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agriculture

And the Waving Wheat, Can Sure Smell Sweet

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Wheat in Western Nebraska
Wheat in Western Nebraska (harvested Mid June)

When the wind comes whipping down the plain, Neeeebraska. yup, not Oklahoma., but western Nebraska near Palisade.

Some people consider us a fly over state without much scenery, but I would argue there is something amazing at every turn, if you just know what to look for and why it’s important.

For example after stopping at this field you can hear a rustling sound as wind blows through the dry wheat. There is an illusion of waves moving across the prairie in an endless roll, never hitting the shore.

The wheat may look soft, but the heads and beards are actually quite coarse. Pick off a spike and break off one of the 30-50 kernals, rub it between your fingers and inside is a single grain of wheat. Put it in your mouth to taste the nutty taste. Look out across the horizon at the old abandoned homestead and the clouds rolling by, sigh. It’s peaceful, yet not quiet as the wave roll in the background. It’s soothing.

From this field of over 640 acres comes bushels of wheat which will be made into bread that you will pick up in your supermarket for just one dollar. The farmer was paid less than 0.05 for that loaf.

Other Ag Facts About wheat

America’s Bread Basket

  • Each American consumers, on average, 53 pounds of bread per year.
  • Assuming a sandwich was eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it would take 168 days to eat the amount of bread produced from one bushel of wheat.
  • A family of four could live for 10 years off the bread produced by one acre of wheat.
  • One bushel of wheat will produce 73 one-pound loaves of bread.
  • In 1997, Kansas‘s wheat farmers produced enough wheat to make 36.5 billion loaves of bread, or enough to provide each person on earth with 6 loaves of bread.
  • Farmers receive approximately 5 cents (or less) from each loaf of bread sold.

Want to follow a wheat harvesting family? Head over to Nebraska Wheatie

Related articles

Corn, Knee High by the 4th of July

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The old saying “corn knee high” by the 4th of July has been a moniker of farmers for a long time.  However, if the corn is ONLY knee high by that time the farmers are in trouble and won’t get much of a harvest.

Corn Field in Eastern Nebraska
Corn Field in Eastern Nebraska

This corn field just east of Murdock, Nebraska is about chest high on me, almost five feet tall. Granted it has been a very early season in the Midwest, we are about 3 weeks ahead of schedule.

Western Nebraska is not so lucky. Quite a bit of the state is still in drought conditions and if the crops aren’t under a center pivot it is withering and dying. Some isn’t even a foot tall and the leaves are curling and drying up.

The view of the Farmers Co-op might look familiar as it is the same location as my Skyscrapers post a last year.

#18/52: Cows in the Sunset

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The grass is belly high, the cow have calves by their side and the sun is setting on the horizon. How I love the Midwest!  Angus and “black baldy” cows are the norm around this part of the country and after “talking” to them a little I got their attention.

Evening in the country
Evening in the country with the cows

Editing notes: Used Lightroom 4 to increase the exposure and increase clarity in the grass and the brush to decrease the exposure in the sky. The last thing I did was use the masking brush and open up the the highlights in the cows, their black coloring was hard to separate individuals.

Information about Raising Cattle

A Field Guide to Cows: How to Identify and Appreciate America’s 52Cattle: A Handbook to the Breeds of the WorldRaising Beef Cattle For DummiesKnow Your CowsThe Backyard Homestead Guide to Raising Farm Animals: Choose the Best BreedsSmall Cattle for Small Farms (Landlinks Press)