Yuma wheat goes kosher

Under the watchful eyes of several black-garbed rabbis, the combine made its passes east of Yuma on Thursday around a wheat field grown by Tim Dunn.

While the field isn't large, the crop it produces is a very special one: kosher wheat to make matzah for the tables of ultra-orthodox Jews in New York during Passover.

Matzah is a crisp, flat, unleavened bread made of flour and water, which must be baked before the dough has had time to rise. It is symbolic for the bread baked in haste by Israelites as they fled Egypt during the Exodus.

The wheat to make the matzah flour must be grown and harvested according to a strict protocol to ensure it is kosher, Dunn said. Most importantly, the wheat can't be touched by moisture from the time it matures to ensure the grain hasn't started to sprout.

That makes Dunn's fields in Yuma ideal as rain is unlikely here in June, when the wheat is harvested. That's why the rabbis from New York go to the expense of having the wheat grown here instead of on the East Coast.

The no-moisture rule precludes even water trucks to keep down the dust on the dirt roads along the field, Dunn said. And no water bottles are allowed, either, despite the triple-digit temperatures and intense midday sun on the watchful rabbis.

Each day, the combines can't run until the rabbis are sure the night dew is off the ground, he said. Since that tends to be noon back in New York, they wait until noon here, too, even though any dew is long gone before that time.

And since the combines must be out of the field by sundown, that makes for a short window to harvest, Dunn noted.

Another challenge to meeting the kosher requirements is that the wheat can't have touched the ground, Dunn said. That leaves out any lodged wheat - wheat that has fallen over.

While most of the wheat grown in the Yuma area is durum used for producing pasta, a special variety of hard white wheat is grown for the matzah, Dunn said.

Weeds have to be removed by hand near harvest time, and the wheat along the roads is left as it may be contaminated.

All this takes place under the supervision of the rabbis, who may come out during the growing season to check on the crop.

Last week about 20 rabbis, representing several Jewish communities Back East as well as a couple of bakeries, were in Yuma to walk the fields and supervise the harvest. Some even stay in a rented travel trailer or motor home parked by the field to ensure the crop remains uncontaminated.

That goes as well for the combines and trucks to transport the grain. They must be meticulously cleaned and steps taken to make sure they stay that way, even to sealing them at night.

"It's a niche deal," Dunn said. "It takes a long time. You have to enjoy this sort of thing. We try to use the cultural practices to produce what they want."

Contrary to the production of most crops, the main goal with kosher wheat is not a high yield, said Marcos Moore of Agrilegistics LLC, who negotiated the contract between the rabbis and Dunn for the crop.

"Our objectives are different," he said.

That understanding and willingness to follow their protocol is vital, said the rabbis. "That service is very important to us."

Now in the third year, the production of kosher wheat may become an even bigger market. Dunn noted that several of the visitors were here for the first time to see the area and crop harvest for themselves.

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Joyce Lobeck can be reached at jlobeck@yumasun.com or 539-6853.