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Our Industry: Grains - Wheat
WHEAT
What It Is, How It's Marketed and How It's Used
Wheat is the number one food grain grown in the United States and the world.
It is believed that wheat developed from a type of wild grass native to the arid lands of Asia Minor. Cultivation of wheat is thought to have originated in the Euphrates Valley as early as 10,000 B.C., making it one of the world's oldest cereal crops. In the Mediterranean region, centuries before recorded history, wheat was an important food. Wheat played such a dominant role in the Roman Empire that at the time it often was referred to as a "Wheat Empire."
Wheat, which can be produced in a wide range of climates and soil conditions, grows in areas as far north as the Arctic Circle and as far south as the equator. The production of wheat is so widespread that it is being harvested somewhere in the world in any given month. But wheat grows best in regions having temperate climates with rainfall between 12 and 36 inches per year. The United States ranks fourth in world wheat production, following: 1) China; 2) the Commonwealth of Independent States; and 3) the European Community (whose major producers are France, the United Kingdom and Germany).
The Varieties of Wheat
The number of wheat varieties exceeds any other seed-bearing plant. There are two general types of wheat -- Winter and Spring -- reflecting the time of year the seed is planted. Normally, about 70 to 80 percent of U.S. production is winter wheat.
There are five major classes of wheat grown in the United States:
- Hard Red Winter: This class is grown mostly in the western two-thirds
of Kansas and adjoining parts of Nebraska, Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle.
- Hard Red Spring: This class is grown primarily in the Northcentral
states, such as North Dakota and Minnesota, where the winters are too severe
for winter wheat production.
- Soft Red Winter: The main growing area extends from central Texas
northward to the Great Lakes and east to the Atlantic Coast, but is concentrated
in Illinois, Indiana and Ohio.
- White: This class, which can be both a winter and spring variety,
is produced in the Pacific Northwest and to a lesser extent in southern Michigan
and western New York.
- Durum: Production is centered in North Dakota, with lesser amounts
in Minnesota, Montana, South Dakota and Arizona.
The Wheat Plant -- Stages of Life
The stages of life of the wheat plant vary somewhat depending upon the variety being grown:
- Planting: Planting of winter wheat usually occurs in September
or early October when the soil has sufficient moisture to germinate the seed.
The germinated seed lies dormant during the winter. Spring wheat is
planted as early in the spring as temperatures allow.
- Growing: The winter wheat plant resumes its growth in the
spring. The head of the wheat plant, which contains the kernels, develops
at the tip of the stem. The stem grows rapidly, pushing the head up and out
of the top leaf sheath. After the head emerges, flowering occurs and the kernels
begin to develop. After the kernels have developed fully and filled, the leaves
and stem lose their green color and the kernels quickly dry.
- Harvest: Combines harvest the crop once the kernels have dried to 15 percent moisture or less. Harvesting of winter wheat starts in May and usually is completed by late July. Harvesting of spring wheat begins in late July and is completed by late August.
Wheat -- Its Journey to Market
Of U.S. wheat utilized each year:
- more than 50 percent is exported to foreign customers.
- about 33 percent is consumed domestically as a food product.
- about 8 percent is used as feed for livestock.
- about 4 percent is used as seed.
Most of the wheat grown by farmers is sold to a nearby country elevator. Small flour mills may buy the wheat directly from farmers.
The country elevator serves a vital role. It is where producers obtain the farm supplies -- such as seed, fertilizer and chemicals -- needed to grow the crop. The country elevator dries, stores and conditions the grain. The wheat then is sold to a terminal elevator or flour miller. Terminal elevators -- large grain-handling facilities located in such major marketing areas as Kansas City, Minneapolis, Portland, St. Louis and Toledo -- store and condition the wheat before selling and shipping it to a flour miller or export elevator, which in turn sells the wheat to an overseas customer. Large flour millers buy most of their wheat from terminal elevators because that is where they can obtain large quantities of different wheat varieties and classes on the spot.
When entering into a contract, the buyer and seller agree on the price, quantity and quality of grain involved; and the price discounts or premiums that will apply if the actual grain shipped has a higher or lower quality than requested. The buyer and seller also decide how the wheat is to be shipped (truck, rail or barge) and the shipment period.
As wheat is traded in the marketing system, whoever owns it faces market risk as prices rise and fall to reflect supply and demand. For this reason, wheat often is "hedged" in the futures market. In "hedging," a person buys or sells an equivalent quantity of grain at a future month at a set price. That protects against unexpected price changes that can trim an already small profit margin.
Wheat -- How It's Transformed into Useful Products
Before it can be used as food or feed, wheat must be processed
by a mill. Flour millers select wheat based upon its protein content, price,
baking quality, appearance, flour yield value and other quality factors. There
are four major steps in the flour milling process:
- Cleaning: First, the wheat is cleaned by specially designed machines
that remove impurities, such as garlic bulblets, weed seeds and straw.
- Tempering: Moisture then is applied to the kernel in a process known
as tempering, which toughens the bran coat and causes it to separate more
completely from the endosperm.
- Grinding: The tempered wheat then is fed to the mill, where the
kernel is cracked and ground by passing it through a series of rollers. After
each set of rollers, the wheat is sifted to separate the fine flour particles
from the coarser endosperm particles and bran. The fine particles become the
flour. The intermediate products, with a texture between bran and flour, are
known as the middlings. Middlings are removed and used in livestock feed.
- Enrichment: In the final step, the miller bleaches the flour and
adds B vitamins (such as niacin, thiamine and riboflavin), as well as iron,
to the flour before it is packaged.
Wheat -- Different Classes for Different Uses
Hard wheats contain more protein (11 to 18 percent) than soft wheats (8 to 11 percent). Hard wheats also contain more gluten. These different quality factors make each class of wheat desirable for specific -- but different -- foods:
- Hard Red Winter Wheat and Hard Red Spring Wheat produce a high-grade
flour used to make bread, hamburger buns and biscuits.
- Soft wheat produces a flour that is desirable for baked goods that
have a tender, flaky or crisp texture, like cakes, doughnuts, cookies and
crackers.
- White wheat is a soft wheat that produces flour used for cereals, cookies and cakes
About 85 percent of U.S. white wheat production is exported to Japan and Korea as raw wheat, rather than as flour.
- Durum -- which contains more protein than any other class -- produces a coarse, golden amber product called semolina that is mixed with water to form a dough that then is forced through dies that shape it into pasta products like spaghetti, noodles and macaroni.