Feeling Farm Price Pinch? Proper Fertilization May Help Things, Agent Says By ROBERT M. RAT (Assistant Agent) It appears that our mountain farmers are being caught in a price squeeze along with farm ers in other areas. One way we can help the farmer through this readjust ment period is by teaching him something about the soil he uses as the basis of his produc tion. I believe, in the past, too little emphasis has been placed on the needs of the soil and the best way to obtain proper fertilization. Next year, for the first time, the PMA is requir ing soil tests on farms partici Alll* IRTlPi* ' Bill Higdon Phone 345-J-5 or 97 patlng in their program of soil conservation; however, their program is still vague in en couraging farmers to home mix his fertilizers in order to ob tain a better fertilization and to make a substantial saving on their fertilizer cost. For several years, the ma jority of test demonstration farmers have been taking ad vantage of the free soil testing service in this state, and found it of great value to themselves and to the extension service in obtaining information on which to base recommendations in given areas. A good example of the value of soil testing and proper fer tilization has been a research project carried out on the Wal lace Morgan farm In Macon County for the past seven years. When Wallace came to the farm in 1946, he took over a grown up acreage of land which had been abandoned because of the low productivity. A major por tion of this farm is sloping to steep land which in 1946 was in sedge and scrub pine. In 1947 a two-acre field was cleared and prepared for alfalfa. On the basis of soil tests and our knowledge of the soil, two tons of lime and 1,200 pounds of WE ARE BUYING DRY, HULLED BLACK WALNUTS GOOD PRICES PAID BROWN & CARSON Phone 297 Franklin, N. C. (used tricalcium phosphate were worked Into the top (our inches of the soil, which Is a Rabun Clay loam. Oats and vetch nere seeded In the fall of 1947 and lespedeza the follow ing spring. The lespedeza was turned and 600 pounds of 2-12-12 was applied In the fall and the alfalfa was seeded. A good stand was obtained and has been top-dressed annually with 200 pounds 60% muriate of potash per acre. A similar I system has been used on all the , fields on this farm which have : been cleaned up and seeded to | alfalfa or ladino clover -orchard , grass. On many of the later | seedings a mixed fertilizer con sisting of 1,200 pounds of 27% ! phosphate, 200 pounds 60% pot j ash, and 50 pounds 33% am I monium nitrate has been sub stituted for the 2-12-12 ferti [ lizer. Yields on all fields used for hay have been consistently' higher than the average yields on other farms in the county. Alfalfa has been producing three to four tons per pear, | even in the fifth year. Ladino orchard-grass has been produc ing two tons or better per year. In dry years such as the past two years' yields have fluctu ated with the weather, but make a more rapid response when moisture is available. In 1953 soil scientists from our soil testing laboratory took a number of samples on these fields to obtain information on the results of this type of fer tilization. As a result of these tests, and other information, some revisions in our recom mendations are being made. Soil samples were taken at two levels, 0-3 inches and 4-6 inches. On fields which had had heavy applications of phosphate at seeding and none since, the 0-3 inch area showed high to very high in phosphate while the lower level ran from low to very low in phosphate. Since the latest research shows that plants pick up phosphate from this lower level, it appears that | we should apply phosphate at < deeper levels, possibly down to at least six inches for alfalfa, i On the basis of experiment sta- | tion recommendations it now ! appears desirable to apply j smaller rates of phosphate at \ tests it appears that more re seeding and use a small amount each year (or maintenance; however, on the basis of these search is necessary. It is pos sible that there is a high phos phate fixation which would be released if top-dressing phos phate were added. On the potash tests, both levels showed high to very high 1 with the lower level a little ; lower. Crop responses are be ing obtained by top-dressing with potash even though our 1 mountain soils have a relative high amount of potash in the natural state and also a much higher amount of exchangeable potash than other areas. There is a definite need for more re search of this subject with our mountain soils. On land which has not been previously limed, two tons per acre seems to be adequate, and then one ton each five years 'on high producing forage crops. What savings can a farmer make by using single ingredi ent fertilizers? On the basis of a 2-12-12 and 0-9-27, which are our seeding and maintenance fertilizers for pasture and hay crops, a farmer can save ap proximately $10 per ton, or] $2.50 per acre, over mixed com mercial fertilizers. Most farm ers have at least 20 acres of good pasture and hay so they can save approximately $30 on these crops alone. Correspond ing savings can also be made on row crops. UTD farmers that obtain phosphate and nitrates at a reduced price can make even greater savings to beat the price squeeze and stiiu get a very good fertilization on their farms. Cutting down the amount of fertilizer used is not the way to get by when profits are fall ing; however, to get your ferti lization needs at a lower cost is using common sense. 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