Proud of your product

[farmaholic]

As retarded as this may sound swathed lentils can be saved from excessive sun bleach if laid in swath. Pros and cons to every choice.

There are only two ways to do things:
#1: is the wrong way
#2: is my way...

[sumdumguy]

It's pretty scarey to lay 1200 acres of lentils on the ground. It really depends on what kind of stand you have. If it's very heavy, then it takes quite a bit of drying weather to get them in the bin. Light stands present the problems associated with dirt-tag. We had a lot of good aeration, 2 or 3 combines ready to go and didn't wait for dry lentils to combine. Some might be combined at 22-23, even 25 percent moisture. They dry down nicely in the bin. Most of our neighbours desiccated theirs and probably thought we fell on our heads. Every harvest presents its own challenges because that's farming.

[farmaholic]

We had a wreck with swathed peas and lentils because of wind.

[biglentil]

Infertility is skyrocketing, cancer sky rocketing, autism sky rocketing, birth defects sky rocketing, bee populations plummeting. Organics is booming, gluten free booming, non gmo booming. People want answers that the shill science does not provide them. If you had pride in your grain you wouldn't destroy its vitality with glyphosate pre harvest. We have powerful tools in our toolbox and should be used sparingly only when truly warranted. Or maybe u want the government to hold your hand when you go pee. Its the chemical lovers/abusers that are creating the move away from conventional, don't blame the masses for there purchasing decisions. It was just declared that glyphosate is a likely carcinogen. You never know after you desiccate your crops with glyphosate this fall you might only have the feed market to sell into. I for one would not feel bad for you 1 bit.

[hobbyfrmr]

Similar to biglentil's thoughts, about 4 years after I stepped off the chem/ fert Ferris wheel and took an unbiased look at the conventional retail industry, and the line company/commodity markets, I realized those companies have a ripe market. The push for zero till, the dependency on glyphosate all in the name of "feeding the world" and "efficiency" they are vacuuming billions of dollars of wealth from farms in western Canada. I am not saying you guys are doing wrong, I just see how the market uses rhetoric and noble themes to motivate farmers spending. One way to succeed was to expand and expand and become more efficient and grow more. My farm is too small to fit in that production paradigm. Thankfully, demand for organic grains has grown, otherwise I would be just another one of them there hippy farmers!
Tweety you had a good observation, no one answered the question posed!
I was raised not to get too proud because in life, there are events that can put you back in your place! I definitely like the challenge of organic farming, I like the fact that 80% of my production gets sold for milling quality, and I like that the general public likes what I am doing. It has been a long time since I could say that out loud!

[ado089]

Big lentil are you an organic producer?

[sumdumguy]

that is my fear too Biglentil. Do we close one eye and continue to allow these bought off "researchers" lead us into the fire?

[sumdumguy]

Just speaking to an Ag Canada researcher the other day, been doing it for eleven years, didn't know what the word "determinate" meant.

[stonepicker]

That's funny lentil, "glyphosate has been declared a likely carcinogen" I'm sure that statement is completely science based and factually proven! But yet you believe that horseshit and any other piece of garbage that you WANT to be true. So why has avg. life expectancy risen so much in the last 50 years? Why are young adults taller etc. than they were 50 years ago? Could it be better nutrition? 'm sure though that the heavy recreational use of pot, cocaine and crystal meth etc. have no effect on more autism, cancer etc.

[sumdumguy]

Point taken, Stoner. There are many, many threats to our well-being. If you believe that a more conscious world will accept product sprayed by chemicals right before harvest forever, then good on you, but I don't believe the world will want it, thanx, for your opinion, though.

[stonepicker]

More concious world, or more uninformed world? Or should i say misinformed. Take gluten, gluten free is all the rage now, why? Very few people in the world have gluten intolerance, yet guys like you hop on the bandwagon and declare gluten bad, it's a protein for crying out loud. It's far more a good thing than a bad thing! ( My son had gluten intolerance when he was a kid, he's an adult now and he grew out of it ) also someone mentioned that pre harvest roundup affects quality and germination? If you spray way too early it does, but how many morons do that? Spray when the crop is ripe and no prob.!

[pourfarmer]

Actually there are studies that suggest gluten sensitivity issues are the result of pre harvest desiccation.