Small scale on-farm milling of wheat

[New Puritan]

I've put this in holistic farming as it seems a bit niche to lump into the main crops part of the forum...

Does anyone mill any of their own wheat for direct marketing? @BTS mentions doing it (or something similar?) on his thread. What sort of gear do you use? And who buys it?

I'm just looking at how I can add value to the produce of the farm. It's near the end of the first year and frankly it's not looking all that terrific financially - luckily my day job pays the mortgage and bills.

 

[BTS]

Hello, are you wanting to raise a standard wheat or are you wanting to raise something harder to find???
I raise Turkey Red wheat, it is a heritage grain, meaning that it predates modern breeding. Turkey Red arrived in the US in the early 1870's, brought to Kansas by Mennonite immigrants from Russia, the part now known as Ukraine. It thrived in Kansas, swiftly becoming the primary wheat variety planted throughout the Central Plains.

They started breeding newer varieties and then they quit planting turkey red. I chose turkey red wheat because it makes wonderful flour and if you have gluten allergies (might just be a U.S thing???) chances are you can eat the turkey red flour.

I grow my wheat organic because anyone wanting to us a better flour is going to want it organic. I advertise as "Chemical Free" since I am not organic certified.

I advertise locally, try and find some stores and shops around that carry a healthier product. I am still new at this and learning. I only have 10 acres of land, that is why I found a higher dollar crop, growing a average crop would not pay off at all, this years harvest on the 10 acres payed out around $26,000US at $2.00 per pound.

It helps that I have all old machinery so I don't have a lot of money invested.
The wheat that I grow is real tall, it was around 5'4" tall and I had half the town out there when I was harvesting it.
The older wheat does yield lower but it pays out in the end with the high price.

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions

 

[An Gof]

Guy Eckley in Kent is milling wheat on a small scale in Kent.

https://purekent.wordpress.com/products/

Had a visit there this summer. Mill is self contained in a container. The stone mill was imported from Austria I beleive.

 

[An Gof]

See mill here.

https://m.facebook.com/purekent/?mds=/sharer-dialog.php?fs=5&fr&m=page&sid=1312344038819702&_ft_=top_level_post_id.1312344038819702%3Atl_objid.1312344038819702%3Athrowback_story_fbid.1312344038819702%3Apage_id.129362317117886&internal_preview_image_id&mdf=1

Look for Facebook post on 14th May on timeline.

 

[New Puritan]

Thanks @BTS and @An Gof - things to think about there. Like you BTS, I only farm a small area using old gear, though not in such nice condition as yours! What sort of mill do you use?

Out of interest BTS, I assume you don't use herbicides? What do you do for weed control? Do you hand weed it, do you get in help, or rely on cultivations at the beginning of the season (i.e. stale seedbeds etc.)? I assume growing a taller variety helps too. The spring rye I am growing this year was very good at crowding out all the weeds early on, but an understory of annual weeds has appeared in the last few weeks as the rye has started to dry out.

 

[New Puritan]

Okay, so a bit of research indicates red turkey isn't available in the UK. Is it a type of "red wheat" though? Premium Crops seem to do a line in them, and they look appealing. I'm on heavy land, which creates pressure for me between being able to get onto the field with the plough and having time to do a stale seed bed before planting. Red wheats seem to like being late sown, which would help with this.

When I look at what organic grains are sold for to the general public, (e.g. http://www.survivalwholefoods.co.uk/shop.aspx?cn=A06&cat=Grains), it certainly focusses the mind on what I ought to be trying to do, rather than messing about with Red Tractor and selling to a bulk / wholesaler...

 

[orchard]

It's where we buy our pulses and grain from, organic generally from Canada/China.

Okay, so a bit of research indicates red turkey isn't available in the UK. Is it a type of "red wheat" though? Premium Crops seem to do a line in them, and they look appealing. I'm on heavy land, which creates pressure for me between being able to get onto the field with the plough and having time to do a stale seed bed before planting. Red wheats seem to like being late sown, which would help with this.

When I look at what organic grains are sold for to the general public, (e.g. http://www.survivalwholefoods.co.uk/shop.aspx?cn=A06&cat=Grains), it certainly focusses the mind on what I ought to be trying to do, rather than messing about with Red Tractor and selling to a bulk / wholesaler...

 

[New Puritan]

@orchard - sorry, do you mean Survival Wholefoods? I just found that from an internet search. The name sounds like they are preppers, waiting for the balloon to go up.

 

[orchard]

Ha, the name popped up because so few places sell unprocessed organic pulses at volume.
I think the 'Survival' bit must pertain to the Planet, rather than anything else. The industrial unit isn't camouflaged, is above ground, and gets quite a lot of walk-in middle-class local custom.

@orchard - sorry, do you mean Survival Wholefoods? I just found that from an internet search. The name sounds like they are preppers, waiting for the balloon to go up.

 

[martian]

Interesting prices on their website, Spelt grain at £5/kg sounds pricey and it is at a cool £5000/tonne. Soon pay for a dehuller. Either they've got some unscrupulous suppliers or their guff about not wanting to be greedy is tongue in cheek. There is certainly a big demand for these old grains and you are quite sensible to raise them, NP. We are looking at mills and a bit of processing at the minute (well, not exactly now, the research team have disappeared off to Green Man, whatever that is). I'm sure it's not money for old rope, not much is, but growing 4 tonne/acre feed wheat is a pretty pointless exercise and not especially profitable, so grow what the (middle-class) people want.

 

[New Puritan]

@martian - exactly. I've endured a fair bit of sniping for being organic, but essentially it's a niche market that makes a 46 acre farm (more) viable than if it wasn't. Some (but not all) people are happy to pay a bit more for a recognised "brand" that they feel is better for them or more ethical. Rather than whining that the price has dropped through the floor for whatever commodity I have been producing, I'm trying to flex and produce what the consumers are demonstrating there is demand for.

I've looked at de-hullers too, do you know anything about them? Could one machine be put to different uses - e.g. pumpkin or sunflower seeds as well as grains?

 

[orchard]

The organic pulses when bought in 25kg sacks work out at about the same price as off the supermarket shelf chemical pulses.
The demand's there, farmer's just need to get it to market. Artisanal baker's could be a start.
If you're even more ambitious one could think out of the box like Sharpham Park did with spelt.

Interesting prices on their website, Spelt grain at £5/kg sounds pricey and it is at a cool £5000/tonne. Soon pay for a dehuller. Either they've got some unscrupulous suppliers or their guff about not wanting to be greedy is tongue in cheek. There is certainly a big demand for these old grains and you are quite sensible to raise them, NP. We are looking at mills and a bit of processing at the minute (well, not exactly now, the research team have disappeared off to Green Man, whatever that is). I'm sure it's not money for old rope, not much is, but growing 4 tonne/acre feed wheat is a pretty pointless exercise and not especially profitable, so grow what the (middle-class) people want.

 

[New Puritan]

The industrial unit isn't camouflaged, is above ground, and gets quite a lot of walk-in middle-class local custom.

Actually I'm a bit disappointed to hear that. Haven't they even got a small picture of Mad Max on the wall or something?

 

[New Puritan]

To mill stuff on site, would I need any further inspection / certificates / approvals etc.? i.e. I'd be a processor rather than just a producer.

 

[orchard]

Actually I'm a bit disappointed to hear that. Haven't they even got a small picture of Mad Max on the wall or something?

This is far more likely:

 

[orchard]

To mill stuff on site, would I need any further inspection / certificates / approvals etc.? i.e. I'd be a processor rather than just a producer.

'phone an artisanal traditional mill a few hundred miles from you and ask them. Don't forget to post-up the information you garner. I suspect you will, but maybe not...

 

[New Puritan]

Good idea... I'm happy to share most of what I can find out on here, I only know what I do because others have told me after all. If I develop some amazing IP for my business I might be a bit more guarded, but I don't think I've discussed anything on here which isn't relatively intuitive to anyone thinking along similar lines.

 

[orchard]

I wouldn't worry about it too much mate:

1. It won't yield the instant profit margin for Corp's or large industrial farmer's with their inefficiencies.
2. You'll have established your own loyal client base by the time it works.
3. It's important to encourage alternatives to industrial farming and disseminate research and help.

Imo of course

Good idea... I'm happy to share most of what I can find out on here, I only know what I do because others have told me after all. If I develop some amazing IP for my business I might be a bit more guarded, but I don't think I've discussed anything on here which isn't relatively intuitive to anyone thinking along similar lines.

 

[New Puritan]

I agree completely!

 

[BTS]

Thanks @BTS and @An Gof - things to think about there. Like you BTS, I only farm a small area using old gear, though not in such nice condition as yours! What sort of mill do you use?

Out of interest BTS, I assume you don't use herbicides? What do you do for weed control? Do you hand weed it, do you get in help, or rely on cultivations at the beginning of the season (i.e. stale seedbeds etc.)? I assume growing a taller variety helps too. The spring rye I am growing this year was very good at crowding out all the weeds early on, but an understory of annual weeds has appeared in the last few weeks as the rye has started to dry out.

All my machinery is nice looking because I have gotten into YouTube videos. I have been filming a lot of my farming hoping to make a little extra $$$ on ads.
My machines are all old and worn. If I would have left them with the original paint everyone would say "he's always running that junk machinery" but now with a coat of paint everyone says "WOW he's farming with restored old machinery" and before you know it there is a crowed watching me harvest, or disk, plow ect.

No I don't use any herbicides, I'm 100% chemical free, the wheat is tall enough it helps shade out the weeds, but when the wheat starts leaning over when it drys the weeds really started coming through. I just left the weeds, not really anything I could do about it, I just always hope my seed cleaner gets all the weed seeds out.