2-Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, January 19,2002
(Continued from Page 1)
adjacent farm where they
built a 3,400-head hog finish
ing unit. In addition 120,000
broilers are housed on the
home farm.
This summer the family
weathered a fire which burnt
a chicken house to the
ground. In only seven weeks,
however, two single-story
houses replaced the original
house, according to Hershey.
The broilers and hogs are
produced under contract.
If livestock and his own
acres were not enough to
keep Hershey occupied, he
does custom farming, includ
ing planting and combining,
for other producers. The
custom combining is the big
gest sector, said Hershey,
who did over 1,000 acres this
season. To help out, Shirley
takes care of the chickens
during the day. She, however,
is busy operating her own
kennel on the farm.
After dairying for 20 years,
he sold the dairy, put up a
chicken house, and six years
ago bought his neighbor’s
farm to build a 3,400-hog fin
ishing unit.
The fields, however, are
where Hershey most enjoys
spending his time. “I like
working in the field and
watching crops grow to ma
turity and to be able to har
vest it. There are different
challenges as far as new corn
genetics or herbicide pro
grams available to see how
they might or might not work
in my program.”
Management Techniques
“Placing seed at the proper
depth is something that is
overlooked a lot. It really
does make a difference on
how the seed germinates,”
Hershey said. Hershey plants
the seeds at least an inch and
a half deep. A seed protec
tant, a fungicide, accompan
ies each seed at planting.
“It helps the roots develop
it seems like the roots
grow too much on top of the
ground if it’s planted too
shallow.”
Hershey does not use any
commercial fertilizer. Al
though he sells the broiler
manure he uses the hog
Farming A Lifetime
manure for crop acres. “It’s
easier to handle and nutrient
wise, it seems to fit our nu
trient management plan
better,” he said.
He applies 7,000-10,000
gallons of liquid hog manure
per acre per year. Using the
liquid hog manure amounts
to a savings of $lOO-$l5O per
acre, he calculates, of ferti
lizer costs.
Besides the fertilizer he
sidedresses anhydrous am
monia when the corn is 16-24
inches tall. “A boost of nitro
gen at that stage has been
working well in my pro
gram,” he said.
Although management of
fertilizer and tilling practices
are essential to a good crop,
the moisture factor is also im
portant. “I couldn’t obtain
high yields without the Lord
sending the rain,” he said.
Hershey has used 90 per
cent Pioneer seed since he
started farming. This time he
used Pioneer 33A14 seed for
his winning crop. He used the
strain again this year, along
with different strains that he
is experimenting with or has
observed promising results in
last year. Another strain, in
fact, had out-yielded the win
ning lot but contest lots have
to be chosen in the summer.
Tillage practices are an
other management key, said
Hershey. Soil compaction de
creases the chance of a
healthy, high-yielding crop.
Producers should avoid
“working over the ground
before it’s fit to be on,” he
said. “It’s key to yields. I’m
very particular about that.
Every year is different as far
as when the soil is ready. The
calendar might say it’s time
to be planting, but if it’s to
wet or too cold, I don’t feel
it’s an advantage to be out
there too early.”
Seventy-five percent of the
corn is no-tilled, with the re
maining 25 percent of the
fields minimum tilled. “Espe
cially this past year, when we
were hit pretty hard with the
drought this season, the no
till crops really had an edge,”
he said.
Hershey no-tills into soy
bean stubble, “which I‘ve
found works with my opera-
tion,” he said. The barley and
wheat fields are tilled.
Wintertime finds Hershey
concentrating on hauling
grain to the mill or selling the
hay and straw he harvests off
of 20 acres. The winter
months also provide time to
repair equipment and plan
for spring planting.
An Industry
In Motion
Agriculture has proven to
be a quickly-changing busi
ness a challenge that he
has met with by continuing
his own education. “I’ve
learned a lot by attending ag
ricultural meetings and by
trial and error,” he said.
A corn and soybean confer
ence he attended two years
ago in Albuquerque has also
Optimum Heat/
Hybrid Maturity Final Yield Vigor Root Plant Drought Added
Days Stand Types Health Tolerance Values
817 V 99-101 27-31,000 VG E O.P E- G Exceptional Yield
First Stalk For Maturity
854 V 106-108 22-27,000 E+ E+ O.S VG G+ Good Dual Purpose
Big & Beautiful _____ Superior Vigor
855 C 103-105 24-29,000 E- VG M,P E- E Resistant to Wildlife
First Fruit II _____ _____
B6OF 107-108 26-30,000 VG VG S,P VG VG Companion to B6OC
Solid Gold ;
863 C 108-110 24-27,000 E+ E O VG E+ Superior Yield
Bin Buster Monster Ears
864 110-112 24-27,000 E++ VG O E- VG Top Yield
Watch For Root Lodging
865 109-112 26-29,000 E+ VG 0,0 E- E- Superior Yield/
Magic Bullet Plant Intact
BBID 114-116 23-27,000 E VG S.H.O E+ E- Rugged/Super Corn
Mammoth Consistency
E - Excellent
VG - Very Good
G - Good
D - Deep Roots (Good For Sandy Soils & Drought Conditions)
P - Penetrating Roots (Good For Compaction)
H - Healthy Roots (Good Under Muck and Waterlogged Conditions)
O - Offensive Roots (Excellent For High Yield Conditions)
S - Surface Roots (Excellent For Shallow Soils, Or High Fertility)
M - Massive Roots (Large Root Volume Can Handle Most Root Stresses)
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expanded his knowledge
about farming. “I felt it was
very worthwhile,” he said.
“It was two days packed with
seminars. I got to meet other
farmers from throughout the
U.S. and came away from
there with new ideas and new
gusto to go home and do a
better job with planting and
marketing practices. That
year they really challenged
farmers to be businessmen in
marketing crops.”
Although his father, Eby
Hershey, gave him valuable
lessons about farming grow
ing up, farming has changed,
according to Hershey. “Tech
nology and genetically
altered seed has put a
different twist on agricul
ture,” he said.
In addition, believes Her-
Summary of Hybrid Characteristics
New Columbia, PA
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shey, marketing has become
paramount to producers.
“You almost have to be a
businessman to be market
smart,” he said. “I have a
DTN screen that I check
every day.” He sells his gain
on contract several times
throughout the year.
The couple has three chil
dren: Marc, a senior at Eliza
bethtown College; Erica, 21,
who is hoping to soon enter
the graphic design field; and
Alicia, a freshman at Temple
University. Marc, who is
studying accounting, has
taken over the farm’s book
keeping for several years
now.
Hershey is also involved in
the Manheim Young Farmers
group and the Elizabethtown
Brethren in Christ church.
g'S) Your Profit
y Is Our
Business
ENNSYLVANIA
IST SEED CORN