A32-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, August 24, 2002 Better Weed Control (Continued from Page A 1) an annual rent for each acre. In the 20 Pennsylvania counties eli gible for CREP funds, landown ers receive an average of $96 per acre for rent, plus cost-share funds for establishing grasses or trees, Foose said. Foose said that penalties can be imposed on landowners who fail to control plants that are on the state’s list of noxious weeds. These include Canada thistle, multiflora rose, Johnsongrass, and shattercane, to name a few. The FSA “usually (has) several cases every year” in which penal ties are levied on CRP-enrolled landowners for noxious weed problems in Pennsylvania. No CREP landowners have been pe nalized to date, Foose said. Scott Singer, Natural Re sources Conservation Service (NRCS) wildlife habitat special ist, works with CREP landown ers in Columbia and Montour counties. He said warm-season grasses in particular can take a few years to get established, mak ing the weeds more of a challenge in the meantime. There are also instances of shorter grasses used in CREP tree plantings where weeds are a problem, according to Singer. “Every day I’m giving advice to landowners on how to control weeds,” he said. “If you get those weeds in your field you have to control them.” Singer said he frequently rec ommends spot-spraying with “ef fective chemicals” that are “least harmful to wildlife habitat.” According to George Hubbard, director of the FSA office for Co lumbia and Montour counties, mowing in CREP fields is limited in order to protect wildlife habi tat. Contracts specify that mowing must only occur in the peri od from July 16 - Aug. 31. Even then, land owners should show restraint in mowing, he said “If you go out on July 16 and mow ev erything down like a golf course, it’s not going to be beneficial to wildlife,” Hubbard said. Most Canada this tles have already gone to seed by then, Hub bard said. To control the weeds, he recom mended spot-spraying earlier in the season. According to Singer, warm-season grasses remain established longer and will even tually provide better weed control than tra ditional cool-season grasses such as timo thy or orchardgrass. Wheat Straw for sale 3x3xB bales 1-888-422-5243 YODER’S _ Windmill Service Specializing in new & used windmill sales & service CALL FOR PRICING 717/532-4591 Send wntten inquiries to 2006 Bedford Road Shippensburg, PA 17257 “I have to keep reassuring peo ple that patience is the key,” he said. Hubbard also acknowledged that lack of rainfall has made it hard to establish grasses on CREP land this year. Wissler and Carl Shaffer, vice president of the Pennsylvania Farm Bureau and Columbia County crop farmer, however, said the weed control hasn’t been good enough in some instances. The problem, particularly with the Canada thistle, started when CRP began in 1985, said Shaffer. He farms about 2,000 acres in the centra] Susquehanna area. “We’ve constantly had to spot spray thistles over the years,” he said. “It’s a problem controlling them. The wind blows those seeds so far.” Shaffer said he has about four acres of “highly erodible” land enrolled in CREP. Wissler, who owns land in Montour County and farms a total of about 1,700 acres in the region, has no acre age enrolled in the program. Both farmers believe the government and landowners have to be more acountable in managing the pro gram. “Landowners are getting paid a substantial amount of money,” Shaffer said. “There has to be more responsibility.” According to Wissler, noxious weeds on working farmlands are a different issue than those on CREP lands. “I wouldn’t say my farms are thistle-free,” he said. “But I’m not being paid by the U.S. gov ernment.” CREP was designed to en hance the original CRP program that’s what the “E” in the name stands for. While CRP is funded entirely by the federal A Comfortable Cow Is A Productive Cow Maximize Your Cows' Productivity With.. The Comfort Zone Tie Stall S Higher neck rail improves ease of standing, eating, and drinking V Available in top quality 304 stainless steel or galvanized steel / Perfect for new or remodeled facilities For Additional Cow Comfort, Bring the Pasture Indoors With... M °st durable top PM Plus provides an extra jj^cushionmg US Patent #5653195 The rubber-filled cow mattress system that provides the resilience of natural turf. Petertheim’i Cow Mattreiiei . 117 Christiana Pibe, Christiana, PA 17509 610-593-2242 m Sorving DE, MD, NJ, PA and Wostom NV for 8 yoart. government, CREP programs re ceive matching state funds. With a pool of resources from various agencies including the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pennsylvania Department of Ag riculture, Chesapeake Bay Foun dation, and Ducks Unlimited, CREP sharpens the focus on water quality and wildlife habitat improvement, especially for grassland birds such as the ring neck pheasant and certain song birds. According to Singer, there has been anecdotal evidence from landowners of increased numbers of some grassland birds since CREP began. “Personally, I’ve seen clutches of pheasants using the grassland habitat,” he added. However, the CREP program is still too young for the bird pop ulation data to be meaningful. “It’s really too early to give any kind of a conclusion,” Singer said. While gamebirds grab a lot of the spotlight in wildlife pro grams, much of CREP’s habitat focus is on less visible birds, such as grassland sparrows, Singer said. The length of a CREP contract depends on the specific practice adopted on the land, ranging from 10 to 15 years. After the contract expires the landowner can choose to resume fanning it if he or she wishes. While both CRP and CREP are aimed at setting aside “mar ginal lands” for conservation purposes, the CRP is in decline in Pennsylvania. According to Foose, CRP acre age in the state has decreased from about 130,000 acres in the late 1980 s to about 60,000 today. “Here in Pennsylvania, that program wasn’t really too effec tive,” he said. CREP, however, has enrolled about 50,000 acres in Pennsylvania since it began in 1996. The multi-celled mattress will not tear, stretch, deform, or lose its shape - Jay Wissler is concerned about these thistles that have gone to seed in a CREP-implemented riparian buffer near land he farms in Montour County. “It has been really successful with meeting its goals,” he said. According to Foose, agencies partnering with CREP in the state would like to see the pro gram expand to include 21 more counties and encompass the en tire Chesapeake Bay watershed within Pennsylvania. The 20 counties currently en rolled in the program are Adams, Bedford, Berks, Chester, Colum bia, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Fulton, Juniata, Lan caster, Lebanon, Montour, North umberland, Perry, Schuylkill, Snyder, Somerset, Union, and York. Hubbard said that the counties of Columbia, Montour, Northum berland, and Schuylkill have the highest concentration of conser vation program enrollment in the state. About 12,000 acres are en rolled in CRP and CREP in Co- MID -MOUNT MOWER *• -- -- - The 'Z' with Accu-rate Advantages! In Stock Now at... •PARTS • SALES • SERVICE WefflpParts | TRACTORS ft EQUIPMENT"! “'n'SiSJf LCPANvJIM Rt #7, Box 406, Lebanon, RA 17042 Rt. 419 1 Mile West Of Schaefterslown 717-949-2000 or Toll Free 877-4Kubota (450-8602) PROHAT LTD Visit our web site at www.kubotaparts.com • E-mail us at kubota@nbn.net • Available in 52" or 60" models • 23 HP Kawasaki engine • Adjustable steering control levers • Large capacity fuel tank • Choice of seats Killer birqs. iKII I AiSJ&O MONDAY - FRIDAY 8:00 - 5:00 SATURDAY 8:00 • 12:00 Serving Central PA Since 1921 •ILOTSI KELLER BROS. AIRPORT 2550' RUNWAY 600' From Dealershii lumbia County. Montour County has about 5,000. Acreage in both counties is almost evenly divided between CRP and CREP lands. In the late 1980 s, Columbia County peaked at about 16,000 idle cropland acres, evenly split between CRP lands and annual set-aside lands, Hubbard said. In recent years, land set-aside programs have increasingly shift ed focus to water quality and wildlife habitat. Earlier pro grams, including the Soil Bank program of the 1950 s through the CRP in the 1980 s and 1990 s had more to do with reducing excess grain supplies and boosting de pressed markets, Hubbard said. Hubbard and Singer acknowl edged the tension that can exist between crop producers and con servation programs. “It’s a balancing act 90 feet up on a tight rope,” Singer said. www.landpride.com Financing Or Cash Discounts Available LANCASTER 1850 FrultvWe Pike, Lancaster, PA 17601 At Route 30 & FruKvMle Pike 717-569-2500 or Toll Free 877-3KUBOTA (396-2662)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers