Grain growers in Vermont are reporting a particularly tough season. Growers says grains like wheat don’t do well in wet conditions, particular like those Vermont had in the early summer when wheat is flowering.
Ben Gleason of Gleason Grains says this is the worst season he’s ever had. Gleason grows wheat, mills it into flour and sells the finished product.
He says he may resort to buying grain from another farm in order to keep his flour business running:
“I have a neighbor who grows wheat, and I haven’t heard back from her to see what her wheat is like. And I have some wheat left over from last year. But right now, unless I can buy some, I will be running out of wheat long before I can harvest more next year.”
Interest in growing grains in Vermont has risen in recent years with the rise price of feed grain.
UVM agronomist Heather Darby says the local food movement is also driving grain production that has a unique flavor.
“All the grain, really, that people can access in co-ops stores, is from a single farm in a single variety from a single year. So it really does have a terroir.
Grains like wheat, spelt and rye are a tiny piece of Vermont’s agricultural production. The vast majority of cropland in Vermont is corn grown for forage.
