Crop circles on the High Plains

As I flew into Lubbock this week, I stared out the window.  No matter how many times I see the High Plains, I’m always taken by how different it is than the other places I visit.  In fact, I’d say it’s different than all the places I visit.  I love it.  I was also lovin the fact I could hop on a direct flight, thereby avoiding what I generally refer to as the curse of DFW.  I absolutely love the way the landscape is so different.  The way farmers on the High Plains have different water use programs — my favorite to see from above is the center pivot that creates crop circles.

Frequently when I travel, I’m with a farm or ag expert of one kind or another.  This week was no different.  So while the cotton guys on the flight weren’t my travel buddies for the week, there were others who were going to join me for a bit. Having been to this farm several times over the past few years, and knowing the farmer well.  I thought some of that info could come in handy. 

After I picked up the early morning arrivals, we headed out.  The turn off the highway, and then the turn on the farm road… well, they put us alongside the farm we were visiting for the day.  And the crop planted there… well it wasn’t a mainstream crop so I asked the experts if they recognized it. Check it out.

So they thought of various weeds it resembled, but the row pattern convinced them that wasn’t the way to go.  Finally I said, “I bet that’s a sesame field.”  Knowing Steve grew such a unique crop alongside his cotton, corn & sorghum, I had a bit of insider information.  One of the experts in the truck was soon punching it up on google and confirming it was indeed sesame!  But we had a field day to get to…. and what a day it was!  There were HUNDREDS of farmers there!

And Steve so enjoys hosting these events that he even painted his barn so it looked top notch!

Since our exposure to the crop before this time had been on hamburger buns or in the oil used to cook something…. we let our curiosity take over and we stopped on the return trip to town.  I haven’t been in a crops that was that unique in a while, and we had trouble getting over the fact that we could smell sesame!  We got the lowdown on it from Steve and one of the guys ran his hand up a stalk so seeds would come off and wow the smell was strong!  It was part of my education for the day!