A24-Lanca«ter Fanping, Saturday, May 24, 1997
Soil Care Creativity, Ingenuity At Work On Lancaster Farms
(Continued from Pago A 22)
pressure came from feeding com
silage a lot of weed seed left
over with the manure was causing
weed emergence.
For controlling weeds, a fall cul
tivation is completed on fields that
will rotate off of com. The manure
is “precomposted” as much as pos
sible, said Don, and is aerated by
pump underneath.
The precomposted material is
applied in the fall and a moldboard
plow is used to turn the stalks into
the ground to raise the organic
matter in the soil and prevent nitro
gen leaching.
Two types of weeds challenge
the Weavers the most burcu
cumber, also known as “wild
pickle.” and shattercane. Nelson
mostly uses a spot sprayer with a
cultivator, using a variety of
herbicides.
Don said that soil pH is main
tained at 1.0-12. Also, the cation
exchange properties are moni
tored. Don said the calcium
magnesium saturation ratio is 5:1.
He indicated that too many
growers have a high magnesium to
calcium saturation ratio, which can
hinder soil productivity. But with
the use of soil microbes, more
careful application of manure, and
good rotations, the com was “tre
mendous this year.” he said, with
one field during a field day con
taining stalks “14 feet tall.”
Ground used for com is planted
when the temperature is right,
according to Don. He said he
didn’t like to “plant com in cover
alls and a knit cap.” and to wait
until the soil temperatures were
right. Nelson checked the soil
temperature a few days ago and the
readings were low only 47
degrees not warm enough to
plant But a temperature check on
Wednesday confirmed that it was
OK to plant by almost noon,
soil temperature stood at 58
degrees.
Before planting. Nelson makes
use of a rotary hoe to aerate and
loosen the soil a few inches down.
Com, a 118-day variety, is planted
on 30-inch tows at 27,000-29,000
Hoover maintains a herd of 31 Jerseys, Including
cows. He milks 27 Jerseys with about the same number of
replacements. The herd tests at about 11,000 pounds. A top
producing cow milks about 16,000 pounds.
plants per acre.
More about the Weaver Farm,
their history and cropping strate
gies, and some of the reasons they
switched to these methods will be
included in next week’s Lancaster
Farming .
At the Justa Jersey Farm oper
ated by Enos Hoover, also near
New Holland, eight pigs hop onto
and cavort around on a two-and-a
half-foot pile of manure in an area
measuring about 25 feet wide and
100 feet long. The area holds man
ure from the dairy cows in the heif
er bam.
What are the pigs doing up
there? They are rooting around,
aerating the manure, according to
Enos.
Some call this management
strategy “pigaeration.” But Enos
claims it works to prepare the man
ure a little better for spreading on
the farm fields.
Enos and his wife purchased the
SS-acre farm in 1971 from Mrs.
Hoover's parents. The farm had
been in the family three
generations.
Enos used to manage a herd of
30 Holstein cows. He followed a
fairly standard crop rotation of
four years of alfalfa followed by
four years of silage com. The first
and fourth cuttings of alfalfa were
stored as haylage. The moldboard
plow and disc were used for til
lage. Crop fertility needs were sup
plied with the manure and pur
chased fertilizer. Herbicides were
used for weed control in com and
for establishing alfalfa. Leafhop
pers in alfalfa and com rootworm
were controlled with insecticides.
But over the years Enos made
some changes. He switched to a
more biologically based system.
The past year, he started using
pigaeration. He gradually reduced
the purchase of off-farm inputs and
realized better profits, he noted.
“Profits is what counts and they
are better,” he told the tour
members.
He replaced his Holstein herd
with Jerseys over a period of time
and began converting cropland to
intensive grazing.
With the use of spelt, which Hoover showed the tour members, the environment can
handle It easily. Spelt Is similar to oats but higher In protein. It’s a good fiber feed. He
has been able to harvest 80-90 bushels of the grain, fall seeded.
Nelson Weaver operates the rotary hoe on the tour Wednesday.
He became totally organic
certifying his farm as organic in
1994 has enabled him to get a
$6.38 premium as of March for his
milk.
In 1982, Enos began using a
cropping system that uses the
increased biological activity of the
soil. Soybeans were added to the
rotation to break up the sequence
of com following com. The new
rotation included two years of
alfalfa, com, soybeans, com, and
back to alfalfa. By switching from
a moldboard plow (stored away
now, unused, for 10 years, he said)
to a chisel plow. Hoover was able
to change from deep to shallow til
lage. With these changes and sev
eral others. Hoover saw an
improvement in the tilth of his
soils and a positive impact on
yields.
In 1993, Hoover became inter
ested in the prospect of selling
organic milk and began buying
Jersey cows. Hoover finds the
Jerseys require less labor and are
easier to handle.
As he switched over his herd, he
decided to try grazing. He now has
28 acres in grass and the remaining
27 acres in crops. He crop rotation
consists of fall-seeded spelt (a
wheat with lax spikes and spikelets
containing two light red kernels)
and timothy, followed by one year
of alfalfa/timothy and one year of
com. The timothy/alfalfa mix is
harvested as hay, and the com as
ear com.
With the switch to grazing and
his crop mix. Hoover no longer
uses the silos and the TMR mixer.
Hoover began using the pigaera
tion method last year, when he pur
chased three pigs. He told the tour
members that he picked ones from
his neighbor that were "runts and
had floppy ears they were
cheaper that way.” He spread com
ears on top of the windrow to
encourage the pigs to work the
manure. He turned the manure
three times with a skid loader and,
with the pigs’ help, applied the
composted manure to his alfalfa
field. The pigs were also fed
soybeans.
Hoover maintains a had of 31
Jerseys, including dry cows. He
milks 27 Jerseys with about the
same number of replacements. The
herd tests at about 11,000 pounds.
A top producing cow milks about
16,000 pounds.
With his manure aeration
strategy, he is simply getting by
with the pigs. Mostly, he is work-
ik*er •
ing to keep the oiganic matter and
earthworms predominant in the
soil. “We make a soil that’s alive
and produces its own plant foods
and has them available as we go,”
he said.
With the use of spelt, which
Hoover showed the tour members,
the environment can handle it easi
ly. Spelt is similar to oats but high
er in protein. It’s a good fiber feed.
He has been able to harvest 80-<£|
bushels of the grain, fall seedeoP
Also at the tour, Arden and Car
oline Landis of Car-Den Holsteins,
Kirkwood, spoke about their
experiences of switching to
grazing.
The tour continued Wednesday
evening with a tour of the Rodale
Institute Experimental Farm. On
Thursday, the tour resumed with
stops at Cedar Meadow Farm,
operated by Steve Groff, and the
Pequea-Mill Creek Project in
Smoketown.