Spring Wheat Planting

Spring 2018 was setting up differently than last year.  There was less moisture in the ground, although weather was cold.  When it did rain, it did not rain much.  (or snow, either)  So I could see an early planting window was possible.  I got out yesterday, and i was not disappointed!

Last year's planting was April 24-25.  It's nice to get in a full two weeks earlier.  Spring wheat does better the earlier it goes in.

The Windhaven field was basically perfect.  I disced it before noon, and it got some sun before I disced it again.  After that it was perfect.  I had two flat tires with the 330, which was a pain, but I got everything planted by Wednesday morning (today).  If things had gone better I would have dragged the field after planting, but I just picked up and ran to the Newman field.

Windhaven field.  This is about 2.3 acres.  I had the drill on notch 27 to start, then went to 26, and finished on 27.  Seven bags total of Red Fife.  152 lbs per acre.  This is exactly what I wanted!

The Newman field was very roughly plowed and the first pass with the disc was pretty miserable going.  I spent about two hours working up one acre for the Marquis.   Some spots probably got six passes with the disc/drag combo.  There are clumps of quackgrass but overall I was pretty happy.  There are close to 4 bags of Marquis seed in this field of around 1.15 acres.  Hopefully this is enough to compete with the weeds.

This is how I look on the 330 pulling the drill.  I ran the drill on notch 27, which may be heavier than what I want.  I put about 4 bags onto this plot.  This works out to 166 lbs/acre.  A tad heavy, but I think I need it to crowd out the old hay that is sure to grow up with the crop.

This is how the Marquis looked when finished.  

The remaining 6 or so acres of the Newman field will have to be disced and planted to a summer cover crop.  However, rain is coming so I won't be back for a couple of weeks.  I want to plant oats and peas, and maybe hay some of it.  The primary goal is to prepare the field for the Vavilov Turkey Red and Wisconsin No. 2, for September planting.  This field is only a mile from my house, which I really appreciate.  It's also surrounded by trees and houses on four sides, completely protecting it from pesticide and herbicide drift.  That will make the wheat coming off this field very unusual.  Most organic wheat sufferers from chemical contamination due to drift, regardless of certification.  It will be very interesting to get the wheat tested after harvest.