Political Picture

Wheat field, corner of Welker and Old
Bath Road, Barrington, New York

Signs of summer
I am of course way behind in getting new pictures up on Flickr (because I'm late with everything always), but I thought I'd mention a few things about this one.

It's the middle of summer now (but not Midsummer, which is a specific day). To me, the middle of summer is reached when the first bloom appears on my big Rose of Sharon bush outside the kitchen window. That was yesterday. Today there are ten blooms, and soon it will be covered. Also yesterday, by coincidence, the last batch of robin fledglings from the nest outside my back door made the leap of their lives and left the nest. I didn't see it happen, but everyone's gone now. The fledglings are at the greatest risk over the next two weeks. I sure hope they make it!

The two robin babies who left the nest yesterday,
and the Mama robin who has done her bit
for Robinkind this year. iPhone 13
at maximum digital zoom.

I did what I could to help. I didn't mow under the nest after the eggs hatched, and all summer I've left a tray of premium dried mealworms out on the top of the propane tanks, so the birds can get to them but the dogs can't. American robins don't eat birdseed, and dried mealworms are rich in nutrients for the parents, the eggs, and the babies. There hasn't been any shortage of earthworms this year, either, because of all the rain. That and berries are their other favorite foods.

Three batches of eggs were raised in my back porch nest this year, two fledglings in each batch. I haven't been able to figure out if it's the same nesting pair. I got to see the second set leave the nest. It was quite dramatic. I think it was the same Mama all summer because of her behavior—she was easily alarmed and readily spooked at the beginning of the first nesting, but eventually she learned that I was not a danger and she'd just sit there letting me talk at her, and only fly off when I circled around the nest to replenish the mealworms. Then, with each successive nesting, the Mama acted exactly the same way. So I think it was the same mother for all three nestings.

Wheat
Two things about the wheat field picture. First, I was surprised at how difficult it is to get a halfway decent picture of a wheat field. The best one I know of is by a guy named Lawrence McFarland. This one is merely decent, not rising anywhere near the quality of his, but I took a lot of pictures of wheat fields before I got one even this good. The other subject I'm on the trail of is a field with cows in it. Sounds simple, but I haven't made a good one yet, unless you count my shot of the cows gathered under the little stand of trees to escape the early September heat.

The second thing is that this picture has some political content. Well, a little. My area is a wheat-producing region, so wheat fields aren't unusual, and I've only been here for eight years, which is not enough to make me an expert. However, simply by looking and paying attention, I'm pretty certain I can say that there's a lot more wheat being grown locally this year than in the other years I've been around.

The reason isn't far to seek. Russia and Ukraine combined are responsible for a whopping 28% of global wheat exports in normal times. Wheat prices are up an average of 50% nationally because of the sorry situation in Ukraine. A local farmer told me that "fifty percent is huge."  So this field, where I've never seen wheat before, is a wheat field because of Vladimir Putin's crazy imperialistic obsessions and Russia's unilateral aggressions.

I took this only 18 days ago, but the wheat in the picture has now been threshed, the wheat straw baled and carried away, and the secondary crop is coming up in the understory. Wheat fields all over the area have been harvested already. Good thing I took this picture when I did, because I'm not going to get a chance again until next year—and I hope not even then.

Mike

Original contents copyright 2023 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Bill Tyler: "Cows in the field. Try doing a Google search for 'Cole Weston Palo Corona Ranch.' I used to drive by that spot frequently, but never saw the light and cattle arranged as he found them. It's taken from California Highway 1, just south of Rio Road in Carmel on the way to Big Sur."

GKFroehlich: "That photo shows so much grain! But I do like the crop."

Comments

[Geoffrey Wittig]

My favorite photographer of wheat-fields is Don Kirby, a classic large format black & white maven from the Pacific Northwest who is now 87 years old. His book Wheatcountry (2005) is beautiful, with 40 duotone plates. I believe it is still available via his website. His book Grasslands is equally solemn and beautiful.

[c.d.embrey]

We don't grow wheat in my neck of the woods. Therefore I've never seen a wheatfield. Farms were replaced by houses many years ago.

I've never seen a need for a Flickr account. YMDoesV

[K4kafka]

Over the years you’ve tested many cameras,lenses and shooting genres. Do you now consider yourself a, “landscape photographer” ?

[Jim Arthur]

I recently learned I could display my most viewed pictures on my Flickr About page and I was surprised to see that people like pictures of cows. I poked around a little and found that the cow print pattern was a recent trend and can be found on clothing, purses, mugs and all sorts of things. Whodathunk.

[Phil]

I have to confess. At first glance, I thought it was a lake. I guess I've never seen a wheat field. Phil

[Richard Parkin]

I’ve driven and walked past a lot of wheat fields and the feeling I get from these modern short stemmed varieties is that the surface looks so solid that one could walk on it. The uniformity is unnatural and slightly disturbing.

[Terry Letton]

I sympathize with you on the wheat field quest. I have searched for a nice cranberry bog shot for quite some time with little success. In fact I only have a couple of actual exposures, the rest have not been worth of wasting the storage space for the pixels involved. I do have what I remember as a nice shot of cows in a field with the ocean in the background. However I apparently never posted it to my 500px page so I can’t send you a link, sorry.