The Rural Voice, 1983-04, Page 13planting their corn as soon as the land
is fit. I wish more would get as keen
when it came to their soys. Some
fellows can't seem to bring themselves
to quit planting corn to plant those
long-day soy varieties and then finish
planting the short -day corn. These new
long-day white bean varieties need to
go in before that seemingly magical
date of June 10th for Seafarers.
Generally, though, you reap more
benefits planting a little earlier than a
little later.
(6) AVOID SOYBEANS AFTER SOY-
BEANS whenever possible. I don't quar-
rel with the reasons for all the situa-
tions where beans follow beans, be-
cause some are short term and some
are long term reasons. But I think
farmers need to recognize that there are
two price tags for growing continuous
soybeans.
One is fairly obvious. Rotation cuts
pesticide costs because it prevents
disease or pest buildups, not only in
beans but in any continuously grown
crop. The second, even though all
factors aren't yet understood, is that
rotated corn/soybean crops yield better
than when grown continuously. The
difference can be several bushels per
acre.
(7) TRY ONE OR TWO NEW VARIETIES
per year on a limited basis. If there is a
new variety that can improve yields by
two bushels or more per acre, the
sooner you find it the sooner you'll
have the profits in your pocket. Check
both public and private varieties.
(8) CHOOSE HERBICIDES field by field.
The day of using the same one or two
chemicals for all acreage may be over
for two reasons. One, the effective
program of past years may have created
new weed species problems as a result
of whipping the old ones. Two, there
are newer, more effective chemicals for
some of the new troubles. Study your
specific weeds to get better weed
control and better returns for each
dollar spent on chemicals.
(9) CONSIDER BAND or post - directed
herbicide applications. Broadcast appli-
cations may cut out the need for
"scuffling", but in low profit potential
times, broadcasting is a luxury you
might want to examine closely. Banding
over the row, combined with between -
the -row cultivation, can cut chemical
costs by up to one-half or more.
Post -directed sprays --- a form of
banding --- require more care in appli-
cation. But they can cut costs by
controlling certain weed species with
chemicals that cannot be used over -the -
top.
(10) SCOUT FIELDS for insects and
other problems. Especially in white
beans and alfalfa, scouting for aphids,
bean beetle and alfalfa weavil can save
big dollars in high infestation years.
Scouting to check your herbicide con-
trol program, crop emergence, root
development, compaction, etc. can eas-
ily identify any yield limiting factors.
Scouting programs for potential profit
robbers have grown in popularity in
both the northern and southern United
States.
(11) HARVEST ALL THE KERNELS or
seeds you raise. It's amazing the impact
on net profits that harvesting two or
three more bushels per acre can make.
On narrow margins, it may mean the
difference between profit or loss. Most
farmers know how to do a better job.
It's a matter of taking the care to do the
job as well as they know how.
(12) SET A TARGET PRICE based on
production costs. Then write it down to
keep it from "floating" on you. Show it
to someone as a reminder, then take
that price the first time it is available.
We've all heard farmers say, "If beans
ever get to $.... I'm going to sell them."
Next time you see him, he says "If
beans ever get to that price again, I'm
going to sell." Greed often kills the
chance for reasonable profits.
If you are going to speculate, either
by storing the crop or by trying to
outguess the futures inarket as a
speculator rather than locking in profit
as a hedger, do it only after you cover
production costs and living expenses.
FIRST LINE
VIGOUR PLUS
SOYBEANS
the ideal seed for Tess than ideal conditions
Vigour Plus, as the name im-
plies, relates to vigour testing
and quality control. The benefit
to growers is an assurance of
stand establishment under stress
conditions. To provide informa-
tion on quality and potential
vigour, First Line seed is tested
by an automatic seed analyzer.
Research results show a strong
correlation between vigour tests
on the automatic seed analyzer
and field emergence under stress
conditions.
FIRST LINE SEEDS LTD.
R R tt2. GUELPH
ONTARIO. CANADA
N1H 6H8
FOR MORE INFORMATION IN YOUR AREA, CONTACT:
JOHN HAZLITT, benmiller acres 524-7474
R.R.4 Goderich. N7A 3Y1
BEV HILL, Hill & Hill Farms Ltd. 482-3218
Varna, Ontario. NOM 2R0
HUGH SCOTT, H.J.A. Farms Ltd. 345-2886
R. R.2 Stafff. NOK 1Y0
GORDON STRANG, Strang Farms 235-1466
R. R.3 Exeter. NOM 1S0
THE RURAL VOICE, APRIL 1983 PG. 11