Kankakee Valley Post, Volume 11, Number 7, DeMotte, Jasper County, 2 January 1941 — Building Profitable Pastures on Indiana Farms [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Building Profitable Pastures on Indiana Farms

CHICAGO. —How Indiana farmers can obtain the most profitable results from fall-seeded pastures was described in a statement issued here by the Middle West Soil Imr provetnent Committee. "The farmer’s primary job," says the statement, "is to get a good stand of legumes and grasses. "To accomplish this it is important, first of all, to prepare the seedbed early so as to \kill as many weeds as possible. "Next, Lpis vital to have the soil tested for "acidity and to determine whether it is adequately supplied with phosphorus and potash. Whether the stand is a good or poor one will be determined by the presence or ..absence of plant food. • State Colleges Co-operate. "Agronomists at state colleges, or county agents are prepared to cooperate in making these tests and providing recommendations cover? ing the use of fertilizers on pasture crops in a rotation, j.; "In .general, where a permanent pasture crop is planned, farmers will find that a top dressing of a complete commercial fertilizer in the fall will pay for itself* many times over in producing earlier and more succulent grass for spring grazing, as well as a more sturdy root system, encouraging heavier growth. Need Fertilization. "The value of a program'.of legumes and grasses is manifold* Thou-

sands of acres of farm land throughout the Middle West have been seriously depleted of their life-giving plant food elements by years of grain cropping without the regular and frequent production of legumes and without a program of fertilization which returns nutrients to the soil removed by growing crops. Decreased yields and a serious erosion problem have resulted from this condition. Improving Soil Tilth. "A good sturdy stand of legumes will improve the soil tilth, promote nitrogen fixation, add materially to the active organic matter in the sbil and increase the yield of corn

or gram crops which follow in the rotation. “Every farmer knows that his soil ‘works’ better at some times than at others. Some years a good, firm seed bed is easy to secure. At such times the soil is said to have good physical condition or is in good tilth. At other times only a cloddy field can be obtained. Then the soil is in poor tilth. While the degree of tilth in a sold is a somewhat intangible factor, experience has proved that a good stand of legumes or grasses definitely promotes good tilth, increases .. fertility and improves the yield of crops which •.follow.” |

Lush, productive pastures that are the result of careful soil management and fertilization are among a farm’s greatest assets.