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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1981-07-15, Page 18$ NRAGE suPrtoONT, Jo lc material to the spill with the corn, and you'd think why shouldn't it do something to help h soil," he added, "but it doesn't produce the compounds 'to produce the stable soil which 'you get after sod. The organic level becomes less and leis until you reach a level." DRAMATIC INCREASE Any doubts Mr. Taylor FIELD INSPECTION °— Farmer Laurence Taylor of R.R. 1, Londesboro, became a convert to crop rotation after witnessing a ,steady decline in yields with continuous corn. (PhOto by Shoveller) slope when in rotation; and the chart shows a steady decline for continuous corn. Mr. Taylor prepared his chart for the decade beginn- 1969. "We found soil's conditions physical improved in terms of Please turn to nage 3 ing ,in the much Mr. Farmer* We can help keep you working SEAFOIITH -1 f AUTOMOTIVE & Industrial Supply 58 Main St. S.' $eoforth 527-0880 owned and optic tad by eruct Wilbiee & Faintly & SONS R.R. 1, Londesboro for Delivery and Spreading Requirements Y • t t le v 'kv kilt '02' • r TRADITIONAL APPROACH — Both Laurence Taylor (above) and Bruce Shillinglaw, who. each, have farms at R.R. 1, Londesboro; have returned to crop rotation sistenis after discovering yields were dropping with continuoUs corn (Photo by Shoveller) HERE'S THE FINANCING PLAN YOU'VE KEN WAITING FOR... * 4 YEAR PAYMENT PLAN 10 % for the 0E1011 months 15 % for the remaining term (31 months) 'Contact us for complete details on this limited time offer! forageGluality depends on fertility_ • • /ye you overlooking ,the benefits o forage fertilization? Proper fertilization, based on soil tests, is the first place to start to obtain benefits such as: ' 1) Increased yield of feed 2) Increased carrying capacity of land 3) Increased quality of feed '4) 'Increased life of forage crops Howson & Howson Limited FLOUR & FEED MILLERS COMPLETE FARM SUPPLIES GRAIN ELEVATORS BLYTH, WINGHAM, CARGILL ONTARIO . 523.4241 Research has' shown that on average you could get three dollars back in extra feed value for every dollar you invest in forage fertilization. Come in and see us today, and together we'll develop a forage fertility program for your farm. proves .1 worth 'HERB SHOVELLER Today's farmer needs to pay attention to new develop- ments in agriculture to make his operation as efficient as possible. but he must also not forget the proven, time- honoured farming techn- iques. But as research charged onward. many farmers over- looked those traditions and jumped on :he progressive bandwagon, and it takes a lesson to remind them of The roots of their profession. Take crop rotation. Lau- rence 'Taylor and Bruce Shil- linglaw say. !Both men, now farming, share an earlier occupation; they worked for agricultural chemical com- panies which for each , has created what is pow a rather ironic situation. Though nei- ther rejects outright the new developments. each cau- tiously approaches the use of the products; each learned a lesson: today. each swears by crop rotation. "I came through the era when I thought , chemicals •i-were the answer to 'every- thing'• remarked Mr. Taylor in diseussion recently at his farm at R.R. I Londesboro, 'You have to blend both techniques. 1 guess we're kind of slow to learn some- times." Mr. Shillinglaw. who also farms at R.R. I Londesboro, is firmly convinced of the . benefits of rotation:- "The whole package seems to fit so well together," he said in a recent phone interview. "Each crop seems to help the other. Each ten& tp increase yields." lust as each man had a similar career.in the past. the circumstances leading to each man's support for crop rotation are roughly the same. • Mr, Taylor, who grew up on his parents' farm not far from his current operation. returned to farming in 1969, and- immediately opted for continuous corn. "Corn pro- duction was really apiece of cake at that. time. We just didn't have any of...the vro- blems that , explained. r DISTURBING RESULTS 'Prior to his return.. he added, most land in the area had been used for mixed farming. with niOst thingii dime in rotation. Soon. how- ever, some disturbing results began showing up. and these were made especially clear as he bought or rented ^ neighbouring land which had been in rotation. "Wc thought we were doing a good job with contin- uous corn," he noted, "but we were getting better yields on the new farms." The gradual, Steady de- cline in yields prompted an extended search to find the cause. Mr. Taylor tried ncw, reportedly better hybrids. al tered his 'fertilizer , rates and used different tilling techniques and after nothing seemed to work, concluded, "none of those things com- pensated for that basic soil we started with. I talked to a lot of people trying to make some sense of this thing. There are some conditions, like soil type, where guys are doing very well with continu- ous corn, if you're satisfied with that sort of yield, you can be satisfied with contin- , nous corn. "You return a lot of organ- may have had, about rotation were guicklkAispersed after he prepared a chart which, compared corn yields under different circumstances. The most dramatic increase came when corn was planted fol- lowing sod; corn yield in- creased in a more gradual Continued from ,page 2 higher cern yields (after dropping continuous corn)" he explained. "and we found it made the best use of all the acreage." His rotatign—: a two-year program, usually-consists of 40 per cent of the land in corn for two years, while 25 per cent is in soybeans and the remainder is in barley and wheat. He tries to underseed 10 to 15 per cent of the barley with red clover. There is an amazing paral- lel in the lives and work of Mr. Taylor and Mr. Shilling- law. It begins with their earlier occupations with chemical companies. and continues through their farming interests and ulti- mate conversion to faith in crop rotation. "I only came into this area and started farming eight years ago." explained Mr. Shillinglaw who, while he was with the chemical firm. kept his hand in agriculture by farming on the weekends in Ontario County. near New- Market. where his parents farm. "Most of the lad I. bought had been in continuous corn for years." he said. "What was bothering me was that I couldn't get as a good a yield as my neighbours who had used mixed-crops.. "We almost did the same .thing as Laurence. We looked at all the possibilities: an insect probleM, we changed varieties, the whole bit, 'and none of thoSe things seethed to be the answer. So we came to ty.e conclusion it had to be soil structure." UNSATISFACTORY For Mr. Shillinglaw. the problemS came to a 'head in 1977 when his corn .yield on an index of 100 simply be, came unsatisfactory. The next year he-put the field into 'barley, then followed that up with a year of red clover. He put it back into corn in 1980 with "exactly the same varie- ty, exactly the same field. and we got two and one- quarter times 'the yield" compared 'to 1977, Really. he needed no more convincing after that. but there are further advantages. "That was . just one." noted Mr. Shillinglaw. "but we could set other improve- ments1The number of passes to prepare a proper seed bed was' much fewer. We didn't have the weed problem. the corn didn't crust and it reduced the necessity of using insecticides." Mr. Taylor agrees. For one thing. he says he uses only about ten herbicides in the course of his two-year pro- gram. In addition. for the environmentally-conscious farmer, rotation provides a formidable opponent to soil erosion. ' - A SLOW SHIFT For Taylor. the slow shift orieinallv away from rotation • is easily understood. • 'We look •back, and come through a. period of relative he explained. "We were con- cerned with comin taints. corn. atrazine, new hybrids and cheap nitrogen. Then. in last live years. there hate been unstable weather patterns, nitrogen is mon. expensive 'and the t population lias shifted. '1 don't think a c hot.. right to abuse- thc land 1 ,ic M a :k a c ac re'doing. .1.. was just. as guilty as ,-Ht bade. The sad part. I -sup pose. in a way is ihat hopefully each .12041Cr a w'on't have n, relit c Iht mistakes of anothei lion. • • 1 11.4 ,1 ,, 111 , :rid N1 r •• Aso— oeteirrovoi