The Rest of the Story: Wheat 2022

 

Harvest time is kind of like a super model. It's gets all the press and the glossy photos. Just like that model, it usually looks good on camera and is the image that wins the accolades.

Harvest 2021 was no exception. I captured a lot of pretty scenes during the three long (very long) weeks from start to finish. 

But, as Paul Harvey always used to claim, here's "the rest of the story." 

Even as we were harvesting our 2021 wheat crop, Randy was looking ahead to Harvest 2022. Interspersed among the multitude of trips hauling wheat to the co-op at Zenith, the guys also binned two varieties of wheat - Bob Dole and Zenda -  in our on-farm storage.

 

Last week, we took the wheat to Miller Seed Farms to get it cleaned and treated.

 

It took multiple trips back and forth to deliver it and then pick it back up after it had been cleaned and treated. 

First stop is the scale house, where the trucks are weighed full. After the cleaning, the trucks are reweighed.

As always, Dolores Wagler, office manager, weighed in the trucks and keeps everyone organized.

On our last trip, Randy backed right in to the facility for unloading to begin the cleaning process.

Photo collage from a previous post

After the wheat is cleaned and treated, it comes back to our farm, where we reverse the process and put it back into the on-farm storage until we're ready for wheat planting in late September or early October.  

When we got back to the farm, Randy unrolled the tarp and then backed the truck into position.

After he had it positioned, I shoved a block of wood behind the back tires to keep it from rolling. 

 

You may be wondering why the wheat isn't golden in color like it was at harvest. After it's cleaned, we have Miller Seed Farm treat it with an insecticide and a herbicide, giving it its rust-colored hue. This is an extra expense, but we believe it will get the 2022 wheat crop off to a good start. Detractors worry about the amount of chemicals that go into the mix. However, only 0.48 ounce per bushel of Cruiser is used, while 1.68 ounce per bushel of the Vibrance product is used. Think about a little bottle of eye drops (usually about 0.5 ounces). Adding slightly more than 2 ounces to a whole bushel of grain is really not much!

 

Randy raises the bed on the tandem truck and tilts it into a tub, where an auger carries it back into the bin. 

 

And from a different angle ...

The white rod in the photo below shows the PTO. It's attached to a tractor, which turns the shaft and powers the auger.

The wheat is augered up from the tub back into the bin.

As the wheat still in the truck dwindled, Randy did his circus performer imitation and used a shovel and a broom to get the truck cleaned out before traveling back to Partridge for a load of another variety.

 

(I didn't get a wider shot of the process this year. Below is a file photo from 2020.)

Here's hoping this behind-the-scenes work will again pay off in "model-worthy" photos next summer for Wheat Harvest 2022. However, there's a lot more behind-the-scenes work to come between now and then.

"The rest of the story" always includes some bloopers.

The blown tire on the semi as we traveled to Miller Seed Farm was just the first of a plethora of tire problems last week. By last Thursday, we were up to eight different tires that either had to be repaired or replaced on different vehicles or implements. (No, that is not an exaggeration.) That Wednesday, I made two separate trips to Kinchloe's at Pratt for disc repairs and picked up a tire at the co-op. Randy made another trip to Kinchloe's on Thursday. We were back again on Monday after more parts arrived. Yes, they know us by name.

This business is not for the faint of heart. Who knows how many tires and multiple trips for repairs will be thrown in before we cross the finish line of Harvest 2022? Maybe I should start a poll ...

Life Is Sow-Sow

Life is sow-sow.  Sow some wheat in this field. Move to another field and sow some wheat there.

Actually, around here, we call the process "planting wheat," but there are those who refer to it as "sowing wheat."

Randy began planting our 2021 winter wheat crop on September 21. He finished up on October 6. For the 2021 crop year, 1,486 of our acres will be devoted to wheat. That's down from last year, when we harvested 1,575 wheat acres, the most we'd ever planted. In 2019, our wheat acres were down because of prevented planting.

We didn't get off to an auspicious start this year. The first day, we had a major breakdown with the tractor used to disc ahead of the planter. I made three or four trips to the field - which, of course, was the furthest location away from the farmstead.  (Kind of like childbirth, I've forgotten the actual number now.) I made a parts run to Hutchinson. Thankfully, I didn't have to make a parts run to Omaha, where we eventually found the part. 

"We'll be glad to pay overnight shipping," I told the clerk, while trying to keep my frazzled farmer calm after a frustrating by-phone and on-line search from cell phone never-never-land.

Thankfully, the parts - though important - were small. And, as I told Randy, overnight shipping was worth every penny. (I must admit I'm glad the parts weighed ounces, not pounds. But still ...)

As is always the case, there have been frustrating breakdowns along the way. But there have been bright spots, too. Literally.

On the first day of October, I rushed out the door after glimpsing the sky through our tree-lined farmstead. I drove to an unobstructed vantage point for the perfect way to start the day.

It's amazing to me how the sky changes in just the seconds it takes to travel a little further down the road. It's kind of a reminder that life can be like that, too. It can change in seconds, so I'd better appreciate living it - breakdowns and all.

But back to the facts. Here in Central Kansas, we plant winter wheat. It's planted in the fall and then goes dormant during the cold months of winter before coming out of its "hibernation" and growing again next spring, then maturing for a June (or July) harvest. 

We saved some of our 2020 crop in bins on the farm to use as seed wheat. It's binned during harvest, and then we load it into the truck to take to Miller Seed Farms near Partridge for cleaning. They treat it with a fungicide, which helps protect the small wheat plants from disease. It's also treated with an insecticide which helps keep bugs at bay. (Those treatments are what gives the wheat its pink tinge.) Then we auger it back into storage bins until it's time to plant. (Photo above.)

When it's time for planting, we load the binned wheat into a grain truck and deliver it to the field, where Randy uses an auger system to transfer it from the truck to the drill.

 

We also buy some certified seed from Miller Seed Farm to plant for our own seed wheat for the following year. This helps keep the purity in the seed. 

 

This year, Randy bought Bob Dole and Zenda for our certified seed wheat.

Since I'm the one who transported the bagged seed wheat from Miller's to home, I like to joke that I chauffeured Bob Dole.

I also fulfilled another vital job - sack stomping. It's the Kansas farm wife equivalent of grape stomping. That way, we could keep the sacks corralled until we could dispose of them.

Another of my duties was worrying as Randy climbed to the top of the slick wheat truck bed to sweep kernels down to the bottom as we finished up the final field.

OK, worrying wasn't in my job description from Randy. I was supposed to be augering the remaining wheat into the drill as Randy scooped.

Thankfully, we both completed our tasks without incident. 

As with every planting season, I think about the optimism that seems to be part of the fabric of every farmer. They put a seed in the ground and then wait like a kid on Christmas morning. 

 

They slow down as they pass a planted field, just waiting for that first glimmer of green.

And sprinkled in among the breakdowns and the frustrations, there are the beautiful skies that remind us to be thankful for each day and moment.

And we wait for yet another miracle - 9 months in the making.

Normal Stuff in an Abnormal Year: Seed Wheat

Our church service was back online last Sunday after an uptick in Covid-19 cases in our rural county. The back-to-school video posted by our community's elementary teachers required a closer look last week as their enthusiastic faces were covered with masks. Our granddaughters' back-to-school clothes shopping was accomplished through an online order. We made the decision to roll over our 2020 K-State football season tickets and hope for a return to Bill Snyder Family Stadium in 2021 instead.

While I enjoyed the text-message fashion show from the cutest school models I know, it was a depressing week. The news and the constant "us vs. them" attitude that permeates social media? It's enough to raise a white flag and declare, "I surrender!"

So a little "normalcy" in our day-to-day business life last week was welcome. It was seed wheat cleaning time. With the world in constant change this year, having the "same-old, same old" on most of our farming tasks has been refreshing.

There was a sign on the door of Miller Seed Farm, asking customers to wear a mask if they came into the office. But the process of getting ready for wheat planting was as comfortable as slipping into comfy, broken-in shoes.

Because of the cyclical nature of farming, I have written "the same" stories during these past 10+ years of blogging. In the time since I launched my blog in January 2010, we've had 11 wheat harvests. So, behind the scenes, we've planted the wheat crop and managed it every year - from seed wheat to fertilizing to praying for rain or praying the rain quits - and then again sending the golden grain through the combine reel. 

And even though the world itself is different this year with Covid-19 and the attached restrictions, there's still a wheat crop to be planted and a new harvest to anticipate. 

During this summer's harvest, Randy saved two varieties of wheat - Bob Dole and Zenda - to be used for planting our 2021 crop. The two different varieties are stored in two separate bins in on-farm storage until we can get it cleaned.

We made multiple trips back and forth this past week from home to Miller Seed Farm near Partridge. With farmers in the area looking ahead to the 2021 wheat crop, Randy scheduled an appointment to get our seed wheat cleaned, leaving plenty of time before planting time begins in late September or early October.  It ends up looking a little like a farm parking lot as trucks are lined up for their turn at the cleaning process.

 

Come planting time, we will also purchase some certified seed from Miller's, which we will bin during the 2021 harvest and the process will begin yet again with a march toward the 2022 crop.

And the cycle goes on.

As I watched as our two trucks stopped at the scale house to be weighed at Miller Seed Farm, I looked at the backdrop of a gorgeous August sky. Maybe the Kansas sky was just as dramatic last year. I'm sure I have photos that would either support that notion or prove it false.

But I only "see" those similarities and those contrasts if I take time to look. I need eyes to see it ... and the motivation to go down the road to experience it. And I get to hang out with this cute guy!

You may be wondering why the wheat isn't golden in color like it was at harvest. After it's cleaned, we have Miller Seed Farm treat it with an insecticide and a herbicide, giving it its rust-colored hue. This is an extra expense, but we believe it will get the 2021 wheat crop off to a good start. Detractors worry about the amount of chemicals that go into the mix. However, only 0.48 ounce per bushel of Cruiser is used, while 1.68 ounce per bushel of the Vibrance product is used. Think about a little bottle of eye drops (usually about 0.5 ounces). Adding slightly more than 2 ounces to a whole bushel of grain is really not much!

   

After the wheat comes back to the farm from cleaning, we (OK, Randy) puts it back in the bin to be stored until we plant it in late September or early October. He raises the bed on the tandem truck and tilts it into a tub, where an auger carries it back into the bin.

The white rod in this photo shows the PTO. It's attached to a tractor, which turns the shaft and powers the auger.

 Here are wider shots of the process.

 And here's a video I shot in 2018:

Seed wheat into storage bin from Kim Fritzemeier on Vimeo.

It'll be wheat planting time before we know it. Oh, if only the rest of the world could have that level of normalcy ...  I can dream, can't I?