Driving
Tours in Washington, USA
Moses Lake to Ritzville via Rosenoff Rd
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Overview
Map
The Route
Vital
Statistics
Highlights
Wheat
Country
Critters
Cool Facts
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Some
Cool Wheat Facts
- In 1879, Jared Harris and James
Bennett sowed the first wheat in Adams County. Their crop was
promptly eaten by marauding squirrels.
- This is channeled
scabland country, a desert which offers a rich light loessal (fertile,
wind-deposited) soil, and a yearly average of 12 inches
precipitation, suitable for dryland wheat.
- Only about half of the land
of dry-land farms is planted each year. The remaining half is left idle to
collect moisture for next year's crop. This practice is called summer fallow rotation.
- With the Columbia
Basin Irrigation Project, water was made available for more
water-hungry crops such as asparagus, potatoes, and corn. On irrigated farms, the land is
planted yearly (annual cropping).
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 Washington's $815 million wheat crop includes most of the nation's soft white wheat, a must ingredient in
confectionery products.
- Two distinct types of soft white wheat are grown: club and common. Club wheats have shorter,
more compact heads than common types. The two are often marketed as a mixture called Western
White, one of the world's most popular wheat mixes, available only from the Pacific
Northwest.
- Depending on whether you want to see greens or golds, the
following indicates the best time to visit wheat country: Most wheat grown in Washington is winter wheat, which is planted in the fall and harvested the
following summer. A faster-maturing wheat can be planted in the early spring and harvested the same
summer.
- Wheat is Washington's third largest farm product, following apples
and milk.
- Washington is the fifth largest grower of wheat in the U.S.
Due to a
combination of favorable climate, rich soils, and progressive growers,
each of Washington's wheat-acres produces far more bushels than
any acre in other wheat-growing states.
- Up to 90% of the wheat grown in Washington goes overseas to
countries such as Japan and Pakistan.
- For more fascinating wheat
facts, see the Washington
Wheat Facts pamphlet, by the Washington Wheat Commission on the
RedFish BlueFish web site.
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