FlO-Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,2003 Capitol Region Grain Producers Gather For Seminar MICHELLE KUNJAPPU Lancaster Farming Staff LEBANON (Lebanon Co.) Several producers took ad vantage of a recent crop semi nar to earn pesticide credits and leam information about grain crop production at a seminar conducted at the Leb anon Valley Agriculture Cen ter. John Rowehl, Cumberland County, a grain crops special ist for the region, discussed customizing cropping plans how to make key plans to in crease yields and minimize risk on drought-prone soils. Fertilizer, said Rowehl, is important to manage correct ly. Crop producers should ad just nitrogen rates based on yield potential. “Don’t fertilize for 180 bushels of com if what you’re looking at is 120,” he said. “If you are overfertiliz ing on your lower-producing soils, it could add up to some money. “The trick is having good crop records to know what has been harvested over the years. You don’t want to plan for failure, but you don’t want to be overly optimistic.” During a dry season, “it’s better to put nitrogen on up front and get good growth,” which will help the crop to “withstand drought when it does come,” since the “root growth was in the beginning of the season,” he said. Rotation was another topic. Well-drained, high-producing soils are more adaptable to no till and short rotations, he said. “My rule of thumb is, when in doubt, rotate,” Rowehl said. According to Penn State studies, “you can see the im mediate benefits just when you get out of continuous com and go into hay,” he said. “Most of the,time, when soils are high in clay content and have low moisture and low organic matter, there is more benefit to rotation on poor soils than on rich soils,” he said. Del Voight, regional pest management specialist, spoke about the “bank” of seed. Put ting the situation in perspec tive, about three percent of plant species have weedy traits or 250 out of 8,000 plant species. Weed seeds may remain vi able for many years, so under standing what seeds are in the soils is an important weed management tool, said Voight. Also, understanding weed life cycles is important, since “if you don’t know what it is and how it grows, how can you manage it?” Voight asked. Weed seeds are transported through animals or custom combines. “You can do some thing to prevent them if you clean your equipment,” he said. As a rule, weed annuals produce more seeds than per ennials, which need chemicals targeted to their strong under ground structures. 11 nlKoti aUt wood iscedi eermin , nates in the first year. They may remain viable for up to 39 years. I don’t think you’ll ever reach a point where you’ve eliminated all weed seeds in a particular bank,” said Voight. Altering the planting date impacts weeds that germinate following planting. Letting the weeds come up, then planting the crop helps to control weeds, “if you are planting early, you’re going to really need to have your arsenal as far as weed control,” he said. Mapping the area, and knowing target areas for fall applications of herbicide, saves producers from spend ing the money to do the whole field, he said. When weeds are four- to six-inches in height is when herbicide application produces the best results. Bob Anderson, Lancaster County crops extension agent, spoke about agrosecurity and ways to raise the safety stan dard of the American farm. Pesticide storage, security, and control, a lecture devel oped by Penn State’s pesticide education program, is “not just an issue for children, al though that’s important,” said Anderson. Also environment, vandal ism, spills, and theft are rea sons to keep tabs on farm chemicals. The storage facility should not be near well heads, “even if it (the well heads) are no longer used,” he said. Chemicals should also be stored away from livestock feed or feed stor age areas. “Con sider the potential for run off,” he said. Specially Formulated as a Starter or “Pop Up” Fertilizer for Variety of Crops Especially Corn and Small Grain Main tain a sep arate loca tion to store pesti cides, ad vised An derson. Also post the storage area with warning and no smoking signs. RANDY BOTTEICHER Keep copies of the labels of each product, he said. The Web site blue book- -Itor.com or MEADVILLE FARM & GARDEN Meadville, PA (814) 333-8421 gi r to ei n» *.. book.net provides pesticide product information (labels, supplemental labels, and MSDSs) from pesticide com panies to help users locate specific information. Keeping inventory of the products will indicate if products have been (HP (GBp GSI (gSj) Grain Bit Grain Dry (GSj) Elevatof <@> @) stirrin 9 visi' . .— v Machines Zm <@> AFFORDABLE QUALITY and Westfield From Grain (|ig) and SONES GRAIN SYSTEMS Cleaners (|SI) Hutchison Muncy, PA (S7O) 584-2282 (GBp (ISSp (GSp (GSp (GSp (GBp (§Sp (GBp (GBp 993-3452 Belleville, PA (717) 667*3503 GROVES MILL CURT FALCK Lewisburg, PA (570) 524-2436 CHRIST B. MILLER Bird-In-Hand, PA DAVID LITCHARD Danville, PA (570) 437-6954 ED WITTER Gardners, PA (717) 528-8389 COCHRANTON CO-OP Cochronton, PA (814) 425-7401 RICHARD TREGIDGO Pleasant Mount, PA (717) 448-2374 RALPH STAUFFER East Earl, PA (717) 367-1566 BASE ORGANICS West Lawn, PA (610) 927-1942 HUBERT DERSTINE Emlenton, PA (814) 358-2217 stolen or tampered with. Keep pesticides in their original containers with read able labels attached. He also advised storing dry materials above liquids. Liquids, he said, may leak down over the dry pesticides. 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