wheat

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. About 70 percent of the wheat planted in the United States is winter wheat (fall seeded), with the remainder seeded in the spring.

Ohio ranks seventh nationally in the production of winter wheat. In the last Census of Agriculture, 14,340 Ohio farms reported growing almost 800,000 acres of wheat, with an average yield of 59 bushels per acre. The highest recorded average wheat yield for the state was 72 bushels per acre, set in 2000. The state’s top wheat producers are Hancock, Henry, Paulding, Putnam and Wood counties.

Wheat is the easiest of the major crops to produce successfully without tillage. In Ohio, wheat typically is planted in October and harvested in July.

Although useful as a livestock feed, wheat is used mainly as a human food. The per capita consumption of wheat in the United States exceeds that of any other single food staple. Besides being a high carbohydrate food, wheat contains valuable protein, minerals and vitamins. It is nutritious, concentrated, easily stored and transported and easily processed into various types of food. Hard wheat varieties, grown primarily out West, are used to make bread. The soft red winter wheat grown in Ohio is generally used to make cakes, biscuits, cookies, crackers, pastries and other types of flours.

Wheat straw is used for livestock bedding. The straw also may be used for newsprint, paperboard and other products. Industrial uses of wheat grain include starch for paste, alcohol, oil and gluten.

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