I’m writing a story in which a farmer character stops paying attention to his wheat fields. I know next to nothing about farming. Do you have to do anything with wheat while it’s growing, and what happens if you don’t? The person who notices is also a farmer, so anything an expert would notice but a layman would not is fine.
I have the out that the character doesn’t harvest or seed when it’s time, so I can always use that if there’s nothing that fits.
For the purposes of the story, couldn’t there be a drought that would require irrigation for the wheat to survive? It would have to be early in the season, since wheat shouldn’t be watered once the heads appear, but it would still work for your purposes.
Man, I’m years away from the farm, but the thought of not harvesting on time is just freaking me out – anyway, wheat’s pretty forgiving of being ignored, I think the best thing would just be to notice that he’s not harvesting during the harvest season, that it’s starting to rot in the fields even though it’s a nice crop (important to mention, since a lousy crop of wheat might be ignored and cut for straw when the farmer was done more important stuff).
You might need to have a crop duster come by. It’s mostly a leave it alone until harvest crop.Now if it’s past harvest time and the grain is being lost, you could deduce the farmer has a problem.
I’ll probably use the harvest thing, but do you have any suggestions for crops I could use that do need attention? Wheat was just the first one that popped into my head.
I’m trying to remember - is herbicide applied later in the growing season? weeds in a crop are easy to see, and a sign that the farmer has given up on the crop.
Try the alfalfa fields are not being mowed and baled. You can get about 3 cuttings during the summer and farmers notice that the neighbor hasn’t cut his hay and baled it.
About harvesting: how long is the “window”, so to speak? That is, how long from “it’s just about time to harvest” to “how strange, that guy isn’t harvesting yet” to “rotting in the fields”?
Your farmer would probably be growing winter wheat, which comprises 70-80% of the US wheat crop. Winter wheat is sown in the fall and harvested in late spring or early summer. The exact time of harvest depends on the latitude of the farm and weather conditions. Dry warm weather tends to hasten harvest while cold wet weather will delay harvest. A farmer will usually monitor the crop to decide when to harvest. Generally, harvest will be over by mid-July; any fields left unharvested in June will be definitely noticed.
Your farmer will want to fertilize his fields after the snow melts. Winter wheat can generally outcompete weeds so herbicide application should be unnecessary. However, weeds may get established and a good farmer will want apply herbicide as needed. You’ll also want to look out for diseases like stem rust, leaf rust or powdery mildew as well as insects like aphids and grasshoppers. Again, the exact crop management practices will depend on where the farm is located and what the local conditions are. You may want to consult the extension services of the appropriate state college. Here are some links to get you started:
This is a good one. If the guy has cattle and he isn’t haying, that will be strange. There’s a reason there’s all those expressions about making hay while the sun shines.
I only know the one. Could you fill me in?
Priceguy, where are you setting the story? while winter wheat may be common in most of the U.S., the closer you get to Canada the less you will see it. It’s rather rare here in Saskatchewan, because it isn’t as hardy for our winters. Wheat this far north is normally planted in the spring, and harvest can begin as early as mid-August but can be as late as September, depending on the weather conditions. I would imagine the situation would be similar in North Dakota and other northern states.
It’s set in Sweden, but I don’t need exact dates or anything, just a general sense of how long it takes for not harvesting to become noticeable.
I’d go with the “make hay while the sun shines” adage. Misjudging weather during cutting-raking-baling can mean huge protein losses along with other issues like molds and greater labour input. Wouldn’t have to be alfalfa, though it is dominant in lots of the U.S.
Keep in mind that if it’s a farming community, everyone will be busy harvesting at the same time. So everyone would be too busy harvesting their own wheat to notice what their neighbour was doing. The surprise would be when they finished and were able to relax a little and then would be amazed to see the guy down the road hadn’t even started to harvest.
Well, there’s that one, and there’s “While the sun is out make hay”, and…
Ok, there’s only a couple, but they get said a lot.