Wheat Grows in the Winter?

     Well, kindofnotreally grows, but winter wheats such as soft white winter and hard red winter are planted in the fall and have the chance to sprout and grow 5-6 inches before winter hits.  Winter wheats are usually planted in September, after the harvest of the previous year's planting is over, and actually need a few weeks of cold weather in order to grow.

Winter wheat in the snow

     Winter wheats provide farmers with the ability to get a crop in the ground before taking a break for the winter, and relieves some of the pressure during spring planting time.  Since fields with winter wheat have already been planted and sprouted, the plants have already begun growing again by the time the farmer gets back in his field to plant spring crops.

     Although typically grown as a cash grain, winter wheat can also be planted as a cover crop for other cereal crops, as well as a grazing option prior to tilling and seeding with grass.  It’s less likely than barley or rye to become a weed and is easier to kill.  Winter wheat also provides good erosion control during the winter, protecting valuable topsoil from being washed away by fall, winter and spring rains and snowmelt.

     Winter wheats are planted with crops such as potatoes, to provide weed control in the spring.  Since the wheat is planted after the typical growing season, and grows quickly before becoming dormant for the winter, it is able to choke out weeds in the early spring.  Farmers will then spray the wheat to kill it before seeding their potatoes directly into the wheat residue.  This system reduces the amount of herbicides the farmer needs to use, helps prevent erosion, and the wheat residue enriches the soil when it is plowed at the end of the potato harvest. 

Hard Red Wheat

     Hard red winter (HRW) wheat has a higher protein content than other wheats, yielding a large amount of gluten, the component of dough that gives it elasticity and captures the carbon dioxide from yeast to allow the dough to rise.  HRW is used mostly as flour for yeast breads, or is blended with soft spring wheats to make all-purpose flour.  It gets its pretty red color from pigments in the bran layer of the wheat kernel.  Hard red winter wheat accounts for more than 40% of the U.S. wheat crop and half of U.S. wheat exports, and is grown on about 23 million acres across the United States.

Soft White Wheat

     Soft white winter and soft red winter wheats  are lower in
protein and gluten, and have more complex carbohydrates than hard red winter wheat. These wheats make the preferred flour for gravies, sauces, biscuits, cakes, pie crusts, cookies, and pastries. They are also wonderful as cooked whole grain or cooked combined with brown or white rice.  About 21.3 million acres if soft white winter and soft red winter wheat are grown in the USA.

     So, next time you use all-purpose flour, eat a slice of bread, or pie, you'll know what kind of wheat goes into it!  Pretty neat to know, isn't it?  I think so!

This would not be possible without WHEAT!

For more information on winter wheat, check out these links:
http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Nonlegume-Cover-Crops/Winter-Wheat
http://ohioline.osu.edu/agf-fact/0146.html
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/flours/learn-more.html