A26-Lancastar Farming, Saturday, April It, 1998
Soybean Depth Control , Plant Population Successful Ingredients For Winner
(Continued from Page A 1)
Stutzman competed against 16
others in the contest Second place
went to Nelson Beam of Chester
County and third went to Steven
Wenger of Lebanon County.
The Washington-Duffield silt
loam soil was minimum tilled
(chisel plowed) before planting.
Soybean planting was the first
week of May using a com planter
on 30-inch rows.
The variety, an early 4 full
season soybean, works well with a
30-inch row planting. Stutzman
noted that if punted early enough,
30-inch row seed placement can
yield as much as narrow-row seed
ings, though the best yield poten
tial will always be with narrow
rows. The Stutzmans are making
best use of the equipment avail
able. Many growers who decide to
plant later on, in late May or early
June, use 15-inch rows or narrower
to get a quicker canopy and better
yields.
Stutzman used a 5-15-15 starter
fertilizer at planting. No other
manure was applied and hasn’t
been applied since manure went on
from the dairy years ago.
“We had a good plant popula
tion,” he said, lowered this year to
help with standability. The goal
was to plant about 160,000 seeds
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per acre and end up with about
150,000 plants emerging.
Going to the lower plant popula
tion from previous year may have
helped standability and disease
control “If you overplant, they
lodge, which causes disease prob
lems,” he said.
Stutzman used a dry inoculant at
planting. And consistent depth
control—planting the beans from
1-inch to no more than \'A inch
deep helped in emergence and
stand uniformity. The challenge
was to ensure accurate seed depth
placement, considering the plant
ing was to heavy com residue from
the rotation.
The cool weather early in the
season delayed emergence but
not enough to seriously affect the
stand. Stutzman paid close atten
tion to the possible emergence of
spider mites because of lower
moisture during the growing sea
son. Fortunately, the drought
growers experienced in the south
eastern part of the state wasn’t
enough to create the problem.
Stutzman cultivated between
rows in the season. He said that
cultivation helps not only with
weed control, but to aerate the soil
and help the root zone of the
plants. He was the only one of die
17 contestants who cultivated.
“While I can’t attribute aerating
the ground to good yield, it
wouldn’t hurt it,” Stutzman said.
“It could have some benefits.”
Weed control also included all
post-emergence applications of
Pursuil/Pinnacle.
Fortunately, rains arrived just in
time in mid-July to ensure good
standability. The southeast part of
the state dried down in August, but
rain arrived to help finish the
stand.
Harvest was mid- to late Octob
er. A three-acre “block” was cut
out of the main field and weights
were taken separately.
Stutzman enlisted the help of
Mena Hautau, Berks County crops
agent, in helping to measure the
yields on the field.
Yean ago, in the 70s, the farms
owned by die Stutzmans were in
dairy production. In 1980, the
Stutzmans decided to switch to all
cash grain and hay.
Jon attended Kutztown High
School and was graduated from
Lancaster Mennonite High
School. He obtained a degree in ag
science from Penn Slate in 1989.
Stutznun is an agronomist for
Brubaker Agronomic Consulting
Service in Ephrata. His territory
includes Berks, Lehigh, and
Northampton counties, and north-
Stutzman noted that nothing special or differently was
done to the ground with the yield contest winner. Normally
they strive for 60 bushels per acre for an average yield. As to
the award —It was simply a matter of “good weather, good
timing, and being lucky,” said Stutzman. The award, Stutz
man believes, reflects positively on his accomplishments
and his Job at Brubaker’s, he noted.
em New Jersey. His wife Holly is a
registered nurse at the Lutheran
Home in Topton.
Many growers, who are aware
of the statewide contest, often find
it hard to take die time from busy
schedules to sign up.
But first place proved to be an
extra incentive for Stutzman. The
prize? A trip for he and his wife to
the Commodity Classic in Febru
ary to Long Beach, Calif.
Stutzman noted that nothing
special or differently was done to
the ground with the yield contest
winner. Normally they strive for
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For the winners, overall, 61 per
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