Potato Farming

Wednesday I had the chance to put on a training session with a large potato producer, who actually grows a large amount of the potatoes for Frito Lay potato chips! Before starting on this project, I didn't know much about the potato world. So here are a few quick facts!

One medium sized potato, eaten with the skin on:

• Is just 110 calories.
• Has nearly half of the Daily Value for vitamin C.
• Is one of the best sources of potassium and fiber in the produce section.
• Is a great way to eat your veggies
•  Preserve the most nutrients by keeping skin on. If you must peel, be sure to keep the peeling very thin, since many nutrients are found close to the skin.
•  Steam or microwave potatoes instead of boiling them, because water naturally leaches some of the nutrients from the potatoes 

Each year in the US there are more than 1 million acres of potatoes planted-that's like filling hte whole state of Rhode Island with potato plants. It's the leadinvegetable crop in the Us with a total Production of 41.3 billion pounds!

And a little History:

In October 1995, the potato became the first vegetable to be grown in space. NASA and the University of Wisconsin, Madison, created the technology with the goal of feeding astronauts on long space voyages, and eventually, feeding future space colonies.

During the Alaskan Klondike gold rush, (1897-1898) potatoes were practically worth their weight in gold. Potatoes were valued for their vitamin C.  And gold, at that time, was more plentiful than nutritious foods!

French Fries were introduced to the U.S. when Thomas Jefferson served them in the White House during his Presidency of 1801-1809.

Some of the most famous potato dishes we enjoy today were created by mistake Collinet, chef for French King Louis Phillipe (reign 1830-1848) unintentionally created soufflés (or puffed) potatoes by plunging already fried potatoes into extremely hot oil to reheat them when the King arrived late for dinner one night. To the chef's surprise and the king's delight, the potatoes puffed up like little balloons.

Potato Chips In 1853 railroad magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt complained that his potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to the kitchen at a fashionable resort in Saratoga Springs, NY. To spite his haughty guest, Chef George Crum sliced some potatoes paper thin, fried them in hot oil, salted and served them. To everyone's surprise, Vanderbilt loved his "Saratoga Crunch Chips," and potato chips have been popular ever since.
(Source: potatogoodness.com)


In honor of all this potato talk I think I am going to make bacon wrapped pototoes on the grill tonight for supper. How do you like to cook your potatoes?

Wordless Wednesday

Tyson was harvesting in the snow last night. Down to only about 20 acres before the snow shut them down. 

Corn Silage

While I was home this previous weekend, I was able to head over to my sister Rachel's to check out how corn silage harvest was coming along for her in-laws family feedlot. Take a look at a few of the pictures.

Chopping.

Silage Inoculant is put on the silage to help it ferment effectively and to get better feed usage.

Silage chopping has just begun, so the pile is small but will soon be taller than the tractor and fill up the entire feed bunker.

Rachel is checking out a few ears.

The trail cut by the chopper.

My niece McKenzie and I hanging out in the ranger before heading back up to the feedlot.

Narjes Wheat Harvest

Well, this has been the third summer that I have had the opportunity to be in Sidney for wheat harvest. What a crazy time of year for the Narjes Farm. Needless to say I had quite a bit to learn about wheat two years ago. My parents simply farm around 500 acres of corn and soybean with a couple sections of alfalfa, so I didn't have much experience at all with wheat. Thankfully Tyson is a good teacher so he quickly opened my eyes to the wheat world.  I love being outside and having to do and learn anything that involves agriculture, so I thoroughly enjoyed riding in the combine and hanging out in the wheat field. I am sure that Tyson enjoys having a passenger as well. :-)

The following is the little that I learned about wheat. Most wheat is planted in the fall usually in September, and it sprouts in the fall then upon the first freeze goes into a dormant stage. This is a crucial part; if the wheat doesn't sprout and go into dormancy it will not produce anything the next summer. In the springtime, the plant will come out of dormancy and grow taller while producing the wheat head. Depending on the variety of wheat, it can grow anywhere from 18 inches to 48 inches. Typically prime harvest time for western Nebraska is the middle of July. Depending upon the weather and moisture it can range from late June to late July. Once the wheat crop is ready, the combines hit the field and go practically nonstop until the last kernel is in the bin. Hail is quite typical in western Nebraska, so many farmers are eager to get their crop in the bin before any unfortunate hailstorms have the chance to hit the fields. But inevitably some fields may get hail during this summer, which can greatly affect its yield. 


Check out these photos from this year's wheat harvest!

Tyson and I riding in the combine.

A harvest sunset.

Ryan's combine was flashing lights because the bin was full. Time to unload!

Cool picture that Tyson took.

Ryan unloading into the grain cart on the go.

           Fun Facts about Wheat:

• Did you know that Nebraska is the 7th largest wheat producing state in the Nation?
• Nebraska farmers contribute over 74 Million bushels each year.
• More foods are made from wheat than any other cereal grain.
• One bushel of wheat weighs about 60 pounds.
• One bushel of wheat contains approximately more than one million individual kernels.
• A bushel of wheat makes about 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread.

To learn more about wheat check out the Nebraska Wheat Board's Website.