Farming doesn't stop when vegetable season ends

  Farming doesn't take the summer off when Yuma's winter produce season comes to a halt.

  Far from it.

  Farmers may get in a few vacation and fishing days, but they're still busy working the ground and producing crops that fill the gap between lettuce seasons.

  Those other crops are a diverse bunch, with many of them grown to fill small, specialized markets.

  Not only are these crops - hopefully - good for a farmer's cash flow, but also beneficial to the soil, said Kurt Nolte, Yuma County
Cooperative Extension director. They include grains like wheat and sorghum, forage crops such as Sudan grass and field corn and alternative crops like safflower and black-eyed peas.

  Many of the planting decisions are driven by situations around the nation and even worldwide, he said.

  Right now the spotlight is on wheat, Nolte said. In the past cotton was king, but world production and declining revenue have led many area farmers to turn to wheat for which there's a burgeoning global demand.

  The increasing demand is being driven by the near-total collapse of the wheat crop in Australia and more consumption of bread by the developing middle classes of such countries as China and India, he said.

  Wheat is less costly to grow than cotton and is bringing a better price, Nolte said. And its root structure is good for the soil.

  The bulk of the wheat produced here is durum, grown for pasta making. Currently, it is second only to vegetable production in terms of acreage and revenue.

  Nolte estimates there's more than 50,000 acres in production this year, a 15 to 20 percent in acreage. And the contracted price has gone from $135 a ton a year ago to $330.

  He said wheat fits in well as a rotation crop for vegetables. It's planted in the spring once lettuce is harvested and is combined in May and June in time to work the ground in preparation for fall vegetable planting.

  One grower has found a special niche even to that basic crop. Tim Dunn has been contracted by the Jewish community in Brooklyn to grow kosher wheat for matzo - unleavened bread used during Passover meals.

  Dunn also has found opportunity in the lowly dried bean. From a few acres, local production by Dunn and other growers has increased to 3,000 acres this year. Dunn's company processes the crop for himself and other growers.

  Melons are another important spring crop, although not as much as their heyday, Nolte said. This spring, Nolte estimates, there are close to 10,000 acres of melons, primarily watermelon, cantaloupe and honeydew.

  Field crops like Sudan grass benefit the ground, he said, adding precious organic material to the desert soil. And it's a crop in demand for export for hay.

  All this may change, however, with the demand for ethanol and the need for crops that can be distilled to make the fuel.

  Yuma County producers currently are growing about 1,000 acres of sorghum a year. That is expected to change with the proposed ethanol plant in eastern Yuma County.

  Backers of the plant say it would use about 100,000 acres of sorghum to produce 50-55 million gallons of ethanol a year initially. A by-product of the distillation process would provide animal feed.

  Due to an unusually extensive branching root system, sorghum is drought-resistant and heat-tolerant. One study showed that when corn required more than 30 inches of water, sorghum required less than 23 inches. Currently, about 12 percent of sorghum grown in the U.S. is used to make ethanol.