Drilling malt barley seed
Happy First Day of Spring! It’s been beautiful here in Wheatland. Our trademark Rapid Air Movement (RAM, a.k.a. wind) has been kind to us, the temperatures have been favorable and we haven’t yet gotten dumped on by a major blizzard. I’m sure this also makes the ranchers happy as they calve this time of year.
Filling the grain drill with malt barley seed
We’ve been in full swing getting malt barley planted. It’s one of my favorite crops to watch grow and to harvest. Nothing like seeing beautiful fields of green and, later on, golden waves of grain!
Malt barley growing in June 2014
Malt barley harvest 2014. Combine harvests the grain (left) and the grain cart takes the grain to load on the trucks (right).
In order to prepare the seed bed for the malt barley, we’ve been busy tilling; discing, plowing and roller-harrowing. I’ve been able to help quite a bit in running all three implements. I also helped drill some of the barley. When I was a little girl, I didn’t imagine I’d be married to a farmer and running huge tractors in the fields!
Discing a field. The disc breaks up the top layer of soil and works organic material from last years’ crop into the soil.
Plowing. In certain circumstances (variables depend on soil type, the crop grown the year before, etc.) it is necessary to perform “heavy” tillage.
Roller harrowing. We call it a roller harrow, but many folks call it a mulcher. This breaks up the soil clods and creates a smooth, consistent seed bed for good seed to soil contact.
Agriculture is being celebrated across the country this week during National Agriculture Week. I see no better way to do that than to be farming!
Discing a field where we had harvested pinto beans last year. Discing prepared the seed bed for drilling malt barley. You could really see how it lightly tilled up the soil and distributed the bean residue.
Can’t you just smell the soil? A beautiful day for plowing!
Why should you care about agriculture? It permeates every part of your daily life! From the food you eat, to the clothes and cosmetics you wear, to the medicines you take and more! Learn more at www.agday.org, www.fooddialogues.com and www.factsaboutbeef.com.
I’d love to hear what you’ve been up to and what your spring plans are!
God Bless You & American Agriculture,
Liz
He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young. – Isaiah 40:11 (NIV)
The Farm Paparazzi 
Reblogged this on DirtRoadWife and commented:
When we told everyone we were moving from Western Wyoming to the eastern side of the state, a friend commented that I wouldn’t have anything pretty to photograph anymore. She couldn’t have been more wrong. Eastern Wyoming, while very different, is full of amazing things to photograph, including agriculture life. Just check out these beautiful photos from Liz, a friend of mine in real life and the blogosphere over at the farmpaparazzi.com.