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?

Super Woman AKA Farm Wife

On Monday ...

• I recorded my Monday Central Kansas report on KFRM 550.
• I  posted a blog on wheat planting.
• I took photos of the sunrise.

And that was all by 7:30 AM. 

• I then made two trips to Miller Seed Farms to pick up seed wheat (25 miles one way X 4).
• I backed up the pickup to the drill several times so Randy could put seed wheat where he needed it. 
• I turned three pounds of hamburger into three meals - Hawaiian meatballs and mini Italian meatballs for meals later in the week, along with the meat loaf I served with baked potatoes and baked beans for the noon meal. 
• I went to Zenith to get the fertilizer tank filled and put diesel in the 100-gallon tank on the back of the pickup.
• I downloaded photos from the Friday night football game, Oktoberfest and a busy morning. 

That's what happened by 12:30. I thought I needed a Superwoman cape! But I settled for a selfie by the Full Service sign at the gas pumps.

And then came Tuesday ... and I felt nothing like a Super Hero. So, instead of dwelling on that, let's remember the triumphs. OK?

I got to Miller Seed Farms at my designated time.

But, in truth, the guys loading the seed probably deserved the super hero cape designation anyway.

 While I stood around taking photos, they were loading seed into the back of my pickup. 

I got the seed delivered back to Randy.

 

And he was the one whose muscles were sore at the end of the day from lifting all those sacks and filling the drill with seed wheat.

Let's hope the seed is the real super hero and delivers quality seed for us to use for our 2018 crop. (It's kind of mind-boggling to think that we're thinking about a harvest two years down the line as we plant the certified seed that will be harvested in June 2017!)

I'm not the one loading the seed. I'm not the one putting the wheat in the ground. But, I like to think I make it a little easier to get the job done - whether that means getting fertilizer, filling the 100-gallon diesel tank, making parts runs, taking meals to the field or helping shuffle people and equipment from one field to another.

And you know what? If super heroes lose their super powers, they come crashing down. So maybe it's better just to realize you're just one cog in the wheel.

 

Hey ... today is another day. And, I'm off to get another tank of fertilizer.

A Kernel of the Process: Cleaning Seed Wheat

 

"On the road again
Can't wait to get on the road again ..."

With all due respect to Willie Nelson, I have lost track of the trips we made to Miller Seed Farms in the last couple of weeks. (One of my trips was when Randy left his phone in a truck, but who's counting?)

You can't beat the scenery along the way. Rains have made the pastures a vibrant green. Blue skies dotted with fluffy white clouds made it absolutely "necessary" to make a brief stop for a photo op.

And, yes, I still arrived on time.

I'm not the only one around here who likes to plan ahead. Randy is already looking toward planting our 2017 wheat crop. Before planting this fall, we take the wheat we stored in on-farm bins during harvest time to get cleaned and treated before wheat planting.

Randy uses an auger to move the wheat from the bin into the truck. The tractor's PTO runs the auger.  After the truck is full, he tarps it and takes it to Miller Seed Farms. As seems to be a recurring theme this summer, we had a breakdown during the process. But, thankfully, the shaft on the auger held together until most of the seed wheat had been taken out of the bin. (This morning, before the temperature soars to the 100-degree mark, the guys are going to work on taking apart the auger. Hopefully, it will be an easy fix.)

We had a different kind of wheat stored in another bin (but I wasn't there to take photos at that time).

Once at the seed farms, the first stop is the scales. Just like at the local co-op, 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, KanMark (a K-State release) and WB 4458 (a WestBred variety) to plant for seed wheat for our 2017 crop.

 

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 2017 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!

Once the wheat is cleaned and treated, it's loaded back into our trucks for the trip back to the on-farm storage bin.

This fall, we'll also pick up some certified seed from Miller Seed Farms. This year, Randy reserved more KanMark and WB 4458 to plant for the 2018 seed wheat. At wheat planting time, we'll pick it up in sacks. The journey toward another wheat harvest has already begun! (I started the blog post with a Willie Nelson tune. Cue The Lion King's "Circle of Life" to end it!)

Planting a Seed of Appreciation

Dolores Wagler, Photo from http://millerseedfarms.com

Sometimes, customer service is as simple as a bright purple clipboard.

Let's face it: I'm not cashing a paycheck every two weeks from my job as "office manager" on the County Line. So when Dolores, the office manager at Miller Seed Farms, chased me down and gave me a purple clipboard, I felt like I had just gotten a prize.

Randy had taken photos with his phone of our struggling alfalfa crop so he could get a replant rate on the seed cost. But I was the one that got them texted to owner LaVerne Miller's phone. Randy made a comment about being glad he brought his office manager and communications specialist to run the technology. And I joked that I hoped Dolores got paid more than I did for her office management duties.

We all laughed. But, after we left the office, Dolores brought me that purple clipboard while we were waiting on the guys to load the alfalfa seed. I wouldn't have liked a dozen roses any better.  Don't get me wrong:  My farmer definitely makes me feel valued (and I know I'm fortunate because of that. Not every farm wife feels that way). But it was still nice to have someone else acknowledge my contribution to the cause.

 

It's not like we see the folks at Miller Seed Farms all that often, though they always make us feel like old friends. They are part of our annual pilgrimage toward wheat planting. We take the wheat we stored in on-farm bins during harvest time to get cleaned and treated before wheat planting starts in September.

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, 1863 (a K-State Wheat Alliance release) and Cedar (a WestBred wheat variety). He and Jake loaded the saved wheat from our bins into our trucks. I went to Miller Seed Farms to pick them up so they could get some other work done while Miller's cleaned and treated the seed.

Just like at the local elevator, the first stop is the scales. Test weight on the Cedar was 59.6 bushels per acre as it came across the scales.

After it was cleaned, it raised the test weight to 61.2 pounds per bushel since they clean out any foreign matter and smaller or broken kernels.

Test weight on the 1863 wheat was 60.5 pounds per bushel. After cleaning, it was 62.3.

 

We also 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 2016 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!

The clipboard wasn't the only customer appreciation freebie. Alongside the jars of wheat, customers can help themselves to a Lifesaver candy or a snack mix.

We've reserved KanMark (a K-State release) and WB 4458 (a WestBred variety) to plant for seed wheat this year. We'll go back to our friends at Miller Seed Farms at planting time to pick it up. Maybe I'll take my clipboard to keep track of the paperwork!

Next up:  The cleaned and treated wheat goes back in the on-farm bins until we're ready to begin wheat planting in late September/early October.