Madison County Democrat. (London, Ohio) 19??-1958, 1953-09-25
Planting Is
Big Farm Question

cash crop in Ohio. In the face of
a huge surplus beyond market
needs, a bystander might reason
that growers would ease up on
seeding this fall. Actually, with the
assurance of a price supported at
9026 of parity, even with acreage
allotments and marketing quotas
in effect for 1854, farmers will be
seeking answers to two questions
first, How can I get the most re-
turn from the acres Sown to
wheat ?-and second, What shall l
do with the acres outside my allot-
ment?
To question No. /, this might be
said-Sow clean disease-free seed
of a proven Ohio variety in a we'll
prepared and we'll fertilized seed
bed, after the Fly-free date. Now
let's be specific:
Varieties most successful in Ohio
are Butler, Seneca, Vigo.
Treat the seed with an organic
mercury compound such as New
Improved Ceresan, Ceresan M or
Panogen to control Sinking smut.
Prepare a firm seed bed, we'll
packed and GRUMPY on top.
Apply 4O0-500 lbs. per acre of
complete fertilizer such as 5-10-10
or 5000 or 3-12-12 on sandy,
muck or less productive soils. On
more productive soils use O-20-1O
or 0-20-20.
September 80 is the "Fly-free"
date for Franklin County. Wheat
sown on or soon after that date
will usually miss the egg-laying
flight of the yield-reducing Hes
sian Fly-hence the name ely
free" date.
Given average weather condi-
tions, this kind of program will
produce good results.
Answer to the question of what
to do with the acres which would
have been sown to wheat had
there not been allotments and
marketing quotas is not as clear
cut. Possible alternative grain
crops which are fall seeded include
winter barley, winter oats and rye.
None of these compares with
wheat as companion crop for grass
seeding, nor for fitting into the ro-
tation after corn, nor in returns
per acre. Rye does have merit as a
late fall and early spring pasture
crop.
Seeding these extra acres to
bromegrass or timothy this fall
without a companion crop would
put the whole field in line for Ie-
gume seeding in the spring of 1854
for meadow in 1855. This would
avoid the necessity of having fields
broken into two crops through the
rotation.
In this connection it is we'll to
remember that the affirmative
vote on marketing quotas by 87Go
Of the eligible wheat producers
solved no problem. 1t made mar
keting quotas, acreage allotments
and penalty on excess the rule for
the 1854 wheat crop. Actually all
that it accomplishes is a guaranty
of 5000 of parity for those who
conform to the allotment. The
problem of how to handle the sur
plus is still with us and the gov
ernment cannot solve that problem
alone. Every producer will do well
to ask himself these questions:
How much wheat should I produce
and how can we develop a plan
which will help bring production
into balance with market needs,
and what will be the best use of
my land to produce a satisfactory
living for my family over the long
pull?
Farming is a complex mixture
of problems, some of which can
only be solved by the individual
farmer and his family. Others can
only be solved by the group of
which one farm family is one
small unit. The fact that the group
problems may seem to be more re-
mote does not indicate that they
are of lesser importance. It does
mean that more study and thought