Bradford County Farmer Sees Benefits Of Narrow-Row Corn ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff UNIVERSITY PARK (Centre Co.) For one Brad ford County dairy farmer, narrow-row com has proven beneficial by providing a better silage harvest —, all without spending a lot of money on adapting to new equipment. Tim Beardslee, a Sulßra Crop Management Association (CMA) fanner based in Spring field Township, Bradford County, harvested 1,800 tons of com silage on his 100-acre dairy, Lottahill Farms. And he did that with a year that not only had challenges with excessive moisture, but on hilly conditions. “We’re called Lottahill Farms for that reason we have a lot of hills,” Beardslee told the 60 crop consultants, crop managers, producers, and agri-industry representatives who attended last month’s Pen nsylvania CMA meeting at the Penn State Scanticon Confer ence Center in University Park. Beardslee maintains about 170 head of dairy cattle and about 150 young stock. Com silage yields were “not too bad this year,” he said, considering all the work involved with tak ing care of the dairy and the immense and time-consuming fieldwork. Com silage yields went up about 20 percent, he admitted. At the farm, Beardslee has help from his family and one part-time schoolboy. ‘ ' He commented on a lot of the For The Best Resale Auction Value and the Best Performance in the Field Binkley & Hurst 8r05... The Leader In Quality Tillage Machines MODEL 1211-13 If your tillage program requires the use of a disc harrow, look no further. Sunflower disc harrows are proven performers. The super-stars of the Sunflower lineup! Try one today. Small non-foldup Four inch twisted shovels provide maximum residue incorporation. Optional 2" reversible shovels team with hydraulically-adjustable coulters to give maximum residue cover while “perforating” plow pan to encourage water retention. BTUKIErtHIUtST 133 Ftathsville station Rd. PlflJSno TWT_/ PO. Box 0395 >-BHKI9.AnW. Lititz, p A |7543_0395 help he received from the Sulß ra CMA, members who have “great eyes and ears” that you can “bounce things off of’ in terms of trying something new, such as narrow row com. The com was planted on 15-inch rows at 34,000 plants per acre. Some com was planted also on standard 30-inch row spacing at a plant population of 27,000 per acre. In some cases, com went on in the narrow row format at 38,000-39,000 plants per acre, according to Mark Madden, Susquehanna County Coopera tive Extension agent, who also spoke at the January PCMA conference. Com was planted later than normal last year because of the cool, wet conditions early in the growing season. About 60 per cent of the farm is in no-till, according to Beardslee. When planting the narrow row com, the farmers used a simple four-row planter dou bling back on 30-inch centers. “We didn’t do too bad going back over the old rows,” Beardslee said. Actually, the Bradford County farmer admitted that weed control was better in nar row rows than in the conven tional 30- inch rows. Narrow row com provides shading, keeping weed challenges down. No change was necessary to their equipment, and there was very little loss of seed place ment or seed amount by going back. Much of the com was Sizes 10’ To 32’ B’9” to 18’9” Widths Available! CHECK OUT THIS SUPERIOR NEW PRODUCT FROM SUNFLOWER! • New extended frame length for better trash clearance • Auto-raeet trip • Heavy-duty 4"x6"xK “ mainframe construction. • Hydraulically controlled coulter gangs (optional) can be adjusted on the go or raised completely in clean soils. • Walking tandems to better conform in uneven ground conditions. planted by June 12 on farm con ditions that were wet and “very rocky,” said Beardslee. “We haul manure daily,” he said. They use the nitrogen quicktest to determine how much starter urea fertilizer they need at planting. “We probably could have used more (urea) to improve the yield,” he said. The family continues to increase the herd size. The bam was built for 100 cows but now houses 140 milking cows. “We’ve had to (increase the Crop Management Associ ation (CMA) farmer based in Springfield Township, Bradford County, harvested 1,800 tons of corn silage on his 100-acre dairy, Lottahlll Farms. He tried narrow-row com with success. WHY BUY A lllli The Reasons Are Obvious! Sizes From 10’-15 18’-32’ Foldi Check Out The Rest Then Buy The Best. SUNFLOWER WING GAUGE WHEELS Eliminate Gouging BLADES;'/. "x 22" or ’/. "«24" Or 3 Sldod Blada Pravonla Eroaloi Eliminating A Contlnueua Furr* DOUBLE OFFSET DESIGN Pro. Limllng Without A MMdto Suitor' For The Best Tillage Equipment 1 Made, See Binkley & Hurst Bros.' Today! PROM HARDPAN SHATTERING TO RESIDUE? 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Madden indicated that in the northeastern part of the state, there are 35,000 acres on com silage, and farms can learn to “do more with less” as acreage dwindles. (717) 626-4705 1-800-414-4705 DISC HARROW "Bolling, uplifting action In the soil allows water to enter and be retained In subsoil, minimizing runoff. Yield incraas.. up to 10 bu. more com per acre," Lancaster Co. farmer. Greg Roth, Penn State com specialist, noted at the PCMA conference that fanners can achieve a 10 percent increase in yields if using narrow-row com, and “more as we go north.” The southeastern part of the state wouldn’t see the same types of benefits as the “north ern Pennsylvania folks consid ering com silage,” Roth noted. However, some farms in the southeast a 500-acre farm in York County and a 2,200-acre farm also in the southeast—are trying out narrow-row com with success. TRANSPORT WIDTH On Wing Units Up To 24'2 Working Width Is A lAFE 12 4 ’ Transport. 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