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
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Lewisburg, PA
(570) 524-2436
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Bird-In-Hand, PA
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(570) 437-6954
ED WITTER
Gardners, PA
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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. Ideally, however,
NATURAL ACRES JIM MCLAUGHLIN
Millersburg, PA Norwich, NY
(717) 692-0923
STAN CARPER
Milroy, PA
(717) 250-4160
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& SON
Hydes, MD
(410) 592-2467
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Hagerstown, MD
(301) 733-0796
- NEW YORK -
Box 265,
WEMPLE’S Bainbridge, Pa. 17502
717-367-1566
www.tertrell.com
non-porous shelves
eliminate any prob-
using
would
lems.
Farmers should have tools
for spill absorption, such as
absorbent material, a shovel,
(Turn to Page FI 2)
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