Wheat is the second-most produced crop on Earth, lagging behind only corn. Wheat provides a large fraction of the dietary protein and total food supply, and is grown all throughout the world, in a wide variety of climates. Wheat is a staple crop, grown as a primary food product and for other uses as well. In this article, we will talk about the origin and history of wheat as a cultivated crop, the many uses for wheat, and how wheat is grown today in the United States and around the world.

 Taxonomy and Natural History 

Wheat is perhaps the oldest domesticated plant). According to paleobotanists and archaeologists, the modern domesticated form of this cereal grain originated in Southeastern Anatolia, around the region of Diyarbakir Province in present-day Turkey, around 8500 BC. Many cultures in the region had developed a semi-dependence on wild grains that are the forebears of modern wheat plants, and as cultures grew more adapted to using this handy wild plant, some unnamed geniuses developed methods to permanently cultivate suitable varieties. Over a period of hundreds, and later thousands of years, farmers and proto-agronomists developed more and more fruitful and reliable specimens and bred them selectively.

 

Thanks to those efforts, there are now over 20 different species of wheat cultivated throughout the world. Like other cereal grains such as barley, millet and rice, wheat is a member of the poaceae family, and is related to lawn and prairie grasses. Due to wheat’s thorough domestication over the past 10,000  years, wheat has lost its natural seed dispersal mechanism and can no longer propagate itself naturally.

 

Common Varieties of Wheat

 

There are six distinct varieties of wheat cultivated in the U.S. These are:

-          Durum

-          Hard Red Spring

-          Hard Red Winter

-          Soft Red Winter

-          Hard White

-          Soft White 

In general, “hard” varieties are better for baking bread and brewing, while “soft” wheat is more suited to cake flour and pie crust. Durum is an especially “hard” variety that is used in the manufacture of semolina flour in pasta.

 

Wheat as Food

 

Wheat is most commonly ground into flour for use in the baking of breads; it is also eaten as a porridge-type cereal. Other nutritive uses of wheat includes pasta, made from flour and eggs; bulgur, a North African pilaf similar to rice; as a thickening agent for sauces and gravies when combined with butter and/or oil to form roux; quickbreads (pancakes and muffins); and in unleavened breads such as crackers and matzoh. These examples only scratch the surface of the many food products that clever cooks and bakers have invented over the millennia.

 

Wheat is commonly fermented to make alcoholic beverages, primarily beer. Whiskey made from wheat originated in ancient times when the Roman Empire passed protectionist laws prohibiting the cultivation of grapes north of the Rhine river. Wheat is still the basic ingredient in Scotch and Irish whiskey (the word whiskey derives from the Gaelic word uisge, meaning “water”).

 

The protein found in wheat, known as gluten, makes wheat very versatile in the culinary arts, and is a primary protein source for much of the world’s population.

 

Other Uses of Wheat

 

Wheat is used in a secondary capacity in some markets as a feed for livestock. In extremely primitive agricultural districts, what is still used as a thatching material for huts and sod barns.

 Growing Wheat Wheat thrives in temperate zones throughout the world; a wheat crop can be raised and harvested in a fairly short period of time (seed to harvest is approximately 120 days), making it a popular cash crop. However, wheat is also temperamental; it requires a good working knowledge of the various growing stages in order to know when and how the proper application of fertilizers and pesticides should be done. Wheat is also susceptible to several viruses and fungi and is a primary source of food for the larvae of a number of moths and butterflies; it is estimated that between 10 and 25% of the average wheat crop is lost to disease and pests every year in the United States, and quite probably more in areas with less advanced agricultural infrastructure. The US wheat market is divided into winter wheat (planted in the autumn, harvested in the summer after surviving the winter’s freezes) and spring wheat, which is planted once the danger of frost has passed and is also harvested in the summer.  

At harvest time, wheat stalks begin to bend over from the weight of their kernels, and the entire plant has become golden in color. Traditionally, this is the time of harvest although the modern farmer is more likely to consult a computer program than to eyeball the fields. After the wheat is harvested from the field, machinery separates the stalk and the chaff away from the kernels. The stalks and chaff often are used in applications ranging from mulch to animal bedding. Small organic farmers will permit livestock to graze on a harvested field to make the most use of the byproducts.

 

Currently, China and India produce most of the world’s wheat, although the United States remains a major producer. As population growth slows and more land is turned over to the production of biofuels, less wheat may be raised for food, causing future price hikes. This year, wheat on the futures market has risen to a record $9.00 USD per bushel. Major agricultural price spikes have not spared the wheat market; a drought in Australia and freezing and flooding in the northern hemisphere contribute to a general tightening of food prices and led to wheat’s record price levels. Although weather patterns are always a risk factor in agricultural production, it is likely that wheat prices will fall back somewhat from their current record high, but not likely that there will be a return to low wheat prices in the near future.