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Show v Farm Conservation Report 'lore grass to take the place '.rain in feeding livestock is a umin one of the most ffion campaign. But this mean overgrazing, cau-d0 cau-d0 ToseDh Wilcken, member She Duchesne county Agricul- tural Conservation Committee. He points out that grass is important im-portant from the standpoint of conserving the soil as well as a means of saving grain for human hu-man consumption. Grass and clovCrs hold the soil by leading the water from rains and melting snow into the soil instead of having hav-ing it run off, taking the soil with it. Buta good stand must be maintained to do this, he said, i Grass, also, is making a major contribution to the feeding of hungry people in countries overseas. over-seas. If cattle and sheep are marketed with less "finish," most of their gain comes from grass. Good pastures also make it possible for dairymen to cut down on the grain ration without with-out seriously affecting milk production. pro-duction. Mr. Wilckcn points out that the Agricultural Conservation Program has encouraged the seeding of grasses and legumes ever since the program started in 1936. From 1936 through 1946, farmers and ranchers cooperating cooperat-ing in the program have seeded more than 33 million acres to grasses and legumes. Under the 1946 program alone, more than , 4 million acres were seeded. Feed Supplies For the country as a whole the feed supply outlook is less favorable than it was a year ago. Latest U. S. Department of Agriculture Ag-riculture reports indicate that the total supply of concentrate feeds for the year 1947 will be a little less than 140 million tons. That is the smallest supply of concentrate con-centrate feed in the last five years. When the number of animals to be fed is taken into consideration, consider-ation, however, the supply situation sit-uation appears a little more favorable. fav-orable. This year it is expected that 1.02 tons will be available for each animal unit on farms. That is just about the same as it was in the five-year period from 1937 to 1941. Higher feed prices are also having their effect. Hog men are finding less inducement to feed hogs to heavy weights as corn prices go up. Four .poultry men and dairymen, however, the relation rela-tion of egg and dairy products prices to feed costs has been a little more favorable in the last few months than it was a year ago. o ' Green Manure Adds Humus Under the 1946 Agricultural Conservation Program, cooperating cooper-ating farmers turned under 21, 336.000 acres of green manure crops. During the 11 years of the program, cooperating farmers farm-ers have carried out cover crop and green manure practices on 169 million, acres. Usually cover crops and. green manure go together. The cover crop serves a triple purpose. Seeded in the fall, the crop produces pro-duces winter feed. This is especially es-pecially valuable during this period per-iod when every effort is being made to save grain. The cover crop pasture will help to replace a part of the grain for cattle, sheep and hogs. Then, in addition" addi-tion" to f urnishing feed, the vegetative vege-tative cover protects the land from erosion. During the winter, when the land is not in regular crops, the bare fields if not protected pro-tected with a cover crop, are subject to serious erosion damage. dam-age. Winter rains cprry away the small particles of sou and os, I pecially the soluable minerals in ! the topgoil the minerals need-1 ed to grow croos. I After the cover crop has ser-i ved as a winter pasture and pro-tection pro-tection to the soil, it is turned under to increase the humus in the soil. Humus adds fertility and makes the land easier tilled. Its,, water retaining qualities are improved. More water soaks Into the soil instead of running off, taking the soil with it.- Because of their value in conserving con-serving soil, cover crops and green manure have been included includ-ed in the Agricultural Conservation Conserva-tion Program. Use Phosphate Now Weather permitting, now is .a ; good time to put out phosphate, ! according to Wm. O. Larsen, ; chairman of the Duchesne Coun-: Coun-: ty Agricultural Conservation Committee. The phosphate ; spread on pasture land this fall ! will mean pastures 2 weeks i earlier next spring. Phosphate "left" in the ghed. i this winter will bo Idle, while that put on the ground can go i to work. It will be in the soil f and grass and clover roots ready for an early growth next spring. c Stop Feeding Rats. Says USD A ! A good way to increase the supply of grains available for , human food is to stop feeding so much of it to rats, grain wee- ' vils, and other insect pests, says ; the U. S. Department of Agri- culture. And a good place to start preventing such losses is on the farms, where 97 per cent of the corn, 60 per cent of the wheat, and 94 per cent of the oats are normally stored. According to USDA estimates, ' insects cause the loss of at least 5 per cent of stored grain and cereal products every year. Rats destroy another 4 per cent. Translated Trans-lated into grain and money at 1945 prices insects destroy des-troy over $350 million worth of stored grains annually, and rats and mice account for another $200 million worth. |
