Harvest in the Palouse!

 
     It's harvest time all over the United States.  Harvest is an exciting time in every farming community.  It is the culmination of the farmer's entire year's work.  It is when he learns how well his or her plans and methods worked. It is when the farmer receives his paycheck, and hopefully he will have enough to pay his production expenses and be able to care for his family for the coming year.

A deer leaps across a ripened field of wheat.
Photo taken by Wade Lindquist at Bald Butte Ranch.

     Harvest is an intense time for farmers and their families.  There are long days of work.  There is not a minute for anything else - nothing else happens during harvest-time.  It's also a dangerous time for farmers; they're tired and stressed to the max.  They're frequently sleep deprived.  The weather may not cooperate; everything may be ruined by wind or rain coming at just the wrong time.  And, even though they may have maintained and repaired their machinery properly, they may still have equipment breakdowns, right in the middle of long harvest days.

Grain trucks ready to go.
Photo from Todd Strader, T & H Farms.

    

     For our farmers in the Palouse region of eastern Washington, harvest is one long event, beginning in late July and lasting through the middle of September.  They are just finishing harvesting their winter wheat which was planted last fall.  This includes soft white and hard red winter wheat.  They are harvesting their spring crops this week.  These includes the spring wheats - soft white, hard white and dark northern spring wheat.  Next to be harvested will be dry peas and dry lentils, finally followed by garbanzos.

Mark Richter combining wheat on St. John Farm.
The stalk and wheat head are pulled into the wide "header-bar" in the front of the combine.
Then the chaff (stalk and leaves) and wheat kernels are separated.
The chaff is spit out the back (that's the dust you see in the rear),
and the kernels are dumped into the big rectangular bin on top of the combine.

     Many farmers have just one combine, and harvest their own fields.  In other cases, they may share the work with other family members; their fathers, brothers, inlaws or their neighbors.  There may sometimes be more than one combine harvesting one field at a time.

Pumping the wheat kernels from the combine into the grain truck.
Note the two trucks behind, waiting to be filled.
 The wheat will be hauled to the grainery where it will
be sold for breads, pastries and noodles, all over the world!

     The schedule in most every case depends on the planting date and this season's weather.  In nearly every part of our country,  the rainfall is slightly different as one travels north to south.  Typically, the further north you go, the more precipitation you have. This is the case in the Palouse, so that means that the crop was planted earlier in the southern portion of the community, and so is harvested first.  Families and friends who are sharing the work of harvest work together to harvest the fields which "come off," or are ripened, first.

Three combines at work to bring in the harvest.
That's Todd Strader walking in his wheat field

Combines and tractors, all lined up for a
"Harvest is finally over" photo.
Taken on the Todd Strader Farm.
I think this is an especially beautiful picture, what with the sky and all.

    After a long, intense couple of months, the farmer has all his crops into the grainery.   Then he begins planning for next year!

EAT MORE WHEAT AND THANK A FARMER.

Farmer Profile - Mark Richter

     This month, we are happy to introduce you to Mark Richter of Endicott, Washington, located in the Palouse Country of Eastern Washington state.  We have worked with Mark since 1993; in that time, we have seen him become very progressive and conservation minded in his farming practices. Mark and his combine are featured in the header photo of our blog!

Farmer Mark Richter and his wife, Kathleen

Your name, family names and interests: 

     Mark and Kathleen Richter.  We have two daughters, Kayla and Claire, and a son, Colson.  Kayla is married to Eli, and they have a baby boy, Gavin.

Your farm name, and location:
     We are a family operation, and the name is R& R Farms, Endicott, WA

How long have you been farming?  

     I have farmed for 34 years.  I came back to the farm in 1979 after college

Why did you become a farmer? 

     I loved being out on the land and being my own boss.

 

What crops do you grow?

 We grow Soft White Winter Wheat, Hard Red Winter Wheat, Hard Red Spring Wheat, Soft White Club Wheat,  Peas, Lentils and Garbanzos

Mark Richter's farm from the air

What type of farm do you have?

      Our region is all dryland, meaning we don't irrigate.  We are a Direct-Seeded producer.  This means we don't plow, disc or cultivate the soil, but plant directly into last year's stubble.  We don't raise any livestock.

Tell us about your operation. 
     We are an all grain and legume farm. We are in the Palouse country, which in the southeast portion of Washington State.

Do you use any sustainable practices?   Please tell about them.

     We have been direct seeding 100% of our operations continuously since 1997.  In the Palouse our terrain is very hilly, we can get to over 50% slopes which creates unique challenges for equipment and operator. 

     Within that challenge we receive most of our precipitation in the winter, which has very erosive affects when the land is not properly cared for. The traditional practice of summer fallow using tillage to combat the weeds would give us water erosion of more that 200 tons per acre*. That practice is not sustainable, which is why we went to direct seeding.  Direct seeding is also known as no-till. That is where the crop is planted into the previous years stubble with one or two passes across the field, to fertilize and plant the crop. We have eliminated erosion on our farm and we are trying to be the best stewards of the land that we have been blessed with.

Something interesting, cutting-edge, fascinating, you would like readers to know?

     We have been using GPS for guidance and automatic boom shutoff for the last 10 plus years. It has been a real money saver and also good for the environment. It shuts off valves that apply fertilizers so that they are not being over-applied.

During last summer's wheat harvest

What are the biggest challenges you face as a farmer?   

     The biggest thing we deal with are regulations and red tape from special interest groups. We are the only industry that produce goods that sell for wholesale and we pay the freight both ways.

What are farming’s biggest rewards for you? 

     I wake each morning to a new day that has a new set of rewards and challenges. I appreciate the beauty of each and every sunrise and sunset, and the ability to be in God’s creation.

Do you participate in any civic or industry organizations?   

     Yes, I’m a member of the Washington Farm Bureau, Washington Association of Wheat Growers and the Pacific Northwest Direct Seed Association (PNDSA). I served as the President of the PNDSA which is a three-state organization that encourages farmers and industry to wise stewardship of our resources. Website: www.directseed.org


*Water erosion of more than 200 Tons per acre means that the rain and/or frozen soil conditions have allowed the loss of 400,000 lbs. of soil to be moved from its original place.  This could be down to a lower draw where it flattens out, or further down stream into our creeks, rivers, lakes and/or reservoirs.