Seed Grower Specializes In Highway Beautification

Seed Grower Specializes In Highway Beautification CROPS Miscellaneous Instead of bushels/acre Delbert Winterfeld measures his crop in pounds/acre For more than half a century he has focused on niche crops such as native flowers and grasses It’s not for everyone he says but consumer interest is growing and so is his business Cedera Seed Inc in Swan Valley Idaho In addition to growing specialty crops he has the only conditioner in Eastern Idaho to process seeds to sell retail and wholesale from his on-farm business The Lewis flax and Penstemon flowers seen along highway medians in that region likely came from seed he grew The Penstemon seeds are also found in mixes to attract pollinators Other seeds such as Delar Small Burnet blend into wildlife food mixes popular with landowners with CRP ground as well as landscapers and homeowners Winterfeld worked with the U S Forest Service to establish Deustus a white wildflower that thrives in volcanic soil in hot dry climates He started out in the business with his father in the 1950’s growing seed potatoes brome grass and Vernal alfalfa for dryland crops After his father died in 1963 Winterfeld started focusing on brome and other grass seed By the 1980’s he had expanded into a variety of native grass and flower seed crops With a growing demand for native plants the Idaho farmer works closely with the NRCS National Resources Conservation Service to produce seeds suitable for the region which averages 16 to 18 in rainfall/year Even less rain recently has added to the challenge of growing the crops on dryland But the biggest challenge is weed control and finding licensed herbicides that won’t kill the flowers and grasses too Winterfeld grows 20 acres of flowers and sometimes weed control comes down to old-fashioned hoeing He also grows 20 acres of forbs such as Sainfoin which is popular with cattlemen to improve livestock forage It takes two years to establish grass and flower seed crops Flowers are planted in the fall and grasses are planted in the spring Some of the varieties are combined as they are cut Others are swathed to allow the seeds to mature and dry before being combined Flower seed production lasts a few years before the ground must be rotated with peas to add nitrogen Some grass seed crops are rotated after just two years of production “It’s unconventional farming and it’s risky because many of our users have CRP land and as commodity prices rise CRP acreage is falling ” Winterfeld says Still there are many farmers with CRP land and there’s interest in the seeds he processes beyond Idaho into Montana North Dakota New Mexico and other places with similar growing conditions Plus plants that attract pollinators are in demand Winterfeld installed his seed conditioner in 2000 so he can process his own crops instead of hauling them 150 miles to be processed He has more than 30 varieties of flower and grass seeds available to sell in small and large quantities wholesale and retail Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Cedera Seed Inc 114 State Highway 31 P O Box 97 Swan Valley Idaho 83449 ph 208 483-3683; www yourseedsupplier com

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