NEW WATERFORD Destructive fire won't halt field day on farm

The farmer's no-till corn is thriving despite heavy rains.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
NEW WATERFORD -- Despite a devastating fire that destroyed a barn and farm equipment on his farm, Myron Wehr will host a Columbiana County Extension field day Aug. 20.
The barn that burned Saturday contained tractors and a combine. Wehr said he's still calculating the loss, and not all will be covered by insurance.
The program at 1 p.m. at Wehr's farm at 45404 state Route 46 will be on no-till planting and manure application methods.
No-till is a process of planting without plowing. Wehr explained the process helps to reduce erosion. He said except in very low areas, his no-till corn crop is thriving despite the excessive spring and summer rain.
Wehr raises "a handful of beef cattle" and farms about 1,900 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat, oats and alfalfa.
He has a 20-acre test field of no-till corn that's part of a two-year study on no-till process and manure applications. He has about 900 acres of no-till corn planted.
The field day will include presentations by Ernie Oelker, Columbiana County agriculture extension agent, and Kevin Elder of the Ohio Department of Agriculture.
Their topics
Elder will discuss Ohio livestock regulations and manure application guidelines. Oelker will review the research so far on Wehr's test plots, comparing the results of spring and fall manure applications.
"Results were inconclusive last year because of drought," Oelker said. "Well, we certainly don't have drought this year."
Field day participants also will tour Wehr's test plots and see demonstrations of manure application equipment.
Oelker said "about two busloads" of farmers from Ontario, Canada, are scheduled to attend the field day. The farmers are all livestock producers and members of a no-till club in Ontario, he said.
Oelker and Gary Graham, OSU Extension northeast district specialist, are conducting the study on Wehr's test plots, comparing the effects of spring and fall treatments of two different methods of manure application.
Wehr's neighbor, Scott Lindsay, owner of Pine Hill Jersey Farm, provides liquid dairy manure for the tests.
Oelker's report from 2002 says corn was planted May 6, 2002, and harvested Oct. 21. The corn was planted on Wehr's no-till fields where soybeans were planted the year before.
Rainfall
Monthly rainfall totals were 3.95 inches in May, 4 inches in June, 0.6 inches in July, 1.8 inches in August and 0.9 inches in September.
Oelker said the heavy rain in May, then the drought resulted in less-than-ideal conditions for accurate testing of manure and chemical applications on the test plots.
He said nearly all the rain in May 2002 occurred after planting and before the corn emerged from the soil. The plants emerged late, then experienced severe drought.
Results of fall and spring manure application were that fall-treated plots yielded about 76 bushel per acre from about 27,979 plants per acre. Spring-treated plots yielded about 62.9 bushel per acre from about 13,114 plants per acre.
tullis@vindy.com