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Jim Eisenhour, Jr., is testing foliar-applied fertilizers for the Pennsylvania on-farm Soybean Network. Watch this video.

July 22, 2016

2 Min Read

This week, we feature one of the research plots being done on a farm new to the On-Farm Soybean Research Network. Cedar Hill Farm, owned and operated by the Eisenhour family, is a diversified crop and livestock farm near Wellsville in York County, Pa.

Jim Eisenhour Jr. is in charge of the crop production on approximately 6,000 acres. That includes 2,700 acres of corn, 1,600 acres of soybeans, 600 acres of wheat, with the remainder in hay. The family also has a 700-sow unit plus 1,000 head of beef cattle.

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Even though this is the first year that Cedar Hill Farm has participated in the network, they have jumped in with both feet. One trial is evaluating MPower. A second one is testing the response to an application of PKPower.

Testing what, you ask
MPower is an organic humic acid product. PK Power is a highly soluble formulation of potassium fertilizer. Both were foliar-applied to soybean leaves.

Fields for both studies were sprayed on June 24. Two weeks after application, soybean leaves were collected from the plots for leaf tissue nutrient analysis. The results of the leaf tissue tests will be compared with the grain yields that’ll be measured when the field is combined in this fall.

This Pennsylvania Soybean On-Farm Network report centers on applied research projects of interest to Pennsylvania soybean growers. It’s a collaborative effort of the Pennsylvania Soybean Board and Penn State Extension. This is the first in a weekly growing season series.

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A portion of the check-off funds from every bushel of soybeans sold in Pennsylvania is allocated for research to benefit soybean farmers for increasing utilization or production of soybeans. The Soybean Check-Off board of directors is comprised of soybean farmers from across the Commonwealth who determine research priorities.

The On-Farm Network project, spearheaded by Penn State Extension’s Voight, provides real-life, on-farm production-scale data to aid farmers in ongoing crop management decision-making. Farms throughout Pennsylvania with varying field, equipment and crop conditions contribute to the project’s data.

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