B—Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 15, 1972
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If the smell of buckwheat cakes
wafts through your house on
Sunday morning, or buckwheat
groats are turning up on your
plate in place of rice, you’re
probably part of the buckwheat
revival
Though buckwheat originated
in Central Asia, it’s been grown in
America since colonial times.
Primarily used for buckwheat
pancakes and as a livestock feed
through the years, its popularity
almost came to an end in the
1960’s with our tendency to eat
less starchy foods and ones
without such a strong flavor as
buckwheat. In addition, modern
farm machinery permitted
quicker planting of other crops,
meaning farmers are less
dependent on quick-maturing
crops like buckwheat.
With buckwheat’s revival in the
1970’s has come other uses for
this nutritious food.
Buckwheat flour can not only
be used for pancakes, but m
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breads and other baked goods to
add a darker color.
Buckwheat groats—the hulled
kernel—can be used as a sub
stitute for rice and as a stuffing
for turkey or chicken.
Groats can be marketed whole,
cracked, or as a coarse granular
product. It’s also used for break
fast food, porridge, and as a
thickener for soups, gravies, and
dressings
Buckwheat’s never been a
terribly important gram (ac
tually, it’s not even a true grain),
but when it was at its U.S. peak in
1866, production reached 22,
million bushels. Demand,
however, steadily fell off as
breakfast habits changed and as
farmers found other feed crops
more satisfactory. By 1969, buck
wheat production had reached a
record low of less than three
quarters of a million bushels.
But the advent of the 1970’s saw
an upsurge in buckwheat con
sumption. The cause is twofold:
• PARKING LOTS
RECREATION AREAS
• FARM LANES
• DRIVEWAYS
DENVER, R.D. 1
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new buckwheat products such as
ready-to-eat cereal plus in
creased interest in “natural”
foods. As a “natural” food, buck
wheat rates high in nutritional
value, equal or above many other
cereals or seeds.
Today, you’ll find buckwheat
groats and straight buckwheat
flour displayed prominently
among the “natural” foods—
while not many years ago it was
hidden m an obscure corner in
stores.
Buckwheat pancake mix
continues as the most popular
food use of buckwheat and
contains about 40 per cent buck
wheat flour in addition to wheat
Chops Fast and Fine—at Low Cost Per Ton
The Model 720 FORAGER makes htgh
quality haylage and silage chopped the
way you want, at a cost that'll help your
profits on your livestock From multiple
position hitch to adjustable deflector
spout the 720 is designed for efficient
economical forage harvesting and fast
changes from one crop to another
6' pick up attachment handles heavy
windrows with ease does a clean job
m picking up green forage, wilted hay
cured hay or straw Pick up fingers comb
the stubble and feed material to the auger
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Row-crop attachments match your row
width guide stalks into chopper with
three gathering chains per row Two row
attachment adjusts for rowspaemgs from
28 to 42 one row attachment har
vests rows of any width
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Nissley Farm Service Grumelli Farm Service
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and other flours. Most recently,
there’s been the introduction of
ready-to-eat buckwheat cereal.
In fact, buckwheat has been
doing so well in the seventies that
domestic production can’t keep
up with demand, necessitating
large imports.
However, the solution to the
production problem is not as
simple as planting additional
acreage.
Buckwheat faces stiff com
petition for acreage from other
crops, and at presant, can’t
really compete in terms of in
come to farmers.
Its yield-per-acre hasn’t
changed much in 20 years while
corn’s has gone up 100 per cent,
wheat’s 80 per cent, and oats’—
one of buckwheat’s main com
petitors for acreage, nearly 70
per cent. Thus, farmers can get
far greater yield, and often farm
more money, from other crops.
And because of the nature of
the plant— it’s cross-pollinated
and can’t be inbred—it is not well
adapted to plant breeding
Martin's
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720 FORAGER
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Cylinder center pivot maintains constant
relationship between gathering unit and
feed roils for even feeding
Feed roll springs are adjustable to give
you the proper tension for any crop
Reversing mechanism lets you reverse
rotation of feed rolls and gathering unit
from tractor seat for fast clean out
Eight cupped tungsten carbide knives on
cylinder cut and throw crop in a single
fast smooth operation There s no need
for a power consuming blower Scissors
action of curved knives against shear bar
produces a fine cut
Shear pins protect cylinder drive and
drive line for long life
Built in sharpener lets you pul fresh keen
edge on knives without removing them
from the cylinder
Be sure p apply enough
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Shear bar is reversible and replaceable
with hardened edges for clean cutting
Delivery chute rotates for side or rear
delivery into truck or wa9on can be
positioned easily from tractor seat
Deflector spout adjusts from tractor seat
for full wagon loading
Multiple position hitch adjusts easily to
match tractor drawbar height
Heavy 6" tubular steel frame is built to
withstand the jolts and jars of operation
over rough fields
Optional axle extensions change harvester
tread to match row widths
High flotation tires are available if field
conditions require them
research. But without increased
research efforts, the yield-per
acre standstill probably won’t be
overcome.
Now, buckwheat is often
planted only after the farmer has
failed in his efforts to plant other
crops. To get enough buckwheat
at reasonable prices, some
buyers contract acreage.
In the past 20 years, U.S. buck
wheat production fell from 4.4
million bushels (1950) to 678,000
bushels (1969). Acreage has
dipped from 253,000 acres to
39,000.
Historically, the leading buck
wheat States have been New
York, Pennsylvania, Michigan,
and Wisconsin.
While New York continues to be
first, its production has dropped
from 1.5 million bushels in 1950 to
216.000 in 1969. Harvested area
shrank from more than 70,000 to
14.000 acres.
Meanwhile, Pennsylvania’s
production has dropped even
more dramatically. It’s gone
(Continued On Page 9)
L. H. Brubaker
Lancaster, Pa.