And So It Begins: Looking to Wheat Harvest 2019

This photo is from a previous year. I didn't get a photo this year. It shows loading out wheat to take to Miller Seed Farms.

Not a seed has been planted. And Wheat Harvest 2019 is likely 11 months away. But Randy has already begun the planning and ground work to make our next wheat harvest a reality, less than a month after we finished the last harvest.

  

During this year's harvest, the guys binned wheat we'll use for seed wheat for our 2019 crop. Before planting this fall, we take the wheat we stored in on-farm bins during harvest time to Miller Seed Farms to get it cleaned and treated.

Once at Miller's Seed Farm, the trucks pull onto a scale to be weighed.

Just like at the co-op elevator, we need to know - and the seed farm needs to know - how much grain was trucked in.

We brought wheat in both the tandem truck and the semi. Farmers may store their own wheat and plant it for their next crop, but only for their own use.

This year, Randy saved two varieties at harvest time, Zenda (a K-State release) and WB 4458 (a WestBred variety) to plant for our 2019 crop.

Photo collage from a previous post

We have our wheat treated with an insecticide - Cruiser - and a fungicide - Vibrance Extreme. This is an extra expense, but we believe it will get the 2019 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!

When the wheat arrived at Miller's, it was 60.2 per bushel test weight. After cleaning, it was bumped up to 62 pounds per bushel. The cleaning process gets rid of any chaff and other foreign matter that doesn't get sifted out in the combine. We brought 1,030 bushels to be cleaned and brought back home 910 bushels after the cleaning.

Once back at home, Randy had to transfer the cleaned wheat back into our on-farm storage bin. While we can take the wheat to be cleaned in both the tandem and the semi, we bring it all back to the farm in the smaller truck. He raises the truck bed and the wheat goes into a tub. The auger is turned with a tractor's PTO.

Seed wheat into storage bin from Kim Fritzemeier on Vimeo.

The auger carries the wheat back into the grain bin.

Randy climbed into the truck bed to scoop out the remaining wheat.

We don't want any to go to waste!

Once all the grain was loaded, Randy climbed up to put the lid on the bin.

It will be ready to go in September or October when we begin planting our 2019 crop.

This fall, we'll also pick up some certified seed in sacks. Randy reserved more Zenda and another K-State release, Larry, to plant for the 2020 seed wheat.
He also reserved Double Stop CL+ wheat to try to get rid of some rye and chaff in fields. Double Stop CL+ is a two-gene Clearfield wheat from Oklahoma State University. It has a strong herbicide tolerance for Beyond herbicide and methylated seed oil to control unwanted cheat, goat grass, rye and other "stuff" you don't want in your wheat crop. We'll pick that up in bulk this fall.

Until then ... there's plenty to do. The guys just finished up the second cutting of alfalfa and are about to get through with discing wheat ground for the first time after harvest. That process was slowed by a 2.10" rain Saturday night, but we're sure not complaining about that!

This afternoon, I go to set up for the Stafford County Fair 4-H foods and nutrition judging, which gets underway at 9 on Wednesday morning. I'm starting to think the forecast for slightly cooler temperatures during fair time was only a pipe dream.