WILL MOKE FORAGE PAY? 



4o 



On farm B as on farm A, better land use and conservation of the 

 farm resources are direct and important aspects of more forage pro- 

 duction. A subjective way to evaluate this contribution is to look 

 at it the way the owner of the farm does. He says that if prices drop 

 he can coast along for 2 or o years without applying more fertilizer. 



farm c 



Farm C\ in Fairfax County. Va.. is operated similarly to Farm A. 

 Jt has only 96 acres. TO of which are in hay and pasture and the re- 

 mainder in woods. The TO acres furnish an abundance of pasture for 

 35 milk cows, 130 tons of grass silage, hay to winter the cows, and up 

 to 40 tons of hay annually for sale (fig. 5). Until 18 years ago all the 



SCS-78. 684 



Figuee .1. — Dairy cows reaching for grass silage on a Fairfax County, Va., farm. 



cultivable land except small exercise lots for the cows was planted to 

 corn. Three silos were filled and silage was fed the year round. A 

 cloudburst swept a hillside cornfield away and this farmer did not 

 plant corn again. Most of his land is in alfalfa, Ladino clover, 

 orchard grass, and timothy. He sells hay, buys grain. He fertilizes 

 heavily, 600 to 1,000 pounds per acre of 3-12-6 annually. Lime is 

 spread every fifth year at the rate of 2 tons an acre. About half the 

 farm is covered with manure each year. For several years milk sale- 

 have grossed $16,000 to $18,000 a year. 

 Farm C, like farm A, has demonstrated the technical feasibility 



