Page 4-Com Talk,. Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, March 7, 1998 Soil. Organic Contents High On Chester County Corn (Condnuwl from Pago 2) crop is rotated to soybeans. For many of his Chester County fields, there was also some shattercane, but below economic threshold levels. Most growers saw their sea son saved by a mid-July rain storm, which provided wel come relief from a persistent drought most of the summer. “That was a million-dollar rain, with some additional numbers in front of it,” Mitchell said. The rain came at the time of com pollination, saving the com harvest season for lots of growers. Com in the Reinholds area was helped along dramatically, according to Mitchell, by a 3.5-inch rainfall on June 19. Machine harvest was con ducted late in October at a grain moisture of 28 percent. Much MHS Student Takes Top Honors In Corn-Growing Contest HERS HEY (Dauphin Co.) Milton Hershey School (MHS) Student Solomon Mel son received first place honors in a corn-growing contest spon sored by The Pennsylvania Master Com Growers Associa tion. Solomon, a senior, yielded the most com per acre in Dau phin County, totaling 188.42 bushels. His yield ranked 10th for the state of Pennsylvania. Each contestant registered five acres of com. During har vest, judges observed and mea sured the yield of each parcel. Solomon, who competed largely with professional farm ers, maintained 10 MHS acres EASTBROOK SEED CO. Barenbrug Group “World’s Finsst Font* Sold for Hay Crop and Fostur*" Baralfa 54 Leading Alfalfa in Penn State Trials 800-680-3167 Also carrying a full line of pasture products... PASTURES UNLIMITED P.O. Box 490, Little York, NY 13087 of the grain went to Lancaster County mills. Mitchell attributes the high organic matter in the soil to the use of high levels of a cover crop that was tilled into the soil as green manure. That was a practice followed by Jeffs father, Walter Mitchell, who farmed in Chester County in the early 1950 s until retirement Walter was a “real believer in cover crops,” and would chew up the cover crops and incorporate the “green man ure,” adding more moisture retention ability to the soil. The award-winning plot, once a pasture for a number of years, gradually saw an increase in organic matter, essential for high com yields. What is amazing, according to Mitchell, is bow two similar fields can yield different of com as part of a summer in ternship in the School's Agri cultural and Environmental Education Program. In addition to caring for the field, Solomon researched ways in which he could produce optimal growth, including pest management and use of fertilizers. Solomon will receive a plaque for his efforts. <HB> <HID <Hg) <§§) <HID <HD <|sD <§U> <|sD <m> m> <n§) <§Bp <§jg) <§g) IS? results. Mitchell pointed out, accord ing to the lab soil test, how field 7 compares to the award winning field 2. Field 7 has similar readings, except for the oiganic content. And that field only yielded 90 bushels per acre, compared to 206 for the winning plot. A challenge Mitchell faces is taking the “red clay” soils of northeastern Lancaster County, that can often turn bardpan eas ily in a hot, dry summer, and make them top producers. The key is to continue to use cover crops and building the soil’s organic matter content, which goes a long way toward water absorption. Using no-till on the red clay soils is a chal lenge, also —Mitchell believes that they turn easily to hardpan and may require some tillage to break them up to allow mois ture penetration and avoid runoff. On the red clay soils of Rein holds, Mitchell harvests an average of 158 bushels per acre of com. “I was pleased with the yield,” said Mitchell. He plans to use chicken manure and cov er crops in the rotation to raise the production level of the com crops. He also uses a lot of dif ferent com varieties with var ying maturity dates to spread the risk during unpredictable growing years. Increasingly, Mitchell is slowly watching challenges for os|) (GBI) <§sj> <HD m GSI Grain Bins Grain Dryers Elevators Stirring <@> Augers Zjj AFFORDABLE QUALITY MachiJs (®) from VpaV From and Westfield SONES GRAIN SYSTEMS Grain Cleaners CgSj) Hudson Muncy, PA (717)584-2282 <@) £5l m m So Are Yields Grower’s Farm isz m m m Susie Mitchell and son Matt Inspect the steers at the Reinholds home farm. growing good crops in Chester County slip away. A great deal of prime farmland has been lost to development. Now, he is content to meet the same challenges of farming in northeastern Lancaster County. Of note is the attention to detail he has noticed growers use on reading the results of the S-Acre Com Club contest, of which the results are included in this issue of Com Talk. “Some growers take it very seriously,” he noted. “I look at it and leam some things.” Mitchell pointed out one inter esting item the trips across the field. Some growers had six. <@> £5l £sf seven, even eight trips across the field. With even a few trips, Mitchell worries about com paction. and uses deep tillage equipment. He noted one chart which indicated a couple of growers took 14 trips across the field. “What can they possibly be doing, taking 14 trips across the field?” Mitchell said with a laugh. Jeff farms with his wife Susie, a registered nurse who left the profession to care full time for their son. Matt, 3. A son, Ben, 13, helps Jeff main tain the fields in Chester Coun ty. A daughter, Becky, 17, is a junior at Downingtown High School. 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