Just a Photo

     Well folks, I'm phoning it in today. Poor Bucky the Buick (my loyal car) has been sick and needed some attention. So instead of a proper post, I offer you this super high-definition picture of a sunrise of ripening wheat. Click on it to get the full resolution. Enjoy!

This and That

     Doing another update today. (What can I say, I enjoy the variety.) Here's some Owyhee County snippets just for you.

     See them? To be fair, all that you can see is their hats. It's a labor crew, and they're most likely pulling tassels in this corn. The worst part of pulling tassels by hand is the conditions. It's very hot and humid in a corn field and the corn leaves can give you little cuts. You won't bleed or anything, but they itch and can cause rashes. I once got one in the eye...

     Isn't this a lovely bird? This is a Black-necked Stilt. She (he?) was quite displeased with me being in close proximity to her. They live next to the water like this settling pond, where they poke their slender beaks into the mud in order to pick out tasty morsels.

     Here's a ladybug, friend to farmers everywhere. These little beetles eat a lot of aphids. While they never get numerous enough to slow the aphid horde, they limit it's growth, which is a positive thing any way you look at it. (Unless you're an Aphid, that is...)

     Here a pair of California Quail guard their young. These chicks already have wing feathers, and while they're not developed enough to fly, they can gain a little extra thrust when jumping, running, or cornering.

     Last but not least, baling continues. This farmer is creating a smaller bale. They'll be about 80 pounds, making them pretty easy for a person to move by hand. Haying is a constant thing during the summer as different farmers prefer different schedules.
     There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not struck by the beauty of this place. The urge to share it is uncontainable. Still, at least today I remained mostly on topic. I hope you enjoy being shared with as much as I enjoy sharing.

Getting Ready

     Pictured below: Amber waves of grain.

     Though it's not so much amber as wheat-colored. Regardless of what color you call it, the wheat is getting ripe.
     Harvest is coming soon here in Owyhee County, so a great deal of effort is going into getting ready. The combines need serviced and some changes need to be made in some of them. For example, the screens need changed. What's a screen, you ask?

     These are screens. Long story short: the screens that are used for one crop (alfalfa in this case) don't work for others (wheat in this case) and need to be switched based on the situation. I'll get a bit deeper into this later...

     The old trucks need serviced too! This retired fire-engine now hauls around various loads around a farm. While it no longer has the vim and vigor required for the fire department, it does a fine job of hauling wheat. It will get a check up and any issues it has will be dealt with alongside it's regular maintenance.
     Theoretically, by taking care of their equipment beforehand, the farmers can avoid any breakdowns which could cause untimely and costly delays. Like the farmers themselves, though, a little wear and tear is common and equipment (and farmers) will sometimes break. Best to be prepared, then, making this just as important a time of year as any other.

Field Corn

     Since I mentioned field corn yesterday, I figured I'd show it to you today.

     This is Field Corn, which is sometimes called "Feed Corn" or "Silage Corn." Whereas the corn in yesterday's post was for growing seeds to be planted in later years, this corn is planted just to grow.

     And grow it does. It's thick with plant matter in these fields, which is good, because come harvest time the more there is the better. In a seed field only the seeds will be harvested from the corn, but in these fields the whole plant will be chopped up and hauled off to feed to stock animals.

     These corn plants are around eight feet tall, and still growing. Contrary to what I said yesterday, they are tasseling out. As you can see above, the ears are small but growing fast.
     It's a hot and humid place beneath the leaves of a corn field. It's a bit dark too, as the leaves spread out to catch every ray of light they can. Plants are the original solar powered energy source, but rather than go to your wall to power your stuff, this corn will probably be powering a cow. Somewhere in that process I feel there's another post. Check back often to see if I find it!

Corn Tassels

     Howdy readers! I'm back in every way. I've got my computer back and I'm ready to churn out some more full-length posts.
     Every plant in the county has been hard at work. Weeds, crops, trees and otherwise have been taking in as much sunlight, water, and nutrients as they can.
  

     Poking out of the leaves in the corn here, you can see a "Tassel" starting to unfurl. A tassel, is the male part of the corn plant, while the ears are the female part. When the tassel reaches maturity, anthers will pop out of it and start spreading pollen all around.

     This corn is hybrid corn. That means it's half-and-half of two varieties of corn. The row just right of center is one kind, the rest of the rows are the other kind. In order to get a hybrid, only one variety must be allowed to pollinate the other variety. The common way to say this is that the bull row (the sinle row) fertilizes the cow rows. Perhaps a bit crass as far as analogies go, but aptly descriptive. Since all corn has both tassels and ears, the tassels must be removed from the cow rows to keep them from self-pollinating.

     This is the machine for the job. It's called a "Hi-Tractor" as it's basically a tractor that is put up high in order to clear taller crops. Hanging off the front is the implement that will remove some tassels.

     As with most implements, the concept is pretty simple. These wheels are rotated directly next to each other at a high rate. Any corn tops that are in the path of the wheels get grabbed and since corn is a segmented plant, it just yanks the tops right off, leaving them to fall to the ground...

     Not every corn plant is the exact same height, so a few will be left behind. These will have to be pulled by hand. Labor crews will be hired to walk the rows and take out any stragglers.
     As far as seed corn is concerned, this is one of the last steps before harvest, though there are some minor details left. I'll keep you posted as best I can.   

Tree Field

     Have you ever been out on a drive and seen one of these?

     It's a tree field, that much is obvious. What may not be obvious is why there are tree fields. These trees are grown for pulp. (The stuff you get when you mash up a tree.) Pulp is used to make paper products.
     Tree fields are a long term investment. Most farmers can't grow them as you have to wait a long time and do a lot of work before you get any money. Still, there are a few in the county. Hopefully, they pay off.

Apples

     What few apples we have in the region are growing larger by the day. They'll be ready to harvest sometime in the fall.

     They're the right shape, at least. As long as they have plenty of water they'll grow a bit more and soon they'll turn red. There's nothing like apples, freshly picked from the tree. I can hardly wait!

Bean Flowers

     The bean plants are (and have been) flowering. You all know the drill by now, I'm sure. Each flower must be pollinated before they can grow any seeds, which are the beans that we eat.

     They're quite humble, as far as flowers go. Since beans are self pollinating, no further steps are required of a farmer at this point. Enough sunny days and plenty of water will have these beans growing pods in no time.

Salt Grass

     Salt grass is a widespread plant that grows all over the world. In some places it's used as a feed, but here in Owyhee County, it's just a wild neighbor.

     That said, it's a very good neighbor. Salt grass is very tough, but not invasive, that is to say it won't choke out crops. It's great to have along ditch banks as it doesn't use up much water, prevents erosion, and keeps weeds from growing. The only reason it doesn't cover every roadside and ditch bank in the county is because salt grass spreads slowly and never very far. As the picture shows, it's very healthy this year, probably because of all the rain we've been getting.

Drainage Ditches

     Not all ditches are for bringing water to the crops. Some ditches are for taking it away.
     When people first dug the canals here in Owyhee County, the water soaked into the ground and just sat, becoming "sour" when it absorbed too many minerals. (particularly the alkali salts that are common here) Between the ground being too soggy in certain places and the water being unsuitable, a great deal of ground became useless. Moving water doesn't absorb near as much mineral as stagnant water. The solution: digging great, big ditches that allowed the water to flow downstream to the river. Here is one such ditch:

     As you can see, any plant that gets the chance takes full advantage of the water that runs down the bottom of these ditches. Many animals also cram into these places. Foxes, quail, various amphibians, burrowing owls, marsh birds and shore birds of all kinds, and even deer will make their home in these little wild spots. It's nice when something is both useful and enjoyable.

     On a special side note, I will be on a small vacation for the rest of the week. I have prepared a few short posts that I have scheduled to post while I'm gone. Whether they will or not, we'll just have to wait and see.

Oats

     Today I stumbled across a crop that I hadn't shown yet. If you're into reading titles, you know what it is already: Oats. Oats look pretty much like wheat in it's early days, which is true of most grasses. But when the flowering bodies start to grow, differences become apparent.

     Instead of the wheat's organized heads, oats have individual seeds scattered around the top of the plant. These oats are almost certainly to be baled into hay that will then be fed to horses. Stock animals enjoy oat hay as well, and the seeds (also called oats) can be fed to people. You've had oatmeal, haven't you? While not as common a crop as wheat, oats are far more prolific as a species and can be found growing wild around the county.

Pods

     The bees have done their work well and many of the flowers on the alfalfa are fertilized and already developing their seeds. They do this in spiral shaped pods that grow at the base of the flowers.

     Fun, aren't they? The dried up bits at the end of the pods are the dessicated remains of the flowers. Each pod, is developing several seeds. They're quite tasty, especially to marauding pests, so they must be protected. 

     Harvest time is rapidly approaching, which means a lot of activity and a lot of good stories for me! I know I'm excited and hopefully you are too. But once again I'm getting ahead of myself. See you back here tomorrow.

Lost in Time

     By Blogger's reckoning this is Owyhee Agriculture's 100th post. I had planned on something special, but life being the way it is, I'm still on a loaner computer without all my software and needed elsewhere. So today's post is about confused insects.

  
     This is a Ten-lined June Beetle. Being July, I'm sure you understand this post's title now. Nature cares little for man's calender, though. More commonly called June Bugs, (even though they're not true bugs) They have a pretty fearsome bite for chewing into tough plant material. When aggravated they make a squeaking hiss noise. They're pretty much harmless to people, though they will defend themselves if they feel threatened.
     June Bugs have very little to do with agriculture. (Maybe to one farmer, whom you'll hear about later.) This beetle is more of an event that is witnessed commonly by folks of the county. A stretch, perhaps, but it is an illustration on how you can't put nature on a calender and expect it to follow the rules. In agriculture, a person becomes all too aware of that.

Gopher

     Well, I promised you all this picture a while back and here it is.

     Fearsome, isn't he? Pocket Gophers are rodents that mostly use their big claws for digging and rarely to tear apart victims. Gophers are a major pest, they love eating roots and will even come out at night to eat some leaves and stems. As farmers generally don't want their crops eaten until after they are sold, this is a point of contention. Gophers reproduce very quickly, and can raise dozens of young every year. For this reason, they will always be around. At the very most their numbers can only be curbed.

Spraying Bugs In The Dark

     I mentioned last week that in order to avoid harming the leafcutter bees, a farmer will spray the fields at night while the bees are sleeping in their houses. Any insect that sleeps out on the plants will get a good dose of insecticide.

     The main targets of the spraying are Lygus and Pea Aphids, both of which like to suck the juices out of alfalfa. The insecticide will have dissipated enough by morning that few bees will be harmed by it. It is unfortunate that any have to be harmed at all, but spraying is the only way to keep pests from destroying a the crop while maintaining yield.
     As you can see, the spray-rig lights up like a Christmas tree. With the wheel rows marked, and lights mounted all over their machine, a farmer can do a lot of good in a night. It does make for long days, though. Many farmers will hire a custom sprayer to do it for them. Either way, it needs to get done. The market needs that alfalfa, and the farmers need the money.

Owyhee Abnormals: Llamas

     Being away from my computer, I thought I'd take the opportunity to mention some things that wouldn't warrant a full post. Llamas would fit in this category. While not as much agriculture in the industry sense, they are agriculture in the hobby sense. Llamas produce wool. As to who shears them and buys the wool, I haven't the slightest idea.

     After which, they look preposterous. Llama wool has no lanolin in it, so it doesn't require the processing that sheep's wool does. Even so, they're not a popular pasture animal here. Mostly you only see them in groups of two or three, just there to keep the weeds down. But maybe someday...

Marking Wheel Rows

     The author's computer is down, so the posts will be a bit on the shabby side while I'm using loaners. Any patience you could muster would be greatly appreciated.
     The time has come to deal with the lygus and aphids and such. Pesticides are the tool for this job. In order to avoid harming the bees that live out in the fields, Farmers will do this at night. It's difficult enough to count out wheel rows in dense alfalfa during the day time. (They count out wheel rows so that passes don't overlap and don't leaves gaps in between.) So a farmer will take his sprayer or a tractor out in the field and leave tracks so that the passes are easy to make at night.

     As you can see, it makes some very visable tracks. A spray rig is absolutely covered in lights, so spotting these at night is a piece of cake.
     As with any job, preparation can be key. A bit of driving during the day, makes for a much easier job at night.

Another Picture Gallery

     I take pictures of a lot more than just leaves and bugs, you know. Which is good, because sometimes I forget to take time sensitive photos. (Never mind.) So today I will share with you some more of the beautiful world that surrounds the agriculture in Owyhee County. Enjoy!

     How about we start out with a nice, pretty flower? This wild Lily is some kind of Mariposa Lily. They grow wild up in the hills and are in bloom right now. It's a big flower and the measurement between the two pointy petals is about 4 inches across. I hadn't noticed until just now that something has taken a few nibbles out of it. Possibly a leafcutter bee took some bits to build it's nest.

     As far as I can tell, this is a Leopard Lizard. He's got some bright orange spots on him to show how marvelously fit he is, and is therefor a very fine mate. The spots are the same color of orange as a type of lichen that grows on the sagebrush, so he's still camouflaged. Neat, huh?

     Out in the middle of the sections, as far from the roads as you can get you're struck by just how much area the fields cover. Personally I could listen to the burbling water and soft susura of the breeze in the wheat for hours.

     Have I mentioned how much I like birds? This is one of my favorites. It's a Spotted Sandpiper, and they are quite common here in Owyhee County, though you may never know it. They're very shy but have a lot of character. They bob their tails every few steps and fly with their wings almost strait out by flapping the tips.

     I find this little mushroom to be very charming. Do you? I'm not sure what kind it is, but it grew in my yard. Owyhee County is not very hospitable to fungus as it dries them out. Many, like this one wait for a wet snap (like after watering the yard) to grow, release their spores, then die in a matter of hours. Others live in the shade of larger plants.
     The last picture I will leave you with is another marvelous Owyhee sunset. The conditions out her make for some good ones, and if you read this site often, you know I photograph a lot of them. I enjoy sharing these pictures, and I hope you enjoy looking at them. Perhaps tomorrow the author will be prepared enough to present something a bit more educational...

Early July Agriculture

     A lot of July Farming in Owyhee County is much of the same work as before. Cultivating continues, but the plants are getting big enough that soon it will have to end. The machinery won't be able to get by the plants without damaging them. In occasions where the weeds in a field must be dealt with, but a tractor and implement can't do the job, a farmer may hire a field crew.

     Many years ago before manpower was completely eclipsed by machinery, labor camps were common all over the country. Nowadays it seems that they survive only in the farmlands. Field crews are hired to get their hands into places that machines can't really reach. As with all manual labor, it's rapidly being replaced by newer, fancier machines. Pulling weeds and detasseling corn (more on that another day) are the most common jobs here in Owyhee County. Pretty simple jobs as far as complexity goes, all it takes is relatively sharp eyes and a good back. It also helps to be able to handle heat, tedium, and some thorns and sharp leaves.

     Some ambitious folks have started to do their second cutting of hay. This fancy new mower really zips around the field. And as always, irrigation and pest control continues.

     Plants grow the most in high-summer, this means it's a very busy time for farmers. So long as enough water is kept on the plants, they can produce like crazy. So can weeds and pests...
     Harvest time will be upon us soon enough. Now is the time to make sure that there is as much to harvest as possible. Farmers will be spending a lot of long hot days out in the fields making sure of this. If you see one, give a little wave.

Up In The Hills

     In the lower hills of Owyhee County, things are starting to dry up.

     But as you can see it is only just beginning. Certain plants, such as the cheat grass, has already finished a life cycle and are all dried up. There are many that remain green and growing. Especially near water.

     Every little stream and spring is lined with plants and trees, and anywhere that plants can grow, the animals follow. While you can see many animals, you'll definitely see a multitude of insects.

     As far as agriculture goes, there's a lot of good grazing up there, and you'll come across more than one cow, sheep or horse (wild and domestic) up there. Agriculture can, and does, exist just about everywhere. Even out here in the hills, where the ranchers do their work to bring produce to you.

Champion Grower

     Corn grows fast. On a real hot summer day, you can actually hear it, provided the sound isn't drowned out by other noises. It's been somewhat cool (in the 90's rather than 100's) for summer, here in Owyhee County, but it hasn't slowed the corn too much. Here's what it can do in a week.

          (This image loops the same 7 scenes continuously.)

      Many different variables effect the growth of corn. They like lots of sunshine and water, but they availability of nutrients also affects growth. Different varieties grow at different rates as well.
     While the corn must be planted much later then most other crops (due to it's sensitivity to cold) it will be ready in the fall with all the others. Each plant has it's own time scale, and part of the farmer's job is to balance them. Sometimes, though, it can be a pleasure just to see the corn grow.