Insights
2020 is a year that won’t be easily forgotten. Easy parts of every day living became hard, and the parts that took hard work became harder work. Despite always being prepared for the unplanned during harvest (this year growers experienced breakdowns, huge holes in combine hoppers, and even a combine up in flames), it is more than rewarding to see the end result.
Looking at the farms, before anything ever arrived at the Timeless facility, we knew this year would yield millions of pounds of lentils, chickpeas, and grain. (That is A LOT of good food there!)
2020 was an amazing harvest, particularly for lentil growers. Unfortunately, that wasn’t universal for every single grower; some had adverse conditions and situations that evolved from pests, like grasshoppers and cornworm.
Several growers had exemplary crops this year; they did a great job of harvesting and cleaning their seed.
“We and our growers have come a very long way as far as developing better means with timeliness, seeding, and more,” Jim Barngrover, one of Timeless’ founding farmers and Manager of Grower Contracting and Crop Procurement, said, talking about the success this year.
Farmers who planted a cover crop back in 2019, saw exceptionally good lentils on those fields specifically this year. Mixing numerous species, they let the crop get fairly mature and then put cattle on it to graze. The cows ate and cleaned up weeds and left their manure behind, giving the cattle and soil nutrient boosts. Not all of Timeless farmers own livestock but implementing an integrated rotation proved fruitful this year.
Acknowledging the challenges and the successes, what could possibly make a great harvest year even more memorable? Getting to spend a special day with one of our growers who had chickpeas to harvest in mid-September, but more on that in mid- 2021.
Tough moments we have to adapt to, successful results, and special moments alike, we are grateful for all of our Timeless family. So, thank you farmers, and we are looking forward to 2021.
If you’d like to get to know our farmers you can check our blog for Farmer Features and get a glimpse into who is growing your food.