Crop Watch: Field 51

This season of Crop Watch will take you on the journey of "Field 51", as reported by our very own, Eric Lundberg. After a year of rest, Field 51 will now grow and harvest Organic Arborio Rice, often used to make risotto and paella. You can see more pictures on our facebook page.

 

November 17, 2009: The rice is dumped into a pit where equipment moves it into a drying bin.

 

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2009: The rice in the truck is sampled for quality and moisture.

 

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2009: The truck arrives at the Lundberg Family Farms' drying and storage facility, where it is weighed.

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2009: The bankout wagon transfers the rice to a truck.

 

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2009: While the harvester continues to cut, the rice is transferred to a bankout wagon.

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2009: The rice goes into the grain tank while the straw is spread evenly behind the harvester.

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2009: The harvester has no problem picking up the down rice, so that the rice can be separated from the straw.

 

 

 

 

November 17, 2009: The rice moisture is about 21% and ready for harvest.

 

 

 

 

 

October 21, 2009: The rice kernal is turning brown. The field is dry enough to walk in and not get muddy.

 

 

 

 

October 7, 2009: Most of the field has gone down. The irrigation water has been shut off and the field is draining.

 

 

 

 

October 1, 2009: Rice is starting to lodge (fall down).

 

 

 

 

September 23, 2009: Sand Hill Crane are in the fields.

 

 

 

 

September 23, 2009: Rice heads are filling!!!

 

 

 

 

 

September 23, 2009: When the kernels fill, the rice head gets heavy and bends over.

 

 

 

 

September 16, 2009: Rice looking down from a top angle view.

 

 

 

 

September 16, 2009: Close-up view of the rice heads.

 

 

 

 

September 10, 2009: Rice heads at different stages.

 

 

 

 

September 10, 2009: The rice head is full sized and starts coming out of the boot.

 

 

 

 

September 1, 2009: Rice continues to grow. Rice nodes have elongated about 6 inches. The rice panicle has developed and is about 1 inch long.

 

 

 

August 26, 2009: The rice leaf's turn green as it gets water.

 

 

 

 

August 19, 2009: The field is being reflooded to give the rice the water it needs.

 

 

 

 

August 19, 2009: Rice field is in "Maximun Dry-out."

 

 

 

 

August 12, 2009: Weeds are showing the effects of the dry-up.

 

 

 

 

August 3, 2009: The water weeds are starting to show the effect of the dry field.

 

 

 

 

July 30, 2009: One can find the rice in lots of different stages throughout the field. From small plants that struggled to get out of the water, to healthy rice plants 16" tall.

 

 

 

July 20, 2009: The rice is 58 days old. The Sedge is putting out it's seed pods.

 

 

 

 

July 30, 2009: The field is dry and the ground is cracking from the dryness.

 

 

 

 

July 10, 2009: The ditches made before flooding help drain the water off.

 

 

 

 

July 8, 2009: The field is being dried up to control the water weeds. The water is coming down slowly.

 

 

 

 

July 6, 2009: The field continues to grow, but not all of it is rice.

 

 

 

 

July 3, 2009: Water is now down to 5.5 inches and the rice is still struggling to stand... come on, rice - stand up, already!

 

 

 

 

July 3, 2009: A flock of Ibis. Rice field = bird's paradise.

 

 

 

 

July 3, 2009: Growth on the levy. The mustard plants are home to many animals and insects!

 

 

 

 

July 3, 2009: Blue Flower Duck Salad... a weed we DO NOT like!

 

 

 

 

June 29, 2009: Rice looks "sick" and needs to get out of the water for a breath of air!

 

 

 

 

June 29, 2009: Water is down to 8 inches and the rice is still not standing!! Weeds are becoming stronger.

 

 

 

June 25, 2009: The water level is coming down, while the weeds are starting to show. The rice is struggling to stand up.

 

 

 

 

June 23, 2009: The rice is beginning to stand on its own, like a child taking it's first steps... a very important stage. We're so proud!

 

 

 

June 21, 2009: A Black-Necked Stilt on the levy. Check out those legs!

 

 

 

 

June 20, 2009: The rice has grown tall enough to poke through the water.

 

 

 

 

June 19, 2009: 16 Day Old Rice sprouts a fourth leaf. After the leaf growth, the plant will start to grow a thicker base, entering the tiller stage.

 

 

 

June 17, 2009: Comparison of rice and weeds growthing in a field of 10 inch water. From left to right: 14 Day Old Rice, rice, water grass weed, duck salad weed, broad leaf weed.

 

 

 

June 16, 2009: 13 Day Old Rice. Showing third leaf growth.

 

 

 

 

June 11, 2009: 8 Day Old Rice. Showing second leaf growth.

 

 

 

 

June 9, 2009: 6 Day Old Rice. First leaf emerging.

 

 

 

 

June 6, 2009: 3 Day Old Rice. The coleoptile stage is the rice growth before the first leaf emerges.

 

 

 

 

June 4, 2009: The water depth is 12 inches. We control water grass by holing deep water for about 25 days.

 

 

 

 

June 3, 2009: You can see that weeds are already growing with the rice.

 

 

 

 

 

June 3, 2009: 1 Day Old Rice. Showing a pip... the tiny little sprout at the tip of the seed.

 

 

 

 

June 3, 2009: The water depth is 10 inches.

 

 

 

 

 

June 2, 2009: Seeds were flown on today. The ariplane swoops down and releases the seed into the flooded waters. You can see the little dust cloud in the back... that is the seed.

 

 

 

June 1, 2009: I put a water depth stake at the red flag on the crop watch field.

 

 

 

 

May 29, 2009: Fields are flooded.

 

 

 

 

 

May 27, 2009:  The field has started to be flooded for planting. Water runs through each field in the ditches created yesterday.

 

 

 

 

May 26, 2009: A John Deere 2840 is making ditches with a slinger drainer.

 

 

 

 

 

May 22, 2009: The "seed bed roller" is used to create a seed bad, making it the final preperation before flooding.

 

 

 

 

May 21, 2009: Land planning to prepare the field for proper growing.

 

 

 

 

May 20, 2009: Ridging the levies. This builds the levies up tall enough so it can hold deep water for water grass control.

 

 

 

 

May 18, 2009: Second discing was finished today.The second discing continues to dry out the soil. A dry seed bed is good for weed control. The second discing helps to incorporate the organic matter. The better the organic matter is turned into the soil the better the conversion to soil nutrients.

 

 

May 15, 2009: Discing in the chopped cover crop.

 

 

 

 

May 12, 2009: After Egg Aid, we could go in a mow down the cover crop. Once it is mowed, we go back through to disc.

 

 

 

 

Egg Aid 2009

Lundberg Family Farms is committed to maintaining healthy ecosystems, which improve the soil while protecting the air, water, and wild life. Planting cover crops on our fields allows us to add nutrients and organic matter to our soils by incorporating them in the spring. By doing so, our fields provide valuable habitat for a variety of animals throughout the year, especially for duck nesting.

Each year, in preparation of spring planting, we recover hundreds (sometimes thousands) of mallard duck eggs from the purple vetch prior to mowing the fields. Every other year, we host Egg Aid, a fun and educational opportunity for kids to learn about rice farming and how Lundberg works to preserve and maintain the habitat for all kinds of species.

This year, Egg Aid took place May 1st on Field 51 with the help of volunteers of the District 10 Wild Duck Egg Salvage Program, and a very helpful fifth grade class from Sierra View Elementary School. Together, they salvaged over 900 duck eggs in one day. That is an Egg Aid record! In total we rescued over 1,500 duck eggs on field 51. Way to go!

Sierra View fifth graders lining up to search the field.
A duck egg nest.
Cover crop 6 feet high!
Eggs go in the carton for safe keeping until they reach an incubator.

In The News:

Check out the Weather in Richvale, Ca