Cultivation Costs Less Than Herbicides

Cultivation Costs less than Herbicides CULTIVATORS Cultivators (58C) 12-3-34 You can cultivate corn and beans for less than the price of herbicides, according to a report by Jim Dickrell in THE FARMER magazine. Dickrell talked to farmer Ed Van Gerpen who says it costs him 70ó/acre for fuel to cultivate twice a season. "You'd have to buy herbicide awfully cheap to beat cultivation," he says. Although cultivation requires extra labor, Van Gerpen reasons thatheand his two sons can cultivate when other labor demands are low. They keep machinery costs low by using rebuilt cultivators. In addition to the cost savings, Van Gerpen says he likes the fact that cultivation aids soil aeration, particularly on clay soils. They also take advantage of the second corn cultivation to sidedress about 30 units or more of nitrogen, depending on how the crop looks at the time. Last year the Van Gerpen's spent just $3/ acre for herbicides which consisted of a 9-in. band of Lasso applied with the planter. They also spent about $1/acre in beans to spot spray with Roundup.

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