The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current, May 02, 1991, Page 8&9, Image 8

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TEX MEX WINGS
Weed control possible
with lower herbicide use
James P. Webb
Staff Reporter
A weed control program that
would allow soybean tanners to
reduce herbicide application rates
and still realize profitable yields is
being fine tuned, according to a
cooperative extension weed spe
cialist.
Alex Martin, a researcher at the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Institute of Agriculture and Natu
ral Resources, said he wants to
improve an existing weed control
program so that more farmers
would use less herbicides.
Martin said research from three
years of testing on UNL experi
mental plots has shown that with
one pass using lowest rates of some
of the herbicides tested, such as
one-quarter of the recommended
usage, tended to be inferior in weed
control and in soybean yields.
To make up for the poorer
control, tests were done using a
one-quarter rate herbicide appli
cation, a trip with a cultivator and
then up to two more one-quarter
rate herbicide applications to
achieve the control of one pass
using the recommended rate.
Tne problem now is trying to
reduce the number of trips farm
ers would have to make over the
field, he said.
"Part of the savings that we
realized by using less herbicide
was offset by the need for fuel and
the time required to physically be
out in the field for second and
third treatments," Martin said.
Most farmers avoid making
extra trips by applying pre-emer
gence herbicides while they are
discing the field or when they are
planting, he said.
Farmers don't have the time or
labor to make the extra trips over
the field. The trips compact the
soil, decrease the tractor s life and
waste fuel, he said.
"From my perspective, we have
a technical success, but time is
precious," he said. Farmers who
nave got eighteen other things to
do much rather do this in one
cuson finding the optimum herbi
cide rate and a later time to apply
it with just one trip, he said.
And given the variables of
weather, the strengths of individ
ual herbicides and the growing
patterns of different weeds like
velvctleaf, sunflower and cockle
bur become more complicated.
"It'slikeajugglingact," he said.
At the desirable reduced rate,
herbicide is only able to kill cer
tain weeds when they areonc to
two weeks old, he said.
The biggest question is how long
treatment can wait after a single
trip with a cultivator kills weeds
down the center of the row and
still be late enough so that a sec
ond major flush of weeds appears
before tne soybeans' canopy is able
to block off sunlight to the weeds.
"If we're going to cultivate just
once, we think we have to wait
about five weeks into the season,"
he said.
Martin said he conducted a pilot
study last year to study the proper
time for cultivation and herbicide
application on a small scale and
found that it was effective.
"But one year doesn't prove the
case, we're going to pursue this.
It's kind of in a state of evolution,"
he said.
"I'm sure we're going to have
some farmers try this on a limited
scale, but I'm not going to pretend
we have a great program that's
packaged and ready to go," he
said.
Subsidies at risk under trade talks
By James P. Webb
Staff Reporter__.
Nebraska agricultural produc
ers could lose incentives to pro
tect highly erodible lands if trade
negotiations with Canada, Mex
ico and the European Community
are successful, an economist saia.
Annual federal subsidies paid
to the farmers and ranchers, total
ing $300 million, are the target of
trade negotiators, said Roy Freder
ick, an agricultural economist at
the University of Nebraska-Lin
coln.
In terms of economics, export
and production subsidiespaia out
by any government represent
barriers to free trade, Frederick
said.
"Prod ucers are very a ware (hat
expanded export opportunities
could be offset to some extent by
losses in federal support income,"
he said.
Tfte increased demand for agri
cultural products would also serve
as a stimulus to convert erodible
lands from conservation programs
back into production, he said.
"It's possible that farmers would
give up support payments to in
crease production m certain in
stances, and the environment
would end up a net loser. But the
extra per-acre income would have
to outweigh the penalties for quit
ting the program," he said.
About 1.3 million acres of Ne
braska cropland are currently
enrolled in the Conservation Re
serve Program.
The program pays farmers to
idle crodibie land in ten-year re
newable contracts, in exchange for
planting grasses, shrubs or trees
to protect the soil.
The CRP, like the Acreage Ad
justment Program and the Wet
Lands Program, areenforced with
penalties including repayment of
all federal support received on the
acreage in violation and in some
cases fines up to $2,500.
Overall, nowever, Nebraska
farmers stand to gain" from the
increased trade, Frederick said.
"We are getting close to con
vincing the Europeans of the safety
of our oeef hormones," he said.
"Nebraska, which is the top fed
beef state in the nation, is in a very
good position to expand its pro
duction," he said.
Nebraska's com, soybean and
sorghum producers would bene
fit ifthe North American Free Trade
Agreement with Mexico, which
needs those commodities, is final
ized, he said.
[• IANR is coordinating an interdisciplinary research project to j
■study how different agricultural management practices affect |
[ground water contamination. _ |
[• As part of a rural development program, cooperative extension I
[solid waste specialists, home economists and engineers are |
[working to reduce rural household solid waste and develop safe I
■ rural solid waste facilities and recycling programs for small
[• This year the Cooperative Extension Service will demonstrate
(efficient water-planning practices to farmers at 70 sites in the
[central Platte Valley area.|
■PISH "ARMS-- --1
[• Terry Kayes, a cooperative extension aquaculture specialist, is I
■working with agriculture producers and state officials to stimulate I
[the development of fish farms._I
[• Shashi Verma, agricultural meteorologist, and Frank Ullman, .3
■professor of electrical engineering, are testing an adjustable jj
■diode-laser spectrometer that is able to measure the z
[concentration and change in concentration of greenhouse gases. £
^ ||
[• Horticulturists and agronomists are breeding hybrid turf grasses! |
[and drought-resistant shrubs and trees to be used in the Io
lexpandin^ol^^rs^ndust^n^i^ousehol^andscapin^
Name change matches conservation ethic
By James P. Webb
Staff Reporter
The University of Nebraska
Lincoln College of Agriculture
Sciences and Natural Resources
has changed its name not because
of a new teaching philosophy, but
to elevate it to its appropriate stat
ure, said an official.
The name change was needed
so that students, industry and the
public would recognize that the
college wasn't just teaching pro
duction agriculture, said Steve
Waller, a professor of agronomy.
"We needed a name to match
our strong ethic for the conserva
tion of natural resources," Waller
said. "We haven't changed out
teaching philosophy atall. We just
found the new name to more ac
curately describe us."
Waller said the name change
was the collective idea of the col
lege's faculty.
Faculty members began two
years ago to begin the review
process integrating existing courses
to form four new interdisciplinary
majors and to add natural resources
to the college's name, he said.
"It was more like fitting a puzzle
together," he said. "We didn’t have
to add any new courses."
So far, students are still just
beginning to recognize the bene
fits of the overhaul, yet 124 stu
dents have declared natural re
sources majors, he said.
Waller said heexpects that with
the new college name and the new
majors, employers will more heav
ily recruit from UNL.
The major recruiters are state
and federal agencies, such as the
Agricultural Stabilization and
Conservation Service, the Soil
Conservation Service, the Forest
Service and water resource dis
tricts.
Students majoring in natural
*
resources are learning both an
appreciation for the demands of 1
production agriculture and the i
need to protect the environment, <
he said.
At the same time students are <
being taught to overcome miscon- i
ceptions about environmental i
problems.
"The public has the idea that I
pollution from agriculture chemi- :
(
- it
We haven't changed our 1
teaching philosophy at
all, we just found the
new name to more accu
rately describe us.
Waller
, . professor of agronomy
7 7
cals is the fault of careless farmers.
But in reality, most of it comes
from the city where people are
unintentionally over-applying
fertilizers and herbicides/ ne said.
"We try to correct the normal
tendency to lay blame and make
students think in terms of finding
an integrated solution to the prob
lem."
Over the last five years, Waller
said he has seen a positive trend in
students regarding their career
outlook and the majors they chose
in college.
"We're seeing a change in the
decision making process of stu
dents, he said. "No longer are
students thinking in terms of ca
reer and how much money they
can make.
"1 think because of T V and the
specialization of science that the
students and the public are realiz
ing that in order to conserve finite
resources, we have to beein man
aging them accordingly.
Waller said widespread public
:hinking in terms of a global envi
•onment is very new to American
rulture.
He said that when he was in
:ollege people thought it was
mpossible to pollute Lake Erie,
ivers and miles of atmosphere.
"We've come to a point where I
hink the public now realizes that
iooner or later, we all breathe the
iame air and drink of the same
vater," he said.
"It's too bad that it had to take
his much pollution to realize that,
but the future of technology and
what we're able to do in resource
management is getting more ex
citing every day.'
The problems of water quality
today, which are in part a result of
chemically intensive practices
researchers thought to be safe ten
years ago, shouldn't be blamed on
farmers, he said.
"Farmers would never inten
tionally damage the land they live
on," he said. "That idea is absurd,
when you consider they'll one day
pass that land onto their children."
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A farm hand sets irrigation pipes for a beet field near Scottsbluff.
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