Wheat

History of Wheat

Mother Nature created wheat in its natural laboratory over millions of years. Discovery of its nutrition, versatility, and taste began in phases, starting approximately 20,000 years ago when anthropologists believe the first humans began eating the seeds out of the heads of wheat. In Jordan, in 2019, archeologists discovered hearths where wheat had been ground and made into flat bread 14,000 years ago. Between 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, farming began in the Fertile Crescent of the Middle East, spreading across countries that now include Syria, Lebanon, Egypt Jordan and Turkey. Farming wheat meant the end of the hunter/gatherer lifestyle of prehistoric man and the beginning of civilization. Whether you eat it or not, we are all children of wheat.
Old Wheat Harvest
Wheat is the world’s most essential crop, providing 20 percent of calories necessary to feed the planet’s seven billion people (expected to grow to nine billion by 2050). Mechanization of the industry took place in the early 1900s. Fertilization and herbicide use were revolutionary, coming largely after World War II. For many years, farmers depended upon tillage and plowing, resulting in hundreds of tons of soil being lost through erosion. Programs to mitigate erosion have been wildly successful, reducing soil loss by up to 85 percent.
  • Eastern Washington is home to some of the best wheat quality grown in the world. Most wheat grown in Washington is winter wheat which is planted in the fall. Spring wheat is planted in the early spring.
  • Winter wheat harvest begins in July with spring wheat harvest starting a month later. Harvest continues through September depending on where the wheat is grown.
  • In 2021, Washington Wheat growers harvested 2.33 million acres of wheat for total wheat production of 87.1 million bushels. Average winter wheat yield of 76 bushels an acre. Average spring wheat yield was 61 bushels an acre.
  • In 2021, Washington State is ranked fifth in the nation’s top wheat producing states.

Facts About Wheat

Bushels of Wheat
Fact #1
One bushel of wheat contains approximately one million individual kernels (berries).
Grains
Fact #2
The kernel is the seed from which the plant grows.
Wheat Machine
Fact #3
A modern combine can harvest 1,000 bushels (60 lbs = one bushel of wheat; 48 lbs = one bushel of barley) per hour.
sandwhich
Fact #4
20 percent of the world's calories come from products made from wheat.
Lady by Bread
Fact #5
More foods are made with wheat the world over than with any other cereal grain.
Happy Family
Fact #6
A family of four could live 10 years off the bread produced by one acre of wheat.
Bread
Fact #7
One bushel of wheat provides about 42 pounds of white flour, 60 to 73 loaves of bread (depending on the size of the loaf and whether the bread is whole wheat), or 42 pounds of pasta.
Baby eating crackers
Fact #8
The main ingredient in crackers is unbleached flour from soft white or soft red wheat.
Cows Feeding
Fact #9
Once wheat berries are milled, wheat milling by-products such as brans, shorts, and middlings are used in animal feeds.
Pigs Feed
Fact #10
In years of high corn prices, wheat is often sold for use as a livestock feed.
DOWNLOAD WASHINGTON WHEAT FACTS
GMO Free Badge

No GMO Wheat

No genetically engineered wheat is grown in the United States. Domestic and overseas customers made it clear in the early 2000s that growing GMO wheat would disrupt markets. Monsanto, (now Bayer) the company developing GMO wheat, abandoned the project. While other crops like corn, soybeans, canola, cotton, sugar-beets, even papaya, include a GMO alternative, wheat does not.

Types of WASHINGTON Wheat

About 80 percent of the wheat grown in Eastern Washington is soft white wheat, one of six classes grown in the U.S. It is used for cookies, crackers, pastries and Asian delicacies including sponge cake.
 
Other wheat classes include hard red winter wheat grown in the Midwest and hard red spring wheat grown along the northern tier of the country. Both are used in making bread. Soft red winter wheat is primarily grown east of the Mississippi and is used in similar products as soft white. Hard white wheat has a foothold in Kansas, Colorado, Idaho and Nebraska. It is being used to make whole wheat white bread. Durum wheat, used for pasta products and couscous, is primarily grown in the desert Southwest, North Dakota and Montana.
 
About 20 percent of the wheat grown annually in Washington is sown to hard red winter or hard red spring wheat. Depending on the year, Washington ranks from the third largest to the fifth largest wheat producing state in the nation.
 
  • Soft White
  • Club
  • Western White
  • Hard Red Spring
  • Hard Red Winter
  • Hard White
Bakery Pastries
Soft White
The major class of wheat grown in Washington is soft white. Soft white wheat is used mainly for bakery products other than bread. Examples include pastries, cakes, and cookies. It is also used for cereals, flat breads and crackers. It has a lower protein content and weak gluten.
Angel Food Cake
Club
Club wheat is a type of soft white wheat that has less protein and more compact grain heads than typical soft white wheat. Used for cake, crackers, cookies, pastries, and flours.
Sponge Cake
Western White
A blend of wheat containing at least 10 percent club and 90 percent soft white wheat. It is usually used for making sponge cakes and other confections.
Artisan Bread
Hard Red Spring
An important bread wheat, HRS, is used in pan breads, and hearth or artisan breads or rolls. It generally has high protein and strong gluten. (Gluten is the result of mixing flour with water. It’s interaction with yeast and allows bread to rise.) Washington farmers are growing more of this type of wheat each year.
Asian Noodles
Hard Red Winter
HRW is a good wheat for Asian noodles, hard rolls, flat bread, and general purpose flour. It has medium protein and gluten content. Many Washington farmers also grow this class of wheat.
hard white wheat dumplings
Hard White
HW generally serves a dual purpose for Asian noodles or breads and also domestic wholegrain products. This class of wheat is popular among central states such as Nebraska and Colorado.

Where WASHINGTON Wheat Grows

Eastern Washington has numerous unique micro-climates. Wheat in the region is grown under precipitation regimes from eight inches (20.32 cm) of annual moisture to over 25 inches (63.5 cm). The bulk of Washington’s precipitation comes during the winter.

Growing Regions

Production in Washington has three main growing regions based on precipitation: low, intermediate and high. Whitman County, which is situated within the rolling hills of the Palouse, produces the most wheat of any county in the U.S. and receives more than 20 inches of precipitation annually. Walla Walla County, near the Oregon border also receives nearly as much precipitation and is very productive
 
The vast majority of wheat acreage in Eastern Washington, however, is in the low and intermediate precipitation zones, receiving annually from 8 to 15 inches of moisture in the form of snow and rain. Much of this land is summer fallowed, that is, the land is only cropped every other year to allow the ground to rest a year between crops to accumulate moisture.

WASHINGTON Wheat Production

Get the most recent annual reporting on Washington wheat production volumes.

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WASHINGTON Wheat QuaLity

Discover more about Washington’s Preferred Wheat Variety quality rankings and find the current quality reports.

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Partnerships & Exports

Get information on bulk wheat purchasing from and exports from Washington’s wheat suppliers and their national partners.

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