EPISODE 156 BETWEEN HARROWING THE LAND AND THEN PLANTING WINTER WHEAT…LOTS OF WORK
Alan skeoch
oct. 2020
THIS is the man that does the job….getting winter wheat in the ground.
HOW DOES A FIELD GET THIS NICE?
“HAVE you ever wondered how tiny seeds of wheat are planted?”
“Well, all those pieces of equipment hauled by that immense tractor are
designed to put one little winter wheat seed in the ground at the proper spacing.
A bunch of seeds got confused when the tractor made a sweeping turn and those little
seeds just jumped out in a bunch but that was rare. Most seeds got out at their proper
spacing and got ready to germinate for spring combining as future pastry flour.”
“Perhaps you think that such huge machines would find the job of getting the fields ready for seeding was EASY??
NOT SO EASY AT TIMES…see below”
“This is the rig for planting those tiny winter wheat seeds…the great tub at the back is filled and then manages somehow to select tiny seeds
to be put in the ground at proper spacing. …The huge harrow at the front digs a shallow hole for the seeds. Notice the ground cover of soybean waste
left behind after the combine had done the harvesting a few weeks earlier. Called NO TILL FARMING. PLOWING IS NOT DONE from
year to year unless the fields are covered in sod.
WHEN the fields were covered in sod….deep plowing was necessary. After that…smooth sailing except where a hidden
sink hole was found.
Disc Harrow sliced up any sod that was not turned over by the plow.
How would you like to find yourself and all that equipment sinking into they hidden swamp? Believe it or not the machines got out with ease.
Why are the wheat seeds orange…reddish? They have been treated with poison…I do not know which poison. At one time Atrizine was
used…perhaps still used. Bad Stuff. A poisoned field is easy to find as no weeds can grow…the field appears a sickly grey through
the summer months if fallow. Deadly stuff.
Here is the chopped up soybean plants left as a ground cover … winter wheat seeds in a bit of cluster…an error when the
machine did a turn at the end of the field.
A long time earlier a stone picker was able to criss cross the fields in search of rocks.
the stone picker can drive forwards and backwards scooping out and scooping up rocks left by the glaciers.
And that is all there is to the job…as long as you have a million dollars or so to invest in the job. This large scale farmer owns and rents
several thousand acres of crop land centred in Limehouse, Ontario … covering miles and mlles.
…which includes the 90 acres owned by our sons and their partner.
One thing worth noting. The fields are relatively small with lots of fencerows for birds and small creatures…even large creatures like
deer and coyotes and wild turkeys. That is not always the case with modern farming…much more efficient to tear out the
fencerows and have clear fields from horizon to horizon. A sterile landscape where “no birds sing”. That will not happen here.
alan skeoch
Oct. 2020