Newspaper Page Text
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| field of soybeans on Jam s Johnson 's jarm
bitween Perry and Warner Robins is thriving, due
to the “cultivating” done by the Johnsons. Left to
right are James Johnson. Soil Conservation Agent
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‘■‘New Twist On No-Tiir
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At James Johnson Farm
Tve been working these
fields for twelve years,”
James Johnson said, "and we
always had weeds Now I’m
Riling to try it with no nil. I
can’t he any worse off." So
.lames and harry Johnson are
turning to no t ill crop
production, hut they’ve added
a new Iwisl using a cultivator
periodically to help the
chemicals control those pesky
crop enemies weeds.
Janies and his son are
operating t>(Hi acres (his year
with no till “No-Till" is a
•airly new concept in farming,
advocated by soil con
station experts, that is
supposed to tree tanners from
h(ijg hours of tilling soil to
ejihfinale weeds, and at the
samg lime he much more
hplM'licial Irom a soil con
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Getting right down to the root of the matter is
Drew Bynum and Larry Johnson. The inset photo
shows the plant still alive, but the dead weeds at
its base. The cultivator reduces needs for time
sei vat ion standpoint.
Skeptics say that no set of
chemicals has yet been
developed that will kill weeds
hut leave crops alone. Drew
Hynum, Houston Soil Con
servation agent, partially
concedes this point, but
reasons that saving the soil is
about as important as
maximum production.
“Look at it this way," he
says, “What good is it to get
maximum production for
several years if the soil is
virtually gone at the end of
those years ' Our job should be
to produce, but at the same
lime leave the soil as close to
its original stale as possible,
otherwise, somebody’s sons
and grandsons aren’t going to
have any land on which to
grow crops "
Drew ijynutn, u.id Lan, Johnson observe the
dead weeds, killed by chemicals and the
cultivator.
From a lalxir stand-point,
switching to no-till can be very
profitable financially. While a
farmer plows, prepares, and
consuming tilling. The Johnsons’ use the
cultivator because no one chemical has yet been
found that will “do the whole job.”
plants one acre of con
ventional corn or soybeans,
another farmer employing no
lill can do two or more acres.
So savings in manpower can
be up (o fifty (50) percent.
•lames and Larry Johnson
many years ago began using
what is just now catching on in
other parts of the stale -
double cropping land. But
planters in Houston County
have been planting soybeans
behind small grains for thirty
years, unlike other parts of
Georgia. Os course, soybeans
were a major crop here while
si ill unknown in most of
Georgia.
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Use of no-lill in double
cropping is alleged to be quite
effective. But some farmers
have quit no-tilling recently,
some citing the high costs of
chemicals. Others say that
weeds and grass drove them
back to tilling land.
Environmentalists are of
course quite concerned when a
no-tiller goes back to tilling
land. Weeds and grass killed
with chemicals, along with the
residue from previous crops
form a sponge to soak up the
rainfall and prevent erosion
and subsequent sedimen
tation.
The Johnsons figure they
are saving time and labor by
their “new twist” on no-lill.
Cultivating (he weeds rips
them up, killing them, but
leaving them to help fight soil
loss. The cultivating, along
with judicious chemical use,
are supposed to equal high
productivity with low soil loss.
James and Larry Johnson
are agronomists, soil fertility
experts, geneticists,
mechanical engineers, and
chemists - all rolled together.
They join other farmers in
applauding researchers who
are continually searching for
a “panacea” chemical - that
kills fill weeds and leaves
crops alone. So far, it hasn’t
been found.
Aside from farming, the
Johnsons are active in farm
DIO 06* |
The reliable traetor
giving economy and
efficiency
I . GEO C. NUNN & SON I
lAKHp Jernigan Street 987-2224 I
related organizations James
recently served as president
of the Houston County Farm
Bureau. Larry has been a
mainstay of the four year old
Houston Young Farmers
organization, serving as the
chapter Reporter.
During the rainstorms in
April that preceded this long,
hot, dry summer, many farms
were severely affected by soil
loss, due to poor conservation
techniques. Not so the Johnson
(arm, whose land held the
water better than most
Houston farms, simply
because of no-till. And no-till
utilization has been beneficial
to the Johnsons this summer
too. holding what little
moisture was available.
No-tillage began in the
1960's when a handful of
university researchers and
the Chevron Oil Company
began taking a fresh look at
weed production and how to
eliminate it. New no-till
research is expected in areas
such as overhead irrigated
sand hills, pasture forage
production, and other as yet
untapped areas where no-till
should work in the future.
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Drew Bynum looks over the cultivator used by the Johnsons on their farm.
The scythe-like teeth rip up weeds, but do not disturb the delicate soybean
plants, leaving them free to grow. Larry Johnson (R) is Reporter on the
Houston Young Farmers chapter, named in 1972 as the state’s top chapter.
fV THE USSR. HAS -
\ 40% MORE CULTIVATED:'
I LAND AND TEN TIMES
AS MANY FARM WORKERS
VHUS, U RUSSIAN FARM
WORKER FEEDS ONLV i \A\AA
PEOPLE WHILE HIS Wf'fm
AMERICAN COUNTER-
PART FEEDS ALMOST / r TB
-wa3i y laril ™— 77