Grains?

[ravensgrove]

I have never planted grains before, figuring the sheer volume of space I would need to grow anything meaningful bushel wise...would be precluded by the fact we only have 7 acres...and I don't want to waste 1/2 of it growing grain.

A handful of us, I refer to us as "Team Apocolypse" try all sorts of experiments in reskilling. I have the greenest thumb so at someone's request I just planted a 17 x 17 plot with winter wheat, fall rye and buckwheat in a broadcast fashion.

I'll let it go clear through into midsummer and bushel it as a "test".

Who grows grain? Do you have any good calculations for bushels per sq footage or acre?

[Dropy]

I live in North dakota and all around me are major farms growing wheat and many other graians. i work with a lot of farm folk and i ask lots of questions. I have recently learned that 1 acre of wheat can yield 30-60 bushel of grain. a bushel being about 80 pounds. So i would think that 1 acre of wheat would be PLENTY (on average) for a family of 4 to live off of.

[ravensgrove]

30-60 bushels an acre? Well, maybe my ass-out-of-meing (assuming) has been wrong all these years. We can only hope ;) Thanks for the info. I'll report back how my test goes.

[Dropy]

yep. they get a solid 30-60 bushel a year here per acre.

[bacpacker]

Dropy not sure what state you are in, but I want to think the midwest for some reason. Depending on soil, fertilizer used, rain, & sun I would think harvest rates would vary from area to area.

I tried Winter wheat my first time last Oct. It came up before it got cold a little and just sat there thru the winter. Late Feb-early March it took off and was looking great. April 27th the hail storm ruined it. My patch was about 20x100'. So at this point I can't lend any experience. I will be planting another patch of similar size this week, let you know next summer.

I was discussing wheat harvest yields on a couple other forum's last spring. I'll go back and see what responses I got there.

One thing about your planting mix, I grow buckwheat here as a cover crop/green manure. It's a summer crop and will start going to seed here is 8-10 weeks. I've never let my annual rye go to seed, so I'm not sure how long that takes. Winter wheat around here takes from mid Oct to late June to late July to be ready for harvest.

I'm just wondering if you planted a area of each or mix all together? If it's mixed, what is your harvest plan. I feel sure growth patterns will be different from here to there. I had planned on using a scythe on mine this year. I have talked my step dad out of an old mowing machine we used to cut hay with when I was growing up. It needs some work, but if I can get it going cutting the wheat next year will be much easier.

[ravensgrove]

Backpacker: the Buckwheat is a fall sow variety. I just broadcast them all together. I had a small area that was open and just wanted to try all three. I have no intention of actually consuming them next year. If they yield I'll bundle them for goat fodder.

[ladyhk13]

bacpacker do you have to worry about weeding the wheat or does the wheat choke them out? I always worry that I'm pulling up plants instead of weeds so I'm never really sure what is what when things first start out from seed.

[Dropy]

i live in Dickinson North Dakota. lot of wheat/grain farms and ranches here.

[bacpacker]

Sounds like a good ex

[ravensgrove]

Here's the progress report. All the plot is now 6 inches tall.....

[bacpacker]

Good deal Raven. Does your wheat go back thru the winter?

I'm hoping mine comes up this week. I had good rain for days right after I planted it. Ground is still pretty warm, so it shouldn't take to long.

[ravensgrove]

This is the first year I have ever grown grains...so its a total experiment. There are 3 winter varieties in th eplot, planted beginning of October.

[bacpacker]

I was looking around the garden over the weekend and saw my wheat was up and looked pretty thick. Less than 2 weeks after planting.
The rye grass is up as well. The rape seed may be, but if it is it's so short I can't tell.