Wheat is the number one
crop grown in Oklahoma. Most of the wheat grown here is hard
red winter wheat. This is the kind of wheat that grows best
in our climate and in states like Kansas, Colorado and Texas.
Hard red winter wheat is used mostly to make bread.
The most common varieties of hard, red winter wheat planted
by Oklahoma producers are Jagger, Endurance and Overley.
Other kinds of wheat
grown in the US include durum, a very hard, translucent,
light colored grain used to make semolina flour for pasta;
hard red spring wheat, a hard, brownish, wheat used for bread
and hard baked goods; soft red winter wheat, a soft, brownish,
wheat used for bread; hard white wheat, a hard, light colored,
wheat used for bread and brewing; and soft white wheat, a soft,
light colored, used for bread.
In 2003, Oklahoma ranked
number two in the nation in the production of hard red winter
Wheat is grown on more
land area worldwide than any other crop and is a close third
to rice and corn in total world production. In 2004, world
wheat production was approximately 624 million tons.
Because wheat is such
a versatile crop, it is being harvested somewhere in the
world every month of the year.
Wheat is well adapted
to harsh environments and is mostly grown on wind-swept areas
too dry and too cold for rice and corn.
In 2004 the world leaders
in wheat production were China (91.3 million tons), India
(72 million tons), United States (58.8 million tons), Russia
(42.2 million tons), France (39 million tons) and Australia
(22.5 million tons).
Wheat supplies about
20 percent of the food calories for the world’s people
and is a national staple in many countries. In Eastern Europe
and Russia, over 30 percent of the calories consumed come
from wheat. About 1/3 of the world's people depend on wheat
for their nourishment.
The per capita consumption
of wheat in the United States exceeds that
of any other single food staple.
A kernel is a wheat seed.
There are about 50 kernels in a head of wheat and 15,000
to 17,000 kernels in a pound.
Both whole wheat flour
and all-purpose (white) flour are made from kernels of wheat.
A wheat kernel is divided into three major parts—bran,
endosperm and germ. All purpose flour is made from only ground
endosperm. Whole wheat flour is made by grinding the entire
A bushel of wheat yields
about 42 pounds of white flour or 60 pounds of whole wheat
A bushel of wheat weighs
about 60 pounds.
History of Wheat
Domestic wheat originated
in southwest Asia in what is now known as a the Fertile
Crescent. The oldest archaeological evidence for wheat
cultivation comes from Syria, Jordan, Turkey, Armenia,
and Iraq. Around 9000 years ago, wild einkorn wheat
was harvested and domesticated in the first archaeological
signs of sedentary farming in the Fertile Crescent. Wild
einkorn wheat still grows in the Fertile Crescent.
8,000 years ago, a mutation or hybridization occurred
within emmer wheat, resulting in a plant with seeds that
were larger but could not sow themselves on the wind. While
this plant could not have succeeded in the wild, it
produced more food for humans. In cultivated fields
this plant outcompeted plants with smaller, self-sowing seeds
and become the primary ancestor of modern wheat breeds.
Columbus packed wheat on his ships on his second voyage to
the New World.
While wheat was grown
in the United States during the early colonial years, it
was not until the late 19th century that wheat cultivation
flourished, owing to the importation of an especially hardy
strain of wheat known as Turkey red wheat. Russian immigrants
who settled in Kansas brought Turkey red wheat with them.
Unlike most other
crops, hard red winter wheat is planted in the fall and
harvested in the spring.
In the summer, wheat
producers prepare the soil for planting. They drive a
tractor that pulls the plow through the fields. The plow turns
the soil over and kills all the weeds. Then the farmer connects
the tractor to a disk harrow and drives it over the field.
The disk harrow breaks the soil down into smaller pieces. When
the soil is ready for planting, the farmer uses a grain drill
to plant the seed.
The wheat plant will
grow about six inches before the frost comes. Each plant
grows by producing more leaves and new stalks from the
base of the plant. The new stalks are called “tillers.”
the weather gets cold the tiller will stop growing.
This is called the dormant period. On most farms in the
Great Plains cattle feed, or graze, on the young wheat
plants while they are in their dormant period. The plants
grow back. They are not damaged by proper grazing.
spring, the warm moist days make the wheat plants grow
quickly. As the wheat comes out of its dormant period,
more tillers of wheat emerge. Each tiller can form another
head of wheat.
Some varieties of wheat
grow as tall as seven feet, but most are only between two
and four feet tall.
During the early summer,
the plants begin to fade from dark green to tan and then
to a golden brown. Then the wheat is ripe and nearly ready
for harvest. Now the wheat producer must race with the
weather to get the wheat out of the fields.
Some years the wind
and rain keep the plants from ripening, and they cannot
be harvested. Other years hail may break all the heads,
or a lightening storm may start a range fire.
When the weather cooperates,
and the wheat is ripe, the farmer must move fast. He
checks the wheat by rubbing a wheat head between his hands,
blowing the chaff away and then chewing some of the grain.
If the kernels crack easily and get soft as they are chewed,
the wheat is ready to harvest.
The farmer drives
a combine across the fields to harvest the grain. When
the storage bin of the combine is full, he empties it
into a truck. Someone else drives the truck to the grain elevator
It takes a combine nine seconds to harvest enough wheat to
make 70 loaves of bread.
Workers at the grain
elevator help empty the wheat into a very deep pit. Machinery
in the grain elevator raises, or elevates, the wheat into
a tall bin.
In many small towns
in Oklahoma, the grain elevator is the tallest building
in the town.
The wheat stays in
the grain elevator until the farmer is ready to sell it.
Workers keep an eye on the wheat kernels to make sure they
stay cool and dry. If the wheat kernels get wet or too
hot they will spoil.
Some of the wheat is
sold to people who use it to make food for people and animals.
The rest is cleaned and saved until it is time to plant
One kernel of wheat
can grow several hundred new kernels next harvest.
that is sold for food is taken to a mill. At the
mill, huge machines grind the wheat kernels into flour.
First the wheat must be cleaned several times. A series
of disks separate the wheat kernels from other weed seeds,
dirt and small stones. A giant magnet removes any metal
pieces, like nuts or rivets that might have shaken loose
from the farm machinery and fallen in with the wheat.
the kernels go into a giant water bath where any remaining
stones or other heavy materials drop to the bottom. Light
materials float to the top and are washed away. Now the
wheat is cleaned and ready to be milled.
crack the kernels into smaller pieces. Huge machines shake
the wheat pieces through several screens to make the pieces
If the wheat is to
be made into white flour, air currents blow the bran—the
outer layer of the kernel — away from the rest of
the wheat. The
wheat bran and germ that have been removed are used in animal
The pieces are now
ready for grinding. Smooth rollers grind the wheat finer
After grinding, the
wheat is sifted through more screens, sometimes as many
as 25 times. Each screen has smaller openings than the
are added to age the flour and whiten it. Vitamins and
iron are also added to replace those that have been removed
with the wheat germ and bran. Now the flour is ready for
Uses for Wheat
Besides being a high
carbohydrate food, wheat contains valuable protein, minerals,
and vitamins. Wheat is an efficient
source of protein, when balanced by other foods that supply
certain amino acids such as lysine.
Wheat is the major
ingredient in most breads, rolls, crackers, cookies, biscuits,
cakes, doughnuts, muffins, pancakes, waffles, noodles,
piecrusts, ice cream cones, macaroni, spaghetti, puddings,
pizza, and many prepared hot and cold breakfast foods.
Much of the wheat used
for livestock and poultry feed is a by-product of the flour
- Wheat straw is used
for livestock bedding. The green forage may be grazed
by livestock or used as hay or silage. In many areas of the
southern Great Plains, wheat serves a dual purpose
by being grazed in the fall and early spring and then harvested
as a grain crop.
Bread may be the ancestor of all prepared foods. The first
bread was made in Neolithic times, nearly 12,000 years ago.
It was probably made by crushing grain and mixing it with
water. The dough was then baked in the sun or laid on heated
stones and covered with hot ashes.
Bread provided ancient people with a reliable food source
which would keep through the winter months and multiply in
the summer. This allowed them time to develop other useful
skills beyond what was required to feed themselves.
Bread can be unleavened or leavened with yeast. When
flour comes in contact with water and remains idle for
a period of time, it begins to rise. In modern processes,
yeast is added to aid in the rising, but even without yeast,
dough will begin to ferment, and the resulting gases will
cause the dough to rise. The Egyptians were the first to
discover that this process would produce a light, expanded
loaf. The Egyptians also invented a closed oven in which
to bake the bread.
The word biscuit is from the Latin phrase biscuctus which means baked (bis) twice (cuctus).
ancient Hebrews were in such a hurry to get away from their
Egyptian captors that they made their bread without leavening.
Today Jewish people celebrate Passover, their escape from
the Egyptians, with unleavened bread—matzo. Bread without
leavening also represents truth in Jewish tradition, because
bread that is unleavened retains the true flavor of the grain
from which it is made.
made bread from whatever grain grew best in the area where
they lived. Wheat, rye, corn, barley, millet, kamut and spelt
are some of the grains used around the world. Wheat flour
is preferred because of its gluten content. Gluten is what
gives bread its elastic quality.
Bread is such a powerful
food that ancient Egyptian governments controlled its production
and distribution as a means of controlling the populace.
In France the shortage of bread helped start the French Revolution.
For thousands of years
people used stone wheels powered by wind to grind wheat
into flour for bread.
In the middle of the
nineteenth century, a Swiss engineer invented a new type
of mill with rollers made of steel which operated one above
the other and were driven by steam-engines. Meanwhile,
the North American prairies were found to be ideally suited
to grow wheat. This, together with the invention of the
roller-milling system, meant that for the first time in
history, whiter flour (and, therefore, bread) could be
produced at a price
which brought it within the reach of everyone—not
just the rich.
nine seconds for a combine to harvest enough wheat to make
about 70 loaves of bread.
An acre will produce
enough wheat for about 2,500 loaves of wheat bread.
probably the one food eaten by people of every race, culture
of four can live 10 years off the bread produced by one
acre of wheat.
When shopping for 100
percent whole wheat bread, look for a label that has the
recorded use of wheat is in the form of bulgur. Bulgur
is made by soaking and cooking the whole wheat kernel,
drying it and then removing part of the bran and cracking
the remaining kernel into small pieces. Its uses are
numerous from salads to soup, from breads to desserts. It
is a nutritious extender and thickener for meat dishes and
soups. Tabouli is a popular salad made with bulgur, parsley,
cucumber and tomato.
The germ of
the wheat kernel is often added to baked goods, casseroles
and even beverages to improve the nutritional value and give
a nutty, crunchy texture. The protein quality of wheat germ
is very comparable to that of milk. One-fourth cup of wheat
germ contains about 110 calories.
The bran is the outer layer
of the wheat kernel, often used for animal feed. It also makes
a nutritious addition to baked goods, because it is a good
source of fiber and is high in B vitamins, protein and iron.
The wheat berry is another
name for the wheat kernel. The cooked whole kernel can be used
as a meat extender, breakfast cereal or as a substitute for
beans in chili, salad and baked dishes.
Many commercial cereals
on the market are made from wheat and can be eaten as a snack,
breakfast cereal or added to baked products. A variety of
ready-to-eat wheat cereals are available. The wheat may be
shredded, puffed, flaked or rolled. The bran may be in the
form of flakes or granules.
Cracked wheat is very similar
in nutrition and texture to bulgur. It is the whole kernel
broken into small pieces, but has not been pre-cooked and dried.
Cracked wheat can be added to baked goods for a nutty flavor
and crunchy texture. Only a small proportion of cracked wheat
can be used in breads, because it is very sharp and will cut
Non-Food Wheat Products
paperboard, and other
Cards (quick ideas for teaching about wheat)
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Ag in the Classroom
Oklahoma Ag in the Classroom is a program of the Oklahoma Cooperative
Extension Service, the Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food
and Forestry and the Oklahoma State Department of Education.