Crops Day Roundup and non-Roundup treatments at Rockspring. The field has lambsquarters, ragweed, smartweed, foxtail, and nutsedge. For the most part, preplant programs have done well to con trol a wide variety of weeds. But a strictly post application has run into problems, especially with control of nutsedge and wild buckwheat. Also, the problems with triaz ine- and atrazine-resistant weeds are more prevalent on corn than soybeans, simply be cause the soybeans in the nar rower rows (15 instead of 30 inches) are more competitive against weeds as they canopy. One Penn State study looked at 59 farms and 179 fields, live stock farms that were feed sam pled. Greater than 98 percent of the farms had triazine-resistant lambsquarters. Curran said that lambsquar ters should be the “state weed. It’s the most prominent weed on crop farms in the state,” he said. Of 52 farms, 60 percent had triazine-resistant pigweed. When averaged, 29 percent had the triazine-resistant pigweed. A majority of the fields didn’t have triazine-resistant pigweed. Top Crawford DHIA Cows By Protein For December HIGH PROTEIN COWS PRO COW'S NAME MILK FAT TEIN OWNER CRAWFORD COUNTY JAMES + JANET HUNTER HAYDEN KARI CALICO CIJSTEAD VALLEY FARMS BARON WHAM JESICA JOAN TINA BABBIE SOPHIE RYND HOME FARMS LINCON RICHARD & SANDY BYHAM ERIS STACEY ROXY AMANDA SHELLY VEL+RUS HOLSTEINS BELL NAOMI BETHAN ALRIGHT FARMS ELSIE TIA CINDY LARRY E CHARLES NANCY 216 DON CALDWELL MANDEL RICHARD A KEMERER 71 WIL-AIRE FARM BERNIE MARK + CHRIS CORNELL INGRID BLACK POND FARMS AMARA CLAIRE SHEIK DOUG & DEBRA FIELY SABRIN GERALD R DONOVAN BELLA CURT+BARB GREENAWALT EIGHT GALEN GARBER MUDDY JAMIE INFIELD BROTHERS DEVLON GREENE ACRES TORI MAE TOM & LINDA SMITH CHERYL COON 'S FARM 150 AGNEW FARMS TESS RAY & HELEN ANTHONY 401 STANHOPE FARMS 414 (Continued from Page B 18) The crops day also looked at marketing issues. John Berry, multicounty mar keting extension agent from Lehigh County, said that to determine price of crops, it’s critical to look at the stocks-to use ratio. That ratio looks at what feed is in bins compared to how much is being produced. It indicates how many days of supply of a particular commod ity is available for use. For corn growers, the stocks to-use ratio is not expected to change much next year. But one indicator of possible improvement in corn prices is the cost of nitrogen fertilizer be cause of the energy crunch. Be cause corn requires rather high rates of nitrogen, its lack of inex pensive availability may drive down the number of acres of corn planted, which could drive the price upward. But to drastically affect corn price, the U.S. would have to lose 30 percent of corn produc tion. “I don’t expect any event to affect us at 30 percent of na tional production,” Berry said. If less corn is produced be cause of the lack of inexpensive nitrogen, beans would be grown instead. The increase in soybean CRAWFORD COUNT/ 1213 126 / 977 37,705 29,004 30,915 32,323 30,017 29,397 25,408 29,449 29,486 29,208 1139 791 1138 889 916 1055 848 1157 28,690 897 1329 704 1184 1040 34,710 30,259 29,677 28,883 27,574 1313 1098 1177 35,472 29,481 29,375 33,545 35,766 32,633 1037 1087 1238 1336 1306 31,870 30,729 30,053 27,414 1058 27,101 31,507 1091 29,143 29,069 26,676 1015 1210 743 27,622 1055 27,318 30,390 28,263 26,641 29,359 1125 28,232 26,239 1080 980 23,752 26,272 27,767 25,039 28, 738 1073 1112 981 832 1022 943 920 866 865 861 842 993 981 954 948 934 828 980 849 823 FEED CART • Hydrostatic drive unit • Heavy duty box • Heavy duty beaters • Heavy duty D-662 pintle chain conveyor with automatic tightener • Dependable Honda power • Unique motor mount provides automatic adjustment to load • Available in 4 sizes from 33 to 74 * Easy access for fast maintenance 973 968 967 964 922 912 936 887 962 880 bushels • Highly maneuverable • Easy to operate 878 860 836 818 859 848 911 938 846 844 821 790 891 840 839 822 829 863 928 818 859 815 885 809 807 production, along with more acreage from Brazilian exports, could affect price. Berry expects the price of beans to be less next year. “Beans are going to be cheap next year,” he said. But looking at the stocks-to use ratio will be more critical to get an idea of price. And just the “scare,” he said, of a potential Midwest drought can drive corn and other commodity prices up. A big effect on corn prices could be the expanding China market. As the population’s standard of living rises, so does their demand for meat, includ ing those “pork tenderloins and chicken legs,” where once the country depended a great deal on simple grains. Berry expects that in this country, the “industrialization” of commodities has occurred, mostly in the poultry and now in the swine industry. He expects dairy not to be far behind, though he doesn’t believe it’s possible for cow/caif operations to be industrialized, simply be cause they rely heavily on graz ing components, he said. Several farmers spoke at the Crops Day on their experience with the 1999 drought and the importance of crop insurance. Insurance and taking advan tage of government aid could benefit growers, especially in times of “extreme adversity,” FARMWAY CABLE ALLEY SCRAPERS • Model 4000 and 6000 Alley Scraper Systems keep up t 0 1800 feet of barn alleys clean. • The automatic timer controller allows the alleys to be cleaned when it is needed, or when it is • The scraper does the work, saving labor and 00 1 ! '« reducing wear and tear on the skid steer. I • FARMWAY Alley Scrapers are easy to install in new 1 barns or retrofitted to existing FARMWAY Berg-Bennett, Inc. RD #2 Box 113 C, Wysox, PA 18854 Phone 800-724-4866 said David Stutzman, Virgin ville. “The 1999 drought was one of them.” Stutzman emphasized the im portance of running the farm as a business with a business plan that makes use of crop insur ance. Robert Seidel, dairy farmer from Lenhartsville, spoke about the frustrations of coping with the drought. He quoted his father, who used to say “it’s not how much money you make, it’s how much you can keep,” Seidel said. What concerned him is that of the entire net income on farms on the U.S., approaching $2B billion, half of that $l4 billion is in the form of government payments. Yet, to survive, it’s important to use crop insurance and to take advantage of the govern ment disaster payments. Some will not participate in those pay ments, said Seidel, because of re ligious reasons, moral reasons, and some who simply don’t trust the government, he said. But the money to help the farmers in the disaster, espe cially from the state, did come through, Seidel said. Dwight Zook, Oley, farms 600 acres in Oley with his family and insures his crops. Crop insur ance is simply another business tool to help improve the business stability of the farm. • Choose from 1 to 2 side or front discharge • Choose front or rear wheel steer model • Several models priced under $4,000.00 or as little as $137.00 month. FARMWAY BEDDING CHOPPER • Six rows of knives, blades can be rotated easily without removing rotor. • Two ejection doors. • Heavy-duty reinforced polyethylene hopper. • Adjust to control size. • Dependable Honda power or PTO. • Pneumatic tires with parking brake • 13 HP priced at $2,232.00 or $105.00 mo, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 3,2001 -819 Sjoerd W. Duiker, assistant professor of soil management at Penn State, said that in Berks County, according to USDA NRCS records, 85 percent of the tillage is conventional. “You are all conventional tillers,” said Duiker, with only 10 percent using no-till. Duiker looked at the top issues of no-till management. No-till does less damage to the soil, promotes improved soil tilth, keeps residue feed for soil improving earthworms, and helps the soil retain water and the plants to use it. He pointed out the direct yield benefits of no-till over conventional tillage. No-till is good on well drained soils, common in Berks County. “Berks County should be suitable for no-till,” he said. “It’s the best soil conservation practice, with good residue cover.” Soil loss in tonnage per acre is decreased with no-till. However, growers need to manage traffic over the fields and be careful in manure management. To avoid disease challenges, growers should observe proper crop rotation. For growers unwilling to adopt no-till, the issues have been proper seed maggot and slug management. Growers need to find ways to improve their management of manure if using no-till. MILK. IT DOES A DDYGOOD. MAILBOX MARKET FOR SALE 11 D transp disc, 10' 28 blades, good cond , also 1 row potato digger on rub ber, reverse trans, Northampton Co, 610- 252-4146 Hickory lumber 7,200, $3,500, walnut 2500, $3,000, curly maple 2000, $3,000, cherry 2400’ 3,000 air dried inside, Chenango Co, 607-967-8321 NH baler w/kicker, exc , $3,900 firm, IH 183 cultiva tor w/rollmg shields, $950, Mueller 1,500 gal tank w/compressors, $8,750, 89 model, Lane Co., 610-593- 2415 3 Scottish Terrier, female, breeders, 2 yrs old, reg , AKC, Blair Co, 793-4366 Bunavista saddle, padded seat, good leather, $3OO, Leer green fiberglass, 8' truck top, 88 to 98 Chevy, $3OO, Adams Co, 717- 259-7187 Chicago 10', 16 gauge brake for bending steel, $1,200 cash, York Co., 717- 428-1562 or 717-792-9282 1990 Chevy 3500 truck, 97k, AC, auto, Eby Cattle Body, vg. cond, msp till 11/01/01, $6,900, Leb Co, 717-865-2536 Heavy duty pallet racking, like new, 16’ uprights, 12’ rails, $l4O section, AKC mastiffs, 2 males, apricots, $BOO, York Co , 717-927- 9766 1974 Pete 3406 Cat, 13 sp , 28’ Frueh 4F dump trailer, $lO,OOO, 1965 GTO Pont, $6,500, Brad Co , 570-537-3014 Ford 4,000 tractor w/snow plow & cab, $2,500, Case 450 track loader, 4 & 1 bucket rops, $6,500, Bucks Co , 215-536-1941
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers