Friday, March 28, 1997

With high-tech machinery, the feed's in the bag

By J.T. SMITH

Farm Editor

COMANCHE - Thursday was a perfect day for the annual KCOM Comanche County Farm/Ranch & Dairy Show as an overflow crowd turned out at the Comanche Community Center to get a glimpse of the latest in machinery and products.

All sorts of equipment was on exhibit, but the "Versa Bagger ID 1012" was getting a close look from many producers - especially dairy farmers.

The Versa Bagger uses an 11-foot in diameter and 300-foot long bag to store freshly cut silage. To picture that - it's a bag the length of a football field.

One bag will hold 400 tons - or some 800,000 pounds of silage.

Tim Parker, a crop consultant for Jimmy Gore Fertilizer in Comanche, says the high-tech equipment has several advantages.

"It's an economical way to put silage up with minimum loss - for example - in feed for modern dairy operations," Parker notes.

Although no NFL quarterback can toss a football the length of the bag, the fact that the bag width is a mere 11-feet in diameter prevents spoilage of the ensilage on both the top and sides.

"This, in turn, keeps good anerobic activity to ensure that the quality of the silage is maintained," Parker says.

A majority of the modern dairy operations will bag at least part of their feed nowadays - instead of packing all the ensilage in a big pit. For example, they may choose to store wheat or bermudagrass in the plastic bags so they don't tie up their entire pit.

"There's no doubt that American agriculture is going to precision farming," Parker says.

Parker expects more use of Global Position Satellites in mapping crop fields.

Stan Hicks, supervisor for Jimmy Gore Fertilizer in Comanche, says the prospects of grain for silage cuttings or harvest are excellent this year following timely rains.

"The outlook is about 10 times better than last year," Hicks noted.

The prospects for corn and grain sorghum are especially good, Hicks says.

However, while the rains have been wonderful, the ground as been so wet that time is running out to plant corn, Hicks says.

If this remains the case for a few more days, farmers will then shift that additional corn land into grain sorghum which can be planted far later.

Odis Sullivan of George Warner Seed Co., Vernon, is a veteran in the seed business - including grain sorghum, mung beans and other crops.

Sullivan, who also exhibited here Thursday, said the northern Rolling Plains in the Vernon and Wichita Falls area could actually use some rain as it is not nearly as wet there as it is in the Abilene region.

The veteran agribusinessman said the wheat is not as good as that in the Abilene area - but with timely rain - could still make a big crop.

Bill Cole of KCOM Radio, which sponsors the farm show annually, noted that as of Thursday, Comanche had received an official 11.33 inches of rain this year to date, including 4.22 inches of rain during March thus far.

Last year, Comanche had received a mere 1.34 inches of rain by March 27.