Heads Up!

I have a heads up for you on the 2010 wheat crop.

Really, the heads are up.

It seemed like it happened overnight. But by last weekend, the wheat had headed out.

My wheat consultant says we could use a little rain. He'll know more about crop conditions statewide after going to the Wichita stop on the Wheat Quality Tour tonight.

But, we are again marching our way toward wheat harvest in mid- to late June.

But there are a few chores before that time. I am sure Randy will let me add a new form of exercise to my normal routine because it's rye pulling time.

This is a form of exercise to which I was introduced as a young child. This is one of those jobs that most Kansas farm kids "get" to do.

I guess it's one of those jobs you never outgrow.

It's a rite of passage on a Kansas wheat farm. Both Jill and Brent did it. Brent would sometimes finagle a friend or two to help.

My sister, Lisa, and I walked through many a field pulling rye. I remember one year diligently pulling and pulling at the edge of a field. When we showed our dad, he informed us that it wasn't really rye that we had so tirelessly been pulling. Oh well! It sure looked nice and tidy when we were done.

On occasion, we would miss a clump of rye. If I was riding along in the combine with my Dad while waiting for my truck to be filled, I would have to hop out and pull the rye before the combine threshed the field.

I know some people plant rye for their cattle to pasture. I am always eying those fields and hoping they stay put. I don't need any more drifting into our wheat fields.

I'm kind of a wheat snob.