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Show Millard County Chronicle Thursday, March 23, 1967 O 0 rr "the to get grow iui UVI APPLY F EST L ZER HOW! J" 1 - . ll , t i nil I - " -MiMiit G3 X (XiQSalJsiinclB Jf It -i- i. i 1 Get full information from your . county agent. Follow these smpe steps to insure representative soil samples 2 Select proper sampling toot. 1." 1 1 4 9 1 3 Keep cut or sample separately all unusual areas. pit. ? " H 1 l " ,r -, ,L..,.A " - J J 7 Mix well in a clean pai'. 4 Divide field into areas for sampling. 4S flilliM 5 Take soil to plow depth from at least 15 spots for each sample. 6 When spade is used,, me soil HVIIt lUIUll IV ui ram m 8 Fill out information sheet accurately. IpKifiiSlRj 9 Number sampleskeep yoi ovi n records, i, . ' 10 AKvftys iime and fertilize according ac-cording U) your soil test reeom mendations. Let's Update Our Fertilizer Labels; Says USU Extension Soil Specialist by Paul D. Christensen U. S. U. Extension Soil Specialist The label is expected to be your key to knowing the content of your fertilizer. Fertilizer manufacturers are required by state law to indicate indi-cate the amount and analysis of each fertilize included in a mixture, mix-ture, i The guaranteed analysis must show in this order the minimum percentages of total nitrogen (N), available phosphoric acid (P205), and water soluble potash (K20). Minimum percentages of any other claimed essential plant nutri puts must be shown after the essen tial primary nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Actually, the 1 terms available Soil Test Similar To Prescription The recommendations you receive re-ceive on your soil-test reports are backed up by many years of research. Soil test recommendations are based on hundreds of greenhouse and field experiments on many diff erent soils. These experiments have shown what yield can be obtained from certain levels of fertilizer In addition to conducting research, re-search, trained personnel of the University of Idaho College of Agriculture Ag-riculture interpret the soil tests and make the recommendations. These men use this chemical analysis of your soil, your past management and fertilizer practices as reported on your information sheet, together with knowledge o local soil con ditions to make recommendations to you. In other words, a prescription method of making fertilizer recommendations recom-mendations is used. "Don't Guess--Soil Test." phosphato and available potash, tho still required by law, don't really tell you what is contained in the fertilizer or what the crop will absorb. Since the guarantee is required re-quired to Indicate phosphorus and potassium as oxides, the chemist has to calculate the "theoretical" content of (P205) and(K20). Single superphosphate contains about 9 phosphorus (P) and theor etically contains 20 (P205. Concentrated Con-centrated superphosphate has an analysis of about 20 phosphorus (P) with a theoretical content of 45 P205, The present guarantee exaggerates the amount of phosphorus phos-phorus and potassium in the fertilizer, fertili-zer, making phosphorus appear 2.3 times as large as it really is, and potassium 1.2 times larger than it is. If nitrogen were guaranteed as its "oxide," nitrate (N03), instead of nitrogen (N), ammonium nitrate (33 N) would have a guarantee of about 145, and anhydrous ammonia am-monia (82 N) would have a guar antee of 360. Some fertilizer manufacturers are afraid it will look as though they have lowered the analysis on their fertilizers if they should change to simply indicating the P and K. Yet, that is a realistic change urged by professional agronomists, soil scien tists, state chemists and many peo pie in the fertilizer trade. A complete fertilizer labeled 6-10-4 to indicate the N, P205 and K20 under the old guarantee could be labeled 6-4.4-3.3 to appropriately appropriate-ly Indicate the N, P and K content. To help users recognize this situation, situa-tion, dual labels can be shown on the fertilizer bags for a time. This is a logical step already used by TVA and several companies. Some states also give their fertilizer recommendations re-commendations under both systems sys-tems so that farmers and others may easily become acquainted with the transition. Everyone concerned could benefit by taking such a step to make our fertilzer labels more meaningful. Question of inches . , . Farmers Like Corn In Narrow Rows Farmers across the nation are using new techniques to increase yields. For example, Orville Tunis (above) of Satanla, Kan., grew his corn in rows only 20 inches apart about half the usual width. With his Allis-Chalmers combine, he harvested this 150 acre field. It yielded an average of 175 bushels per acre, despite damaging hail and an 80 mile an hour wind storm. In previous years, his 40-inch corn had averaged 115 bushels. A new way to plant corn is making news on the nation's farms. On these wintry days, farmers farm-ers are asking themselves: "Should I go to narrow row? Should I put twice as many plants in the field by planting them in rows only 20 inches apart, instead of the usual 40?" Not since the days when Indians buried fish to fertilize their fields has there been so much discussion on how to grow more corn per acre. The discussion arises because over the last few years, mounting mount-ing evidence has proven that farmers can get higher yields from narrow row corn. They produce as high as 20 per cent over crops grown in the same wide rows that great-great-grandpa used. The latest convincing evidence evi-dence comes from Allis-Chalmers, the first manufacturer to offer equipment for planting and harvesting the corn in rows 20 inches apart. The company surveyed 199 customers from Pennsylvania to Colorado. Together, thev planted 36,620 acres of corn in 20 inch rows during the 1966 season, far from an ideal growing grow-ing year. It- was an unusually hot. drv. windv siimirwr in many parts of the country. These farmers said they thought the corn they planted maae Deuer use ot the fertilizer and fiTOUnd moisture than vrita planted corn. Their yields aver aged xzz Dusneis an acre. TllPSA Rnmo farmara cared their vielda with thoii- neighbors. Results showed that nearDy neias planted in rows 3U inches apart grew 110 bushels, and the standard 40 inch corn only 101. Obviously, the farmers surveyed sur-veyed were in the. hptW growing areas, since the na- a: i . uonai average was only Ti bushels last year. : Most of the farmers in the survey were sold on the narrow row meinoa. wore than half, 102 said they would plant more 20 inch row mr-n nr 1QR7 .nJ 62 indicated they'd plant the same amount. So what does it nil nc Ave ? "Farmers who are already getting maximum yields from conventional rows can reasonably reason-ably exnect suhstantinllv bicrho yields from narrow row corn," says an Allis-Chalmers official. uur more than 10 years of ex perienceworking with land grant colleges and on our own proves this." He said the company is continuing experiments in even narrower rows down to 15 inches. A 200 acre plot in Wisconsin Wis-consin averaged 176 bushels last summer. The How and When of Fertilizer Application Is Most Important Phofphorus And Potash Take a good soil sample. Have it analyzed by a reputable soil testing laboratory. Request a fertilizer fer-tilizer recommendation to produce your yield goal. A good practice is to broadcast and plow down the amounts recommended from the soil test. In mpny instances, the phosphorus and potash requirements require-ments of tho corn crop can bo satisfied sat-isfied by banding at planting. Micronutrients If your soil test indicates a high soil pH or lime content, make sure you have an adequate supply of micronutrients, especially zinc. Corn is sensitive to low levels of soil zinc. If corn follows sugar boots in yovr rotation, and your soil is high in lime It would be wise to plow down ahead of planting about .10 pounds of actual zinc per acre. Tremendous yield responses have been obtained from zinc on corn. Starter Fertilizer An application of starter fertilizer fertili-zer containing nitrogen and phosphorus phos-phorus or nitrogen, phosphorus and potash wil often get corn off to a fast start on soils which are deficient de-ficient in these elements. Use a low nitrogen, high phosphorus or a low nitrogen, high ? phosphorus medium potash mixed fertilizer. Nitrogen Fertilizer It is impractical to attempt to meet the crops total nitrogen re-quiremen re-quiremen with row fertilization at planting. The additional nitrogen requirement of the corn crop can be supplied as a side-dressing or plowed-down before planting. If too late for side-dressing additional nitrogen can be aded by bubbling anhydrous ammonia into your Irrigation Irri-gation water. To insure uniform fertilizer distribution, the water application must be carefully controlled. con-trolled. When nitrogen is the only limiting limit-ing element, as Is true In many western areas, n good method of application is to plow down about half of the nitrogen fertilizer that the balance sheet shows you need. The remaining portion can be side-dressed side-dressed after the corn is 6 to 8 inches tall. Another effective method is to broadcast or plow down all the nitrogen the corn will require. .By plowing down, the fertilizer is placed plac-ed out of the reach of surface ger minating weeds, but ideally located to promote deep root development by corn. Summary Utah farmers can reach very high yields of silage or grain com provided pro-vided good management practices are used. The secret is to set a high Yield goal for every field and then plan a total operating program pro-gram to achieve that yield. Special emphasis must be placed on good soil fertility practices. High rates of nitrogen together with an adequate ade-quate supply of phosphorus potash and micronutriehts as needed are absolutely necessary. SHOPPERS WISE ECONOMIZE THEY SHOP WITH THOSE WHO ADVERTISE T SEED CORN ' Tlx 5 ASSOCIATION mh u an. ifim ORDER SEED NOW ! Take advantage of Intermountain Farmers Association Quality Seed Program. SEED CORK FIELD SEED SMALL GRAIN ALFALFA The hybrid seed corn is bred for high fertility soils. It is the product of many years of experimentation. experi-mentation. It has been constantly improved over the years to ensure maximum production and the finest corn. Only the finest seed is chosen, hand selected by people trained for their job. Every type of seed receives this same meticulous metic-ulous care and selection. Talk over your spring seed needs with your IFA Manager. Get the best possible results for the money you spend. See IFA for Ai! Your f3im and Home Needs! See your Branch Manager REX WOOD |