- Author: Konrad Mathesius
“Commodity prices are in the tank.”
“Wheat prices these days don't look so good.”
“Diesel's worth the price of gold, it's the cheapest grain he's ever sold.”
Two quotes from growers I've spoken with, one from a country singer, all relevant points.
Growers looking to diversify their rotations as a way to weather the ebb and flow of the market might consider several alternative crops. Garbanzo beans might fit the bill.
Because of the Central Valley's mild winter, garbanzos can be grown in winter as an alternative to wheat. As a legume, garbanzos can partner with nitrogen-fixing bacteria to produce some of their nitrogen requirement. This is helpful in years...
- Author: Konrad Mathesius
Fluctuations in commodity prices mean that wheat can be a darling or a demon. When prices are high, wheat can command more acres pushing up the prices for canning tomatoes. When prices are low, growers are inclined to look at wheat's value in terms of metrics other than just yield, such as its role in the mitigation of disease pressure in tomatoes or the benefits associated with maintaining a cover crop in the winter. When wheat prices drop low enough, farmers begin looking for other options. Recently, the combination of wheat prices at a 15-year low and the rise of craft brewing culture in the American west has generated inquiries into the possibility of growing malting barley.
In the last decade alone,...
