June Farm News

Happy June! Summer is nearly here, and now that we’ve finally had a few warm days under our belts here in Pullman we are feeling ready for all that comes with the transition from Spring.

New crop emergence

Planting wrapped up the first week of May, with green peas being the last product going in the ground. We are very happy with the inch and a half of rain that fell last month, which combined with cool daytime temperatures made for a fantastic start to the spring growing season. Too much of any one aspect of the weather—heat or cold, dry or damp, overcast or sun—can lead to unpredictable growth that ultimately might result in issues with the crop as it matures.

All our crops have established roots and are emerging well (sometimes referred to as the “rowing up” phase), and now that the daytime high temps are rising as we come into June everything will really start to take off. Emergence in the chickpea fields is strong, with those plants already putting up second and third shoots as they begin to unfurl leaves. In particular we breathed a sigh of relief when we saw a good stand in the lentils, as in our farm owner Kevin’s words, that commodity tends to be “an ornery little bugger”.

What comes next for legumes?

Now that emergence and initial growth is assured in this spring’s chickpeas, brown lentils, and green peas, we look to the next phase of the crops’ phenologies: flowering. For a short time the fields are dotted with white (and perhaps a bit of pale blue or purple in the lentils) and everything looks truly magical, like a scene straight out of The Secret Garden. Upon pollination the flowers will close and the next generation of seeds—the product we eventually harvest in the fall—begins to form. We expect flowering to kick off in a couple of weeks, right around the summer solstice.

What is the wheat doing now?

Wheat is technically a type of grass, and as such does not flower in the same colorful, showy way legumes do. These plants are wind-polinated, and once the flowers (called florets, which are grouped together in spikelets) are fertilized they turn into the kernels which are later harvested and eventually find their way to you either as freshly-ground flour, or as beautifully plump, golden berries.

Looking ahead into the season

We’re hoping for a few good rain events in June to keep the water table topped up, and for the difference between daytime high temps and nighttime lows (called the diurnal swing) to stay in a good range. All our farming in the Palouse region is conducted in the low-intervention dryland custom, and thus we serve at the pleasure of Mother Nature. We rely upon her to irrigate our crops and control the rate of growth, development, and ripening; may she be a benevolent deity!

Pre-harvest maintenance

A lot happens behind the scenes to prepare for harvest time. The guys in the shop are busy going through all the machinery necessary to bring in this year’s crop. Every combine, tractor, truck, trailer, and wagon is checked over to make sure no parts are missing or damaged. Harvest is such a busy time and everyone is spread out all over the place, so making sure all the equipment starts the season in top condition helps operations go as smoothly as possible. The general feeling is that we might start cutting wheat as early as July 20th so we need to get everything ship-shape as quickly as possible!

Maintenance is being performed on field entrances to make sure there are good access points for all the vehicles. Ditches are getting dug out, culverts are undergoing repairs, and crops are scouted every day for potential pest, weed, or disease presence. So far everything is looking good and there is no suspicion of any issues developing, but if there is one trait all farmers share, it is their constant worrying that everything might go wrong the moment they look away. So we stay vigilant and keep good preventative practices, and watch the weather forecast with religious devotion.

In the warehouse

We’re excited to see this year’s crop has established well and is showing strong growth, but before it’s ready to be handed off from the farm to the Palouse Brand warehouse we need to make some room on the shelves! Check out our Father’s Day Deal happening now through June 15: get 25 percent off a 4-pack bundle of 5 pound wheat berries, 4 pound lentils, or 3 pound wheat flours.

Cheers, friends! See you in the next one.