From the Fields - Ed Sills

By Ed Sills, Sutter County organic field crops grower

The 2024 harvest is nearly complete. As of Nov. 1, we have about 120 acres of organic rice and 120 acres of organic corn and popcorn remaining. Good weather is forecast for the week of Nov. 4, so we should have no problems finishing up by Nov. 10.

So far, yields have been down for the rice and corn crops. I had a few organic rice fields where the watergrass control was not good, but many clean fields did not yield what we might expect in other years. The very hot temperatures during corn pollination in some fields were detrimental to yield, which was evident when inspecting ears and finding skips where the corn did not develop. We didn’t have those high temperatures during rice flowering where pollination can also be disrupted, but as I understand it, high temperatures increase the plant’s respiration and use up the photosynthates that should have produced more yield.

Winter grains and vetch cover crops will be planted through the end of November, including hard red and soft white wheat, triticale and various vetch varieties. We like to plant vetch with the triticale. If the field has enough residual fertility—mostly nitrogen—the triticale will dominate, producing more triticale seed and less vetch seed. If the previous crop used up most of the available nitrogen, the vetch will dominate and produce a good seed crop. Either way, we have some production. Organic triticale seed and vetch seed have become a significant part of our business, keeping our seed cleaning equipment busy from July through November.

We hope that the bigger storms hold off for the next two to three weeks so we can finish up all the fieldwork and enjoy the holidays. With Thanksgiving, regardless of production or prices, remember the farmer’s motto: “There’s always next year.”