Wheat Seed

King of the Grains

Wheat is the world’s most important grain crop, and approximately 70% of all agricultural land is planted to wheat, more than any other crop. For generations people have been sustained by this important food staple. Wheat is grown on more land area than any other commercial crop and is the most important staple food for humans. Twenty percent of global calories come from wheat.
With demand for the crop expected to increase 40 percent by 2030, Wimberly Farms' agricultural innovation is important in helping enhance the productivity, sustainability and profitability of wheat for farming. 
Wheat is planted to a limited extent as a forage crop for livestock, and its straw can be used as a construction material for roofing thatch. The whole grain can be milled to leave just the endosperm for white flour. The by-products of this are bran and germ. The whole grain is a concentrated source of vitamins, minerals, and protein, while the refined grain is mostly starch.

Technological advances in soil preparation and seed placement at planting time, use of crop rotation and fertilizers to improve plant growth, and advances in harvesting methods have all combined to promote wheat as a viable crop.

Wheat Facts

  • Wheat is a member of the grass family that produces a dry, one-seeded fruit commonly called a kernel.
  • More than 17,000 years ago, humans gathered the seeds of plants and ate them. After rubbing off the husks, early people simply chewed the kernels raw, parched or simmered.
  • Wheat originated in the “cradle of civilization” in the Tigris and Euphrates river valley, near what is now Iraq.
  • The Roman goddess, Ceres, who was deemed protector of the grain, gave grains their common name today – “cereal.”
  • Wheat was first planted in the United States in 1777 as a hobby crop.
  • Wheat is the primary grain used in U.S. grain products — approximately three-quarters of all U.S. grain products are made from wheat
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  • Wheat is grown in 42 states in the United States.
  • Six classes bring order to the thousands of varieties of wheat. They are: hard red winter (HRW), hard red spring (HRS), soft red winter (SRW), hard white (HW), soft white (SW) and durum.
  • In the United States, one acre of wheat yields an average of around 40 bushels of wheat.
  • A bushel of wheat yields 42 one-and-a-half pound commercial loaves of white bread OR about 90 one-pound loaves of whole wheat bread.
  • A bushel of wheat makes about forty-five 24-ounce boxes of wheat flake cereal.
  • A bushel of wheat makes about 42 pounds of pasta or 210 servings of spaghetti.
  • Crackers main ingredient is unbleached flour from soft red or soft white wheat.