Wheat Farming in the Palouse

The Palouse region of south eastern Washington State is among the most productive wheat growing areas of the world. The rolling hills are composed of a special type of soil, can "loess", that has specific water retaining and drainage characteristics that are well suited to dry land farming. The reason the hills have the shape of sand dunes is that they were created in much the same way. Windblown dust over thousands of years accumulated in these sand dune shaped hills. This personal project highlights the growing, harvesting and transportation of wheat in the Palouse. Wheat is the dominant crop in the Palouse, but many farmers also grow barley, lentils, garbanzo beans and other crops.