Fl4-Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, February 1,2003 Back Run Farm (Continued from Page FI) local butcher shop. Johnston uses Pioneer and Hubner seed usually 113-day com. “I’m not really in too much of a hurry to get it off,” he said. “We have pretty decent fall season. It doesn’t snow too early around here.” The soil that Johnston works with is limestone. He plants hay in the shale-soil areas. “Compared to last year, it’s almost half to 40 percent loss,” he said. The soybeans, however, seem to be more drought resistant and he expects only a 20 percent loss. “We had a few rains when they were shooting pods, and they filed out pretty nicely,” he said, a local mill buys the soybeans and com for feed. “Feed rations started calling for soybeans, so the local mill decided to begin to roast beans,” he said. Johnston plants in 30-inch rows, as dictated by the planter. “When we were buying a com planter, we found a decent one with nar row rows, and the yields are pretty de cent,” he said. He uses liquid and granular chemicals for fertilizer. All the crops are no-tilled, allowing Johnston to make only three passes over the field in the course of a season. “I read a lot of in formation about subsoiling,” he said. That technique, which Johnston does every three yeas, is “the only tillage I do, and it seems to be a big help.” He also soils tests every few years. “Around here, many farms are deficient in phosphorus, and that seems to play a big role” in yields, he said. “I always try to keep that up, if anything.” He is also careful to get the pH adjust ed to whatever the soil test call for. Ro tating soybeans, he said, helps since soy beans put nitrogen back into the soil. He also puts 150 units of nitrogen per acres on. In addition to subsoiling, rotating soybeans, and com helps to loosen the soil. His com usually ends up as shell com as op posed to silage. Soil fertility, a good herbi cide program, and planter maintenance are keys to crop yields, believes Johnston. “A lot of times it (crop yield) revolves around soil fer tility and composition,” he said. “Pay close attention to the soil test and watch pH. Don’t let your soil tests fall be hind.” His crops receive a starter fertilizer two inches by two inches from the seed Reach Your Full Yield Potential With The Case~lH 1200 Pivot Transport Planters All Case-IH 1200 Pivot transport Planters Are Backed by Hooter's Parts and Sendee Departments Hoober has 12 Row and 16 Row Case-IH Pivot Transport Planters Available for Spring Planting. Call your Hoober salesman for special pre-season discounts* s VISIT US ONLINE; WWW.HOOBER?COM ' | mmmr^irTT^t^ rr^r mmm <*t‘4£v«M*MMM|j||iiMMM I u :' i ;f I L, W., mt . „-•« . ? 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Johnston no-tills 100 per cent of his fields, but it is not a program that will work for ev eryone, he said. “No-till has worked for me, however pro ducers must find the niche that works for their farm, de pending on what their opera tion is. “If you’re a dairy farmer you can use one management system, but a crop farmer needs a different management system.” A dairy farmer, for instance, emptying manure storage tanks, will need to in corporate the fertilizer. The first time producers apply herbicides, they should Some Call Us Narrow Minded... But We Know They Mean It as a Compliment y , With the needs of Mid-Atlantic Farmers in mind, the new AGCO-White LR-20 Lift & Turn Hitch from Hoober Transports 15’ & 20’ No-Till Drills at 10’ and Transports any 4 Row, 6 Row, 8 Row or 12 Row Com Planter at 10’! • Hooks to any 3 Pt Hitch • Fertilizer tanks available for the unit • Backed by Hoober’s parts and service departments [ AGCO ] Call a Hoober salesman today to find out more about the new AGCO-White LR-20 Lift & Rim Hitch horn Hoober ' VISIT US ONLINE; WWW.HOOBER'COM [rv y ’-'Vy - - —T- —r-..-i||, II | r . It. m not skimp on a product, he advises, since you’ll have to re-spray. Put the recommend dosage on the first time around. This minimizes trips across the field, which contrib utes to soil compaction. Johnston rotates Roundup Ready soybeans to help clean up problem weeds for the fol lowing year. We don’t use too much insecticide because of the com and soybean rotation, he said. Com borer and root (Turn to Page FI 8) Ml
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