean farm in northwest (Turn to Page 4) THE ART OF SELECTING CORN HYBRIDS Since most seed com is pur chased during the winter, let’s take a few minutes and review some of the issues that should concern us in making hybrid decisions for 1997. Selecting the right group of com hybrids to buy is not an easy task and its not getting any easier. New technologies and ever-changing hybrids make the hybrid selection process mind-boggling at times. Even though it can get con fusing and complicated .at times, it is a process we should work at since it can make a sig nificant difference in the bot tom line at the end of the year. It ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff TIONESTA (Clarion Co.)— Despite rainy conditions, methods to improve water absoiption and effective use of staiter fertilizer allowed a com producer here to gamer 145 bushels/acre of shelled com this season. The partners that comprise Long Acres Potato Farm know what the challenges of the past growing season brought: a cool, wet spring followed by a wet summer followed by ... well, despite all that, the com went in on time and did well. About 3SO com growers and agri-industry representatives, including a large continent of Penn State extension staff, were on hand to show the results of Bt com, com variety trials, and use of starter and sidedress fer tilizers at the Crop Field Day held at Long Acres in Septem ber last year. According to one of the part ners, Clarence Beck, who helped stage the field day, the number one message that grow ers took home from them from the event was to learn about the importance of rotations for soil health and insect and weed control. YLVANIA MASTER >RN GROWERS ASSOCIATION between The Rows Dr. Greg Roth Penn State Agronomy Associate Professor is easy, for example, to end up with a hybrid that may yield 20 bushels less than an alternative and that’s something we want to avoid. One issue is what you should use as a basis for your deci sions. We hope you use all the performance data you can get your hands on. The Penn State Commercial Hybrid Com Performance reports are a good place to start. The advantages of this data are that you can review perfor mance over two years and at least five sites a year. You can also compare a number of entries from different seed companies grown under the same conditions. These tests are also useful to compare the maturity of vari- Beck said that the partner ship uses a four-year rotation: com, followed by soybeans or oats, followed by potatoes or wheat, then back to com. The important thing to remember, noted Beck, is that the farm doesn’t follow com with com. “We also have learned to subsoil the ground to 18 inches deep and keep the soil real loose to benefit the root sys tem,’’ said Beck. Even in a dry year, he said, subsoiling is “very beneficial” for a health ier, more productive crop. The wet weather this year was a real challenge. It “held us back in terms of subsoiling and tillage,” Beck said. What farmers are discover ing, he indicated, was that the use of a starter fertilizer in the row with a lot of urea can have detrimental effects on a crop. The fertilizer can bum the root system. What Long Acres has done is make use of a monammoniated phosphorous (MAP) and sulphur-magnesium potash added to it with relatively low nitrogen amounts (about 200 pounds of starter fertilizer per acre) at application. The com was planted this past season (Turn to Page 16) ous hybrids by comparing the grain moisture at harvest. Other independent hybrid trial data can also be used in conjunction with the university data to eva luate hybrid performance., Seed company information is essential to consider because it often sheds light on specific characteristics that are impor tant in the placement of and management of different hybrids such as disease resis tance, grain quality, standabili ty, etc. Input from your seed sales rep can help to fit specific hybrids to your operation. The best seed reps can give you a pretty good idea of what to expect from a hybrid. (Turn to Page 4)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers