A story for aspiring small grain growers: My first year of winter rye, I cut the acre of grass low, pulled a simple harrow behind my mower JD 570, then I ran it over with a soil plugger, also JD. Limed it lightly. Opened the bag of organic seed and it had weevils in it! I freaked and ordered more grain, but by the 2weeks later when the seed arrived my native grasses had been beautifully cared for! Bummer. I went ahead and seeded anyway with a little pull behind seeder, just before a rain, then re-harrowed. Tried to chase after birds for the first week or so.
I ended up harvesting, by hand, about 50#. Which is exactly what I planted. Good thing I am motivated to build soil for a future farmer!
Still a fun story. I appreciate farmers!
Next time I’m gonna open the grain soon as I get it, check it and if it has bugs, I’d just freeze the whole bag. Not sure how many days, but quicker than ordering more grain.
