ANDY ANDREWS Lancaster Farming Staff OCEAN CITY, Md. Scien tists admit a lot more work needs to be done. But if legislation is enacted in Delmarva and surrounding areas to put phosphorous, instead of nitrogen, in the forefront of nu trient management planning, ways to measure how successful management practices are will be critical. That was the take-home mes sage delivered last week to about 270 producers, educators, and agri-industry representatives at the National Poultry Waste Management Symposium at the Sheraton Fontainebleau Hotel in Ocean City, Md. Ken Staver, faculty research associate with the University of Maryland, noted that the prob lems need to be real, and not Capitol Region gronomy Team 9 l;‘ 'f & SOIL TESTS AND RECORDKEEPING Mark Goodson, CCA Extension Agent, Soils York County I’m here this month to talk about soil test records. You know the value of the plant nutrients stored in your soils is worth thousands of dol lars. Think about that. To re place that N-P-K and the S-Ca- Beaver County Resident Re-Elected President Of Pa. State Grange CARLISLE (Cumberland Co.) The Master (President) of the Pennsylvania State Grange was re-elected to a third term by the delegate body at the recently concluded state convention here. Bill Steel of Freedom, Beaver County, was elected to lead the rural and agricultural organiza tion for the next two years. Steel, a 47-year member of the Grange, begins his fifth year as president of the State Grange in addition to serving as Overseer (vice presi dent) of the National Grange in Washington, D.C. Early in 1969, he became di rector of youth activities for the National Grange in Washington, D.C., where he also supervised the production and supply de partments, incorporated the Farm Film Foundation into a Grange service, and became a founding director of the Arling ton County Fair. Returning to the family farm in 1985, Bill became a district representative for Aid Associa tion for Lutherans, a fraternal benefit society, and again became active in state Grange activities. He was elected Overseer of the State Grange in 1992, and served four years before being elected to the Master’s position. Steel is an agriculture trustee for Penn State University, a Not Much Is Understood About Phosphorous And Its Movement In Soil simply perceived. And science must come up with way to not only determine what can be changed, but whether they can solve the problem of possible phosphorous loading of the Chesapeake Bay. Researchers are still examin ing exactly how much phospho rous on the soils is too much and what the “acceptable” levels of phosphorous are in ag drainage. “We don’t have a lot of specif ic information on phosphorous in ag drainage,” said Staver, despite monitoring work. In several areas of the Delmar va Peninsula, phosphorous levels have been measured in runoff. The ranges are from a half part per million (ppm) to 1 ppm. According to Staver, in the Upper Choptank, there are 72,000 acres, with an annual vol ume measure of 0.07-0.11 ppm of Report Mg plus all the micronutrients stored right now in your fields would bankrupt your operation. Despite this fact, we have a real relaxed attitude about our inven tory control when it comes to these soil nutrients. Do you know where your re ports are for all the soil samples you’ve collected over the past three years? Are you sure? Are they organized? Do you have member of the board of gover nors for the University of Penn sylvania Veterinary School, and serves on several other statewide agricultural and educational boards. He is also a lay worship leader in the Lutheran Church and serves his home congrega tion on a weekly basis. Steel and his late wife are the parents of three sons, Dr. Adam 8., and William H., both of Mar yland, and Charles J. of Pitts burgh. Other officers were also elected at this year’s state session. Betsy Huber of Lincoln Uni versity, Chester County, was re elected Overseer (vice president) for a two-year term. Huber, a 39-year member, is past Master of Goshen Grange #l2l, is past Master of Chester/Delaware Po mona #3, past state Pomona (1986-92), and was, with her hus band Henry, the Young Couple of the Year in 1971. Outside the Grange, Huber is a township supervisor at Upper Oxford, and holds positions on the Board of Trustees of Avon dale Presbyterian Church and the Community Advisory Com mittee of the Chester County Board of Health. She is also a past member of the Chester County Agricultural Develop ment Council (1980-1985). - \f*Tl ; & phosphorous. The German Branch measures 0.17-0.32 ppm. The Pocomoke River area, at 2,000 acres, measures about 0.3-1 ppm. The Pocomoke River, a subes tuary of the Chesapeake Bay, in cludes 4 million pounds per year of poultry production. One thing the scientists have discovered: in water areas where organic wastes are used, phos phorous levels from runoff can increase substantially. In the Pocomoke River water shed, farming generates 4 million pounds of poultry litter on 100,000 acres of cropland. That translates into 40 pounds of phosphorous per acre per year. Twenty pounds of phosphorous per acre per year are removed in harvested grain. A voluntary effort began to control phosphorous levels in the written records of which fields received lime applications over the past three years? Could you go there right now, find them, and answer these questions with in a couple minutes? Based on my experience as a soils extension worker and previ ous positions I’ve held working directly with farmers, I know the answers to the questions for most farm operations. Hey, I don’t fault anyone. We are all swamp ed in paper and information. The point is, some fields are above optimum for lime and fertilizer and some fields are below opti mum for lime and fertilizer. And that fact hurts your bottom line. Problem is, there are not many farmer-friendly, easy-to-use soil test recordkeeping tools or sys tems out there. I’ve seen a couple of software programs that will keep your re cords on a computer. When someone demonstrates it, it looks great. When I get it home and on Huber is employed as a legisla tive aide to Rep. Art Hershey, R- Chester. The Hubers are the par ents of two sons and a daughter and have five grandchildren. Other officers for the next two years including their name, local Grange and county are(-desig nates re-elected officers): Lecturer: -Susan Tau, Hay field Grange #BOO, Crawford County; Steward: Robert Steese, London Grange #1492, Mercer County; Assistant Steward: Brian Ebersole, Community Grange #1767, Perry County: Lady Assistant Steward: -Mary Ann Buckley, Lincoln Grange #914, Huntingdon County; Chaplain; ~Jean Hollabaugh, Watson Grange #lO6B, Warren County; State Treasurer: -Anna May Nauss, Valley Grange #1360, York County; Secretary: -Sandy Witmer, Elizabethtown Grange #2076, Lancaster Coun ty; Gatekeeper: -Robert Moore, Buffalo Grange #1523, Washing ton County; Ceres: -Linda Strong, Plumcreek Valley Grange #1702, Indiana County; Pomona: -Debra Campbell, Perry Valley #lBO4, Perry Coun ty; Flora: -Janet Fishovitz, Big Knob Grange #2OOB, Beaver County; Executive Committee Member: -Nettie Kauffman, On telaunee Grange #1617, Berks County. late 1980 s. But since then, levels of phosphorous in the rootzone have actually increased by ap proximately 25 million pounds. The questions remain: will ero sion-control strategies offset in creasing soil phosphorous levels? Can researchers find ways to re duce phosphorous levels in drainage? The challenge: researchers have to provide that phospho rous levels are being reduced. “It’s no longer sufficient to con vince people that progress is being made,” said Staver. “Pro gress on paper will no longer be good enough.” Phosphorous in drainage must be managed, watershed phospho rous budgets must be balanced, and phosphorous/soil loss rela tionships need to be revisited. “We’re in uncharted waters,” said Staver, regarding where re- my computer, I get two mouse “clicks” into it and I’m lost. A farmer told me last night, the problem he saw with these programs is that they are loaded up with too many fancy “bells and whistles.” That makes the basic job hard to do...unless you have a couple weeks to read the manual. Yeah. I’m on a mission and the ob jective of this mission is to make a variety of simple, easy-to-use soil recordkeeping tools available to farmers and crop advisers within the next three to five years. I need your help to get this done. I am in the initial stages of identifying and evaluating avail able recordkeeping systems and tools. 1 want to hear from you. I want to know how you manage the soil test information on your operation. What works? Have any tips? Is a consultant the way to go? With the way prices are, farm- Tractor Evolution Display Coming To Lancaster Ev Weber, a retired professional engineer, has been building custom-made farm toys, especially harvesters, for more than 10 years. His models are hand-built in the popular 1/16th-inch scale and reflect hundreds of hours of craftsmanship and historical research. LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.) Weber of Lima, Ohio, attends. —On Saturday, Nov. 11 at Lan- Also on display for the first caster’s Farm and Home Center, time will be prototypes of the li visitors can see the first and only censed collectibles to be offered showing in the East of Ev Web- for the 85th Pennsylvania State er’s award-winning, scale-model Farm Show in January 2001. In farm tractor display. eluded are an Allis Chalmers G A week earlier in Dyersville, show tractor, a collectible truck lowa, at the National Farm Toy with a load of hay, a ’5l Ford F- Show (noted for drawing 100 pickup bank, and “Pete” the 15,000-plus toy collectors), the Perchant bean bag style 85th same display will be set up for Farm Show horse, the first time. The Lancaster show is open The Lancaster show on Nov. 11 is the longest running annual Farm Toy Show east of Ohio and is the only show east of Ohio that search is headed. But the following are certain: • Pressure on agriculture to lower the nutrient levels in drain age is going to increase. • Ways to maintain the long term soil phosphorous levels at minimum necessary to maximize crop yields will have to be imple mented. • Agriculture, in general, may have to meet performance stan dards to “show we have made progress,” Staver said. To avoid regulations, produc ers need to know what they are doing works, there needs to be accountability, and monitoring is in place to verify effectiveness. Staver noted that certain till age methods, particularly no-till, can allow phosphorous levels in the soil to be problematic. Some tillage management strategies may have to be reviewed. ers are once again required to be come even more efficient and productive. The whole region is hurting with low prices. I see bet ter management of crop nutri ents manure, fertilizer, and lime as a way to increase effi ciency. I’m not talking about using more fertilizer or less fertilizer, more lime or less lime. I’m talk ing about using the right fertil izer and the right lime in the right place at the right time, and then managing that ground to hold that mineral until the crop is ready to take it up. I want to hear from you. Help your fellow farmer. We are all in this boat together. We can’t af ford to farm without this inform ation. Call me (717) 840-7408 or email me at mwgl@psu.edu. Or write me at York County Coop erative Extension, 112 Pleasant Acres Road, York, PA 17402. I’ll come out and visit you. Thanks. from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. There is a nominal admission charge for adults. Anyone wearing a FFA or 4-H jacket gets in free.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers