Im thinking about planting buckwheat for bee's But i also want to harvest it :)

[Buzzy Bee]

I was going to plant buckwheat in all my pastures due to the bee's are suppose to love it

I heard they were suppose to flower all over the place and be very hardy in my area.

I also heard that they were suppose to produce a ton of crop (example. 50 pounds of seed was suppose to make 1500 pounds of crop)

So this would be good for my chickens too

Now here is the problem How do I harvest it.

I don't think it is very practical to buy a combine to harvest 3 acres of land lol.

If someone sold a thresher I would get one but I cant find one anywhere used of otherwise

What do you guys suggest? Thanks

[tsmullins]

This response is a bit off topic, so please forgive me. Bees absolutely work buckwheat. However, the honey is very strong tasting, and not to many people's liking.

Shane

[Ian]

your only option other than gathering by hand is a combine
if your seeding the crop, and tilling the crop, you will need a tractor anyway,
perhaps you have one big enough to pull an old small pull type combine

the thing is, unless you go all the way through with your crop project, you might as well seed it down to alfalfa and clover pasture. Growing a crop requires alot of machine work

[Cantrellc123]

If row crop agriculture is strong in your area then you should be able to find someone who combines crops for other people.
The downside would be unless their equipment was very close it would be prohibitively expensive to have them move their equipment to your place to combine THREE acres. I'd say 10 acres would be minimum required before anybody with said equipment would even consider your proposal.

[Rocketcaver]

I had plans of planting buckwheat years ago for my bees, until I tasted some buckwheat honey that is. I planted clover instead.

[Buzzy Bee]

I have a tractor and a tiller and many implements.

Is there a tractor pulled combine? I had no idea if one existed. If there is such a thing i would like one

I was hopping to find a thresher or something more portable.

Most people around here dont own a combine and even if they did i dont think they would harvest my field.

I have alfalfa and clover in another field but it had a tuff time last year due to the drought.

I was wanting to try a crop that you could harvest grain of of for my chickens so i could lower feed costs and such. I have a LOT of chickens. With more soon to come.

I will look for a tractor pulled combine.

The thing that annoys me the most is i KNOW threshers used to exist and would be WAY more practical for my small field than a huge combine lol

Thanks

[Mr. C]

<However, the honey is very strong tasting, and not to many people's liking.>

<I had plans of planting buckwheat years ago for my bees, until I tasted some buckwheat honey that is.>

Buckwheat honey is amazing and fetches a premium price. Not everyone likes lobster or champagne either, but then again there's no accounting for taste

I'm hoping to get a bit this year off a field so I can brew some dark honey ale.

[Rader Sidetrack]

I was hopping to find a thresher or something more portable.

Finding a tractor operated thresher in decent shape may be difficult. An alternative, for small acreage, is to do a conversion on a chipper/shredder. See these links:
http://www.savingourseeds.org/pdf/grain_thresher.pdf
http://sustainableseedsystems.wsu.ed...threshing.html

You could haul the modified chipper around the cut field with a tractor. You would still need to feed the machine by hand, but hey, its only three acres!

[sonnypemberton]

I do the plowdown method - I have 2 plantings (starting in April) and plant 30 days apart. It only takes buckwheat 30 days to bloom, and here it blooms for around a month. By plowing down when the seed harden, you can keep the 2 crops blooming until frost. I left mine standing for the quail, geese, doves, chickens etc because I had the same problem with harvest - some will last until the next year when you can plow and reseed again.

[FlowerPlanter]

I have alfalfa and clover in another field but it had a tuff time last year due to the drought.

I was wanting to try a crop that you could harvest grain of of for my chickens so i could lower feed costs and such. I have a LOT of chickens. With more soon to come.

A friend planted buckwheat last year for deer. The drought came and it did not even bloom.

I would wait on the buckwheat, by the rainfall so far this winter my guess is we will have another drought this year.

I am planting sweet clover this year for the bees, it's drought resistant.

For chicken feed buy it in bulk from a local farmer. Sorghum is about $12 per 100 lbs

[Buzzy Bee]

Finding a tractor operated thresher in decent shape may be difficult. An alternative, for small acreage, is to do a conversion on a chipper/shredder. See these links:
http://www.savingourseeds.org/pdf/grain_thresher.pdf
http://sustainableseedsystems.wsu.ed...threshing.html

Thank you I think that will work perfect. Ill do some more research into but i have already found a convertible chipper shredder for $300

I'm hoping to get a bit this year off a field so I can brew some dark honey ale.

Hahahahaha If i dont like the flavor that would be a good alternative

A friend planted buckwheat last year for deer. The drought came and it did not even bloom.

Yes the drought was a problem last year so i put in a big irrigation system to try and keep my alfalfa alive. I guess it worked because i still have some

I will probably go to flood due to sprinkler systems evaporate most of the water before it hits the ground.

Also there is not a local farmer to buy bulk grain from. Just the feed store like MFA. Local farmers lost most of there crop to drought.

Thanks again

[Ian]

a thresher would be an option, but really a lot of work. and more work to get it going
three acres does not sound like alot of work, but if you intend to manage this bit of land this way, Id go with an old pull type

Ya, pull type combines are very common 20 years and back

look for a good old 914 International, they are simple, and lots of them around and can be run with low HP tractors
perfect for 3 acres of buckwheat

[JRG13]

yeah, hand threshing 3 acres would be no fun. Cutting and bundling threshable piles takes time and then you have the big waste pile to deal with as well as catching all your seed and typically having to clean it again since most hand threshers aren't very efficient.

[cana]

i planted some last year and the bees loved it

[jdawdy]

Feel free to eat it My Russian wife cooks buckwheat groats all the time. Sort of like a short-grain brown rice, with a slightly nutty flavor. Good for people who are gluten-intolerant.

[mike haney]

If you want to feed the seed to chickens in the simplest way just let the seed harden on the stalk and BushHog it down and let the chickens free range it

[Roland]

Look into what settings are needed on the combine. You should find settings on line. Buckwheat is a very light seed, not like the other grain crops.

I had 23 acres planted a few years back, and got ZERO honey.

Crazy Roland

[cdevier]

The most common pull-type combine here in Missouri was the Allis Chalmer. There are a lot of them setting around today. We used a 30 horse power tractor to pull our AC. If you decide to buy one , be sure to check the belts (especially the drive belt) and condition of the "canvas" on the cutter platform. Both can be very expensive and many times someone has removed these items to use on another machine. These machines are easy to work on and if you are at all machanically minded, should not have much trouble.
Charlie