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
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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.
The only newspaper
in the world devoted 1
-
exclusively to Macon
County is The Franklin
Press.
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NEAR THE RIVER BRIDGE
PHONE t FRANKLIN, N. C