Belle Valley Ancient Grains

10/01/2026

Interesting how the taller ancient wheat does a better job of providing a canopy to help control weeds. Bob Quinn has been working with ancient and all types of wheat for decades.

09/20/2026

Thankful for a shed full of grain and hay as harvest season comes to an end. Still a lot of hay to put up, about 110 acres, and oddly enough we're delayed by rain. That and other activities for the coming weeks will include cleaning grain and planting winter wheat (Spelt). Done cleaning Glenn and Red Fife. White Sonora, Rouge d Bordeaux, Khorasan are next, then Spelt, Einkorn, and Clarks Cream. Pics from the last month. (Note; If you're wondering why we talk a lot about hay on a grain page, it's because certified organic standards require crop rotation and our rotation is primarily wheat and hay.)

09/10/2026

From the Bread recipe on our website - this uses 50% of our Baking Blend and 50% bread flour. Rolled out half for cinnamon rolls and it worked great. Baking Blend has Red Fife, White Sonora, Clark’s Cream, and Spelt. Nice flavor!

08/26/2026

August 24th, last load from the last field. The winter wheat did okay. Spring wheat not as good. We usually try to kill - by tillage - as much of the prior crop as possible (alfalfa orchard grass hay) prior to planting the spring wheat. As we are pushing toward regenerative practices, that means keeping living roots in the soil year around (hay in our case) to support the soil biome. Found out that one or two light tillage passes were not enough and the alfalfa came back - competing with the wheat so spring wheat yields were down. There were other factors like no rain for weeks after planting and very hot June. The good news is the alfalfa and orchard grass have come back strong and we should get a hay crop after the wheat. The second picture is of cracks in a part of the field where the soil is clay rich. We will get water on it in the coming days, and the clay will swell - closing the cracks and hopefully the dry soil will produce a ton of hay per acre by late September. Oh and while the wheat was actively growing that cracked ground was well watered but it hasn't had water since the wheat was done producing grain heads.

08/13/2026

Our neighbors across the river!

08/06/2026

Fun fact, the cranberry walnut bagel has 500 grams of locally grown Glenn red wheat flour from Belle Valley Ancient Grains to make it taste just right!

Did you have a chance to try it yet? Get in touch to order or come down to the Brookings Farmers Market this Saturday to get yours 🥯🎈😀

$3.50 each or 6 for $18

07/24/2026

All that can be said about this forecast is that "it's good haying weather". The hay should dry down in a hurry, maybe three days, with the high temperature and humidity at 15 to 20%. Also perfect for combining or "threshing" wheat. The next two days will be spent raking or windrowing hay in the morning. That's done in the morning while dew is on so the leaves don't shatter. Then threshing starts in the afternoon when the wheat moisture is at a minimum. Ellie and I will be thinking about cool Box Elder creek that we all enjoyed last week. Every year for a week or two between haying and wheat harvest we establish summer camp at Box Elder Forks or Hanna campground, then commute an hour back home daily to switch irrigation, water the yard etc.

07/19/2026

A good stand of Clark’s Cream hard white winter wheat. Next is Spelt, then spring wheat in 3 weeks.

07/06/2026

SDSU Organic Farm Tour July 17th!

SDSU Extension will host an organic farm tour on Friday, July 17, from 9:00 a.m. to 5:15 p.m. at the SDSU West River Research Farm.

07/04/2026

The good stuff! Happy 4th of July!