From Around the Prairie

By Tracy Sayler

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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.

City-Shy Fungus

Area crop researchers have discovered some odd quirks about scab in their research. Apparently, scab spores have the ability to be air-borne; crop specimens placed on the rooftop of Loftsgard Hall at NDSU in Fargo became infected. However, natural infection was minimal on crop specimens near St. Paul. Why? One crop scientist reasoned in his report that it was "an apparent effect of the urban area surrounding the university agronomy farm." In laymen’s terms, that means the scab spores were scared away by street gangs.

Climatic Mood Swings

Fargo TV meteorologists John Wheeler and Tom Szymanski both agreed in a recent Forum article by Chuck Klosterman that the land mass stretching from northern Canada to Nebraska and from western Minnesota to Montana has the second most varied climate on earth. Because it contains no large bodies of water or nearby mountain ranges, the temperature can swing wildly. Only the Siberian area of Russia has a larger temperature spectrum, with winters that can dip to 90 below and summers that can get as hot as 120 above.

Wheat Wit

When it comes to T-shirt slogans, wheaties (what people within the industry often call themselves ) can be as clever as any Madison Avenue PR agency. The Wheat Foods Council combined an illustration of a bread loaf with the suggestive but attention-getting slogan, "You’re Not Getting Enough." The North Dakota Wheat Commission has T-Shirts with a pasta-pitching Teddy Roosevelt saying, "Speak softly and carry a big linguine." And Dean Folkvord, who processes his own wheat into baked products through his business, Wheat Montana, has as his T-shirt slogan, "Just Dough It."

No Stale Ale

You likely have a better chance of fathering Madonna’s baby than you do of drinking beer that’s tainted with vomitoxin, a contaminant that may be produced from scab. Still, the fear of vomitoxin was a factor in malting barley discounts last season, and understandably so: we wouldn’t want any unexpected buzz from a fermented grain fungus to interfere with the expected buzz from fermented alcohol. As one barley market analyst quipped: vomitoxin in barley shouldn’t really matter. Anyone who drinks more than six beers in one sitting is subject to throwing up anyway."

Bagelnomics

Sign spotted this winter in a St. Paul bagel shop: "We have found it necessary to increase the price of our bagels by five cents, because of the increased wheat prices." Uh huh. And when wheat falls back into the $3 range, what are the odds this bagel shop will post a sign saying, "Great news, bagel buddies! the price of wheat has dropped, so we’ve slashed our prices accordingly!"

Oscar Was A Wheat Grower

Did you know that Hollywood’s most coveted award, the Oscar, is named after a wheat grower? According to the 1992 Old Farmer’s Almanac, in 1931 Margaret Herrick, an employee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, took a look at the nameless statuette presented since 1929 to the best actors, directors, and technicians in the industry and said,

"It reminds me of my Uncle Oscar." Oscar Pierce was technically her second cousin, a Texas wheat farmer who retired and moved to California.

SGI Zingers

This year’s Small Grains Institute is March 6 and 7 at the Winter Shows Building in Crookston. Wayne Humphreys, an Iowa farmer and a motivational speaker, was well received by last year’s SGI crowd. He did some joking (How many lawyers does it take to grease a combine? Two, if you run’em through real slow) but also delivered some good thought provokers. He told of the time when the power on his farm went down, and called the electric company to tell them so. He called the company again when power was restored, and floored the manager. "We had lots of calls telling us the lights went down, but you’re the only person to call to say your lights are back on." Electricity might not be the only thing some people take for granted. "Don’t be like the cob who in 37 years of marriage never kissed and danced with his wife, then shot the guy who finally did," Humphreys said.