Growing Wheat, UPDATE 3.

Bryce Frazier · Mar 5, 2014

Alright...

So, I have been calling around to all of the farmers I know in the area. I talked to a guy this morning, and I personally like his answer the best.

He said that if I can come up with a sub-soiler, to use that. Rip every 5 feet or so apart, and go right up to t he creek, that should help with drainage.

Next he said to plow and disc and get the grain in as soon as possible.

I think that sounds like the best plan I have yet, so now I want to ask a question about yields. I was reading online, that in northern WA and ID fields, the average non irrigated wheat field pulls 30-60 bushels and acre. Well I didn't know how big a bushel was, so I Googled it and it said a bushel of wheat is 60 lb's!!!! IS THIS TRUE?!?!? That would mean that if I planted my acre of wheat, and I got a yield of 30 bushels per acre, that I would have 180lb's of wheat??? Something doesnt sound right to me, what do all of you guys think??? Bryce

jm. · Mar 5, 2014

Well you are going to loose about 10 feet all the way around that acre. Then harvest loss will be another 20%. I really like your effort but still believe you would be better off just keeping you money but if you fertilize and get it planted right AND get rain at the right time maybe you can walk out with 800 Lb. Now maybe you want be disappointed when you get the 1800 lbs. Good luck, and for the chisel plow thing, wheat will grow if you just get the ground tore up a little and get it covered with an inch of soil or less.

730-LP · Mar 5, 2014

You need to take a math class 30 X 60 = 1800 not 180.work it up and sow it in oats this spring and then wheat in the fall,its to late for wheat

paul · Mar 5, 2014

Here it is more important to get the wheat planted early, and just scratched into the surface, than to do all that tillage and waste time.

If you need the drainage I can understand the ripping.

What is growing there now, or last year? Was this a hay meadow area, or I forget what the field was, and I forget here you are located..... If it is a sod, then yea you gotta do what you gotta do, spring wheat is not the best crop to put into a sod, it will hurt your yields but it is what it is.

30 bu an acre, 60 lbs a bu, you will do well to get 1800 lbs of wheat your first year, and that ends up being less than you think once its in a pile at the end of the year.

if you are growing 1/10 of an acre you would get 180 lbs.

Paul

LonM · Mar 5, 2014

Keeping the grass out of it will be a huge challenge. Maybe plowing it all under will do the trick but weed control can be tough for small grains planted where there was sod (I assume that is the case here).

rufus80 · Mar 5, 2014

And at $7 wheat 30 bushel is only $210 an acre.

cjunrau · Mar 5, 2014

I would not rip it with a sub soiler. Find a disc or plow. Plow then disc to break up the sod. I plow 8 inches on fresh breaking and disc the top four inches. This way most of the sod is completely turned under and can rot till fall before you start to rip it up with a deep tiller. Then it takes less passes to make it smooth enough to seed a crop into it. As someone else mentioned, seed it in oats this year, take of the crop, then work really well in fall and next spring, seed wheat at this time and have a much better crop. I did 3 acres a couple years ago and ended up with 6 45 gallon drums of wheat. It is really hard to work and seed small patches because the equipment needs a larger area to make a nice turn. A one acre piece is best done with a 3 point tiller. Work it 2 times maybe more if the tiller doesn"t chop it fine. Most times it will be your fastest and best way on small patches.

Bryce Frazier · Mar 5, 2014

Well, right now the field is Canary Grass, with some White Daises, and the occasional thistle. I am in North ID. Me and dad just went out and measured it, one section is 200 x 50 and the other is about 100 x 100. They are the same field, just the break is because the power line for the house is buried there, and i would prefer not to find it...

So if my math is right ( which I am sure it is thank you very much ) then that should be about 3/4 of an acre?? I think I am just going to plow and disc it if I can get it in early enough, if not, then I might do a last minute switch to Oat hay, and then plow and plant wheat in the fall. I don't care about volume, 5, 5 gallon buckets would be nice, so 3/4 of an acre would MORE than cover it. I could water it if needed, I have a creek/pond, I would just need to come up with a pump. How much seed would it take to plant this much area? I plan on using the neighbors drop seeder, Paul I showed you a picture of it, so I could easily seed all of it.

I think that it sounds like a plan so far, and I personally and quite excited about it! Bryce

Bryce Frazier · Mar 5, 2014

I've got the room to move equipment around on it. I have a 2 x 14 trailed plow, a 1 x 16 three point plow, and a 7 foot Oliver disc. I don't have any fences, and my only obstacle is a tree and a power line... Bryce

wilamayb · Mar 5, 2014

I only come up with 0.46 acres from your measurements. Both plots have an area of 10,000 square feet which totals to 20,000 square feet divided by 43,560 give 0.459 acres.

paul · Mar 5, 2014

I get .46, or almost 1/2 an acre.

I remember the pic.

Yea, the conflict of dealing with sod in spring vs getting it planted early.

We can give all sorts of advise, but go do it when the time comes and see what works.

Paul

Bryce Frazier · Mar 5, 2014

Alright, I am goin for it! Even if it is only half an acre, at 30 bushels an acre, that would be 800 lb's, so even if I did a real crappy job, and the deer ate some, I could still probably get 400 lb's, which for a first timer with a little meadow sounds like a LOT of grain! But, how much will it take to plant it? 50 lb's, 100?

Mike (WA) · Mar 5, 2014

I noticed below you said the field was canary grass. That is a grass that needs wet ground, and I'm not sure that would work well for wheat. In any event, you need to get rid of the canary grass first- since it sprouts from runners, tilling and disking just encourages it.

Best method would be to let it grow, and hit it with Round Up about 3 times over the course of the summer. If you don't want to use Round Up, its gonna be tough to get rid of. And if its wet ground, subsoiling down to the creek will sure help with the drainage.

Bryce Frazier · Mar 5, 2014

I figured that the subsoiling would help, even if it is only 10-15 inches. I have that big DearBorn chisel plow. The guy I was talking to said that I will probably have to take all but 2 or 3 chisels off, that way the tractor can handle it, and I can go full depth in one pass. Bryce

JayinNY · Mar 5, 2014

Check your math, an acre is 43,560, you saying you have 20,000 sqft?? Less than half an acre.

dmiller · Mar 5, 2014

Bryce,
I grew up about 50 miles north of Spokane. The farmer I worked for tried to pland wheat as early as possible, but with clay ground (along the Colville River) similar to what is probably near your creek it often didn't dry out enough (especially on wet years like this winter) until late May.
Coming in to grain after sod you should anticipate about 1/2 to 2/3 of your 60 bu. estimate. Read up on split applications and timing of fertilizer that can make a big difference.
Sounds like you have a plan and will enjoy your experience. If all goes well and you get 1800 (keep in mind 1/2 to 1/3 following sod your more likely to get around 900-1200 lbs) of grain out of it your best bet for storage might be 50 gallon drums. 1800 lbs would be 30 bu. and fill about 6 drums.

paul · Mar 5, 2014

Around 50-60 lbs.

Paul

T in NE · Mar 5, 2014

If the power line's buried shallow enough to take it out with a plow someone messed up.

Bryce Frazier · Mar 5, 2014

So if I buy 2 50lb sacks of organic wheat from Azure, I can just fill up the box on the seeder, and go till I run out of ground, then give the rest to mom to seal up in the buckets??! Sounds easy enough to me! I still have to talk it over with mom, but dad told me today that because of how high the yields sound like they are going to be (someone else said 6 50 gallon drums!!!!) that perhaps I should do half the area wheat, and the other half oats. That way if I screw up the wheat, I can still have a little oat hay for the chickens for the winter. How does that sound for a plan!!??!

Jimmie D. Phelps · Mar 5, 2014

I figure he will have 2.4 ac. Plant 60lb (or bu.) per ac. =2.5 bu. IF yield was 30 bu. per ac= 72 bu. 60 bu. per ac. =144 bu. I would not know preparation of ground for your locale.

Bryce Frazier · Mar 5, 2014

Well, my parents built here 26 years ago, and back then in Idaho, there were NO depth regulations, so we have actually had the line become exposed many times just from weather and erosion, so it is probably within 1-2 inches of the surface. Last time we were doing some excavation, the 811 guy came out and marked where it was, and we actually dug it up with a back hoe, 12 feet away from his mark.... Bryce

MarkB_MI · Mar 6, 2014

20 bu/ac is probably more realistic. Your biggest problem is likely to be weeds, and the more you water the worse it will be.

ih_bug · Mar 6, 2014

just wondering how do you plan to harvest this crop?
chickens love wheat and will lay well on it to.

Bryce Frazier · Mar 6, 2014

I think I am just going to mow a pass with the sickle mower, and then tie it into bundles, and then repeat! I'll let it dry out there for a few days, and the gather the bundles up with the four wheeler and trailer, and take them to the shop, where I'll have a tarp layed down on a big concrete floor. Bryce

GordoSD · Mar 6, 2014

You could buy 5 5 gallon buckets of wheat for 12 dollars. With seed, fertilizer weed killer, gas, and labor you are going to have 100 dollars in your plot of wheat.

Growing Wheat, UPDATE 3.

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