Proso on the Ground
Back in September, Big Roy (my father-in-law) was busy drilling wheat. Weather and other life distractions kept him from getting all his drilling done in the time he wanted it done in. When he had finally drilled his last field, I foolishly said, "Thank goodness you're done!"
Big Roy, in his low voice grumbled, "I still have proso on the ground."
Proso on the ground? I wasn't sure what he meant. I know proso is a grain, but why is it on the ground? Did the plants fall over? Did someone spill the harvest?
So in my usual way I waited until I was with Roy (my husband, also known as Little Roy) of whom I'm never embarrassed to ask stupid questions (that's one sure sign of love). He explained that the proso is cut with a swather before it is fully ripe and laid in windrows to dry. If you let it ripen standing then the seeds will fall out of the heads. If you look in the picture above you'll see the windrows as dark horizontal parallel lines amidst the stubble.
Once it's dry, it is collected by a combine with a pickup header.
It's that drying part that's a problem for Big Roy. Autumn ran cool and moist and winter moved in quickly with snow and frost. He just hasn't had a chance. So that is where the proso will lay until Spring. The only thing that will bother it are scavenging critters, like mice and birds.
I wanted to share this on my blog because I want to introduce everyone out there to the upsides and downsides of farming. But now that I have posted it, let's not mention it again . . . its a bit of a sore spot! Especially don't mention those pesky mice who've been snacking on the proso all winter . . .
Posted by Susan at January 22, 2010 
Categories: Farming
Tags: header millet windrows dry ripe harvest pickup swather combine cut proso mice birds swath
Categories: Farming
Tags: header millet windrows dry ripe harvest pickup swather combine cut proso mice birds swath
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