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Well, we haven’t harvested our field yet, as you can see.
The humidity was too high over the weekend, so we have been waiting. We
made a test cut in a field of Jagger near our field on Monday and the
grain moisture was 14 percent. That moisture level would normally be okay
for a farmer to start harvesting, but remember, our field is for seed
production and we don’t want the grain moisture to be too high because
the seed could over-heat and spoil when it is stored in a bin. But other
farmers across the state were cutting their wheat yesterday, click
here to see.
We had a major scare yesterday evening. A big thunderstorm came
through the area with 60 MPH winds and heavy rain. We received 0.75
inches of rain. Some people reported small, pea-sized hail. So, I
was worried and went to our field the first thing this morning to
see if there was any damage. |
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I was worried that if it had hailed last night it would have
knocked the kernels out of the head. But these heads look fine and I
couldn’t find any kernels on the ground. I don’t think there was any
hail last night. I bit several kernels to determine the kernel moisture.
As you would expect, when I bit a kernel it didn’t crack like it was
dry, instead I smashed it. This means the grain is very wet. Based on the
weather forecast, I’m worried it will rain again in a couple days just
when the wheat will be dry enough to harvest and then we will have to wait
several more days for the grain to dry. When the wheat is ready to harvest
and it rains and then dries again several times, the kernels shrink and
swell. Sometimes, when this happens the seeds will start to sprout or
germinate while still in the head. This isn’t good, because sprouted
grain can’t be used for flour. |
