PRODUCING HIGH YIELDING WHEAT AND SMALL GRAINS
July 2012 wheat was up 17 cents per bushel today closing out at $6.99 per bushel. Grains have been taking a beating the last couple weeks with July wheat dropping over a $1 per bushel from its high of over $8 per bushel. The basis for wheat in Georgia has ranged from $1-1.25 per bushel under the board price so cash contracts are around $5.75-6.00 per bushel. The opportunity for growing wheat and making high yields (75-100 bushels per acre) at good prices and still planting a late May or early June crop of cotton or soybeans behind wheat is there.
Below are excellent radio interviews with Dr. Dewey Lee, University of Georgia Extension agronomist, on producing high yielding wheat and small grains from On The Farm. On The Farm radio program airs weekdays between 6:40 and 6:50 am on WVOH 93.5 FM in Hazlehurst and WDMG 97.9 FM in Douglas and at 6:58 am on WULS 103.7 FM in Douglas.
For a perspective from Dr. Lee on growing high yielding wheat go to On The Farm at OTF-LeeProducingHighYieldWheat and OTF-LeeWheat8-26-11 . These interviews were done when wheat was over $8 per bushel but there may be market rallies growers can take advantage of this winter with the anticipated shortage of corn, soybeans and wheat.
Dr. Lee talks the importance of ordering wheat seed early and seed size at OTF-LeeWheatSeedSize .
Dr. Lee talks rye and oats at OTF-LeeRyeandOats and the secret to making high rye seed yields at OTF-LeeHighYieldRye .
The 2011-12 University of Georgia Extension wheat production guide is on the web at http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/fieldcrops/gagrains/wheat.html
Hello: I was searching for info on growing wheat in Ga and found your site. I live in Alma (that makes us neighbors) and I’m an artisinal baker (at least that’s what I call myself) trying to find the best quality wheat possiblelocall. I decided to see if I could purchase local south Georgia wheat and found your site. I wonder if you could give me some information on purchasing local wheat and/or other grains to incorporate in my bread baking. I also would be interested in learning how to grow a small amount of wheat on my property. If there’s any info that you can share with me I would appreciate it. Thanks for your help.
Ms. Keith Gagliardi
Ms. Gagliardi, Unfortunately the type of wheat we grow in the South is not the best for baking breads. We grow soft red winter wheat which is used mostly in soft cakes, donuts, cookies, etc. The type of wheats used for breads and artisan flours are hard red and white spring wheat. These are high gluton wheats and we presently don’t have varieties of these types of wheats that are situable for the South. You may want to check with the Kansas Crop Improvement Association for a wheat grower who specializes in these wheats and selling to artisan bakers. Their phone number is 785-532-6118. Two books you may want to check out are 1) Small-Scale Grain Raising, Second Edition: An Organic Guide to Growing, Processing and Using Nutritious Whole Grains for Home Gardeners and Local Farmers by Gene Logsdon and 2) Homegrown Whole Grains by Sara Pitzer. Both can be found for sale on Amazon.