Kansas Wheat: From Planting through Harvest
Just
as soon as the wheat has been harvested from a field, Kansas farmers
begin preparing the field for planting the next year’s wheat crop. The
wheat stubble (what’s left of the wheat plants after the heads have
been cut off by the combine) is chopped up and mixed with the soil.
This also kills any weeds which might have started growing in the wheat
stubble, saving soil moisture for the next wheat crop. Working the soil
also breaks up the surface of the soil so that rain can soak into the
soil.
Crops
need nutrients and fertilizer, just like people might take vitamins to
grow up strong and healthy. Farmers test the soil to determine just
which nutrients are needed in each field. The nutrients needed for the
next crop to be grown in that field will be added to the soil. At the
same time that nutrients and fertilizer are being applied in a field,
any growing weeds may be killed. The weeds steal moisture from the soil
that is needed for the next crop.
The
liquid nutrients and fertilizer run from the big tanks thru plastic
tubing down to tubes attached to the blades on this implement called an
“undercutter”. The undercutter has big V-shaped blades that slide under
the surface of the soil, slicing off the roots of weeds without
chopping up the surface of the soil. Since the blades are placed into
the ground at the same depth that the roots of the new wheat plants
will be, the fertilizer and nutrients are being placed into the “root
zone”. Once the small plants start growing, they will have the
necessary nutrients to grow strong and healthy.
September
is wheat planting time in Kansas. Wheat is planted with a drill, which
is pulled by a tractor. A drill makes “furrows” - opening up the center
of the furrow, dropping a line of seeds into the opening, and then
covering the seeds up with a thin layer of soil. The soil mounded
slightly on each side of the furrow helps protect the tiny plants from
strong winds and any moisture collects in the bottom of the furrow –
right where the seeds have been placed. All the furrows must have seeds
so when there’s not enough seed left to fill the drill, it may be
necessary to move the seeds around inside the drill’s seed boxes so
that every furrow gets seed.
Winter
wheat sprouts and grows some during the fall but it goes dormant during
the winter. Even during the winter, it is necessary to check the wheat
to make sure the plants are healthy and not being damaged by weeds,
insects, or diseases.
Wheat
must be harvested at just the right time. The stalks of the wheat
plants must be dry so they can be easily cut by the combine. The wheat
seeds must be dry so they can be stored without spoiling. The outer
coating of each seed must be hard enough to protect the seed from
damage when the grain is being shaken out of the heads inside the
combine or being moved from place to place.
However,
when the wheat is ready to cut, the wheat plants are dead and drying
up. This means that the stalks are brittle and can be easily broken or
blown over. Since everything is dry, the seeds themselves can be shook
by wind or rain and fall out onto the ground. This is called
“shattering” and the seeds cannot be recovered and sold. When the wheat
heads begin to “nod”, it is time to cut the wheat.
The
Kansas wheat harvest starts in June at the southern border of Kansas,
usually in the area south of Wichita or to the west. From there, the
wheat harvest spreads north and west in the larger wheat-growing areas
of the state. Wheat harvest in Kansas usually ends in early July at the
Nebraska border and in mid-July at the Colorado border.
Wheat
is harvested with a self-propelled machine called a “combine”. At the
front of the combine, a large reel turns and pushes the heads of the
wheat plants into a “sickle”. The “sickle” cuts the heads off the
plants and they are pulled into the combine. The combine shakes and
beats the wheat seeds out of the heads and separates the kernels (wheat
seeds) from all the other plant materials. The kernels are moved into a
grain tank on the combine while all the other “extra” stuff is blown
out the back of the combine and spread across the field. Wheat harvest is finished for this year but it’s time to start all over again if the field will be planted to wheat in just 2-3 months.




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