A 101 Primer

A few tantalizing teasers:

…One bushel of wheat contains approximately one million individual kernels (berries).

…The kernel is the seed from which the plant grows.

…A modern combine can harvest 1,000 bushels (60 pounds = one bushel of wheat) per hour.

…Wheat is grown in 42 states in the U.S.

…More foods are made with wheat the world over than with any other cereal grain.

…A family of four could live ten years off the bread produced by one acre of wheat.

…One 60-pound 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.

…There are 600 pasta shapes produced worldwide.

…Assuming a sandwich was eaten for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, it would take 168 days to eat the amount of bread produced from one bushel of wheat.

Ready now…..Here we go !
Wheat is the principal human food grain produced in the U.S. Montana, on average, produces 153 million bushels of wheat. In 2002, Montana ranked fourth in the nation for All Wheat production. Traditional top wheat-producing counties in Montana are Chouteau and Hill, located in the heart of the “Golden Triangle”, an imaginary area encompassing Shelby, Havre and Great Falls.

Montana producers do indeed help to feed a hungry world, and most uniquely, Montana is a one-stop shopping center for foreign buyers. Montana is the only place that has commercial production of five of the six major classes of wheat grown in the U.S. – Hard Red Winter (HRW), Hard Red Spring (HRS), Hard White (HW), Durum, Soft White (SW), and the one we do not grow – Soft Red Winter (SRW). (In the U.S., wheat varieties are classified either as “winter” or “spring” depending on the season each is planted.) Winter varieties are sown in the fall and are usually established before the cold weather arrives and then goes dormant over the winter. Approximately 44% of Montana’s total production in 2003 wheat was winter and 45% was spring.

It is critical to know that wheat is not wheat – in other words, each class has different end-use functions.

An important bread wheat, HRS, is used in mass-produced pan breads, and hearth or artisan breads or rolls. It generally has high protein and strong gluten. (Gluten is what interacts with yeast and allows bread to rise -- certainly a necessary factor in bread baking.)

HRW is a good wheat for Asian noodles, flat bread, and general purpose flour. It has medium protein and gluten content.

SW provides a white brighter product for biscuits, cakes, and flat bread. It has a lower protein content and weak gluten. (After all, one doesn’t need a three-inch tall cookie!)

Durum is the hardest of all wheats and is used for pasta, couscous and some Mediterranean breads.

HWW is the newest class and while production in Montana is, at present, very limited, it generally serves a dual purpose for Asian noodles or breads.

(SRW is a high yielding class used for a wide range of products including pastries, crackers, pancakes, etc.)

Wheat milling by-products such as bran, shorts, and middlings are used in animal feeds.

Wheat provides natural health benefits. Complex carbohydrates provide endurance and energy. Amino acids, essential to nutrition, are contained in wheat protein. Fiber aids in digestion and is being studied as a way to prevent type 2-diabetes. Furthermore, wheat’s folic acid prevents certain birth defects and may lower the risk of heart disease, strokes, and some cancers. Phytonutrients contain an assortment of antioxidants and phytoestrogens. In addition, 100 grams of whole wheat flour (baked value) provides:
        Folate – 22 mcg                        Iron – 3.88 mg                         Magnesium – 138 mg            
        Manganese – 3.80 mg            Phosphorus – 346 mg           Potassium – 405 mg
        Selenium – 70.70 mcg            Zinc – 2.93 mg

It’s little wonder then, that wheat has long been considered the staff of life.

So, who buys Montana wheat? The bulk, approximately 80% of the State’s grain that is exported, is shipped out of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) ports. This grain goes to Japan, Taiwan, The Philippines, and outh Korea.

Our biggest competitors in the world marketplace are Canada and Australia.

Despite the fact the first evidence of wheat has been found in the pyramids, the production of wheat has changed considerably. In the U.S., scythes and threshing machines have given way to combines.

Even more recently, farming by global positioning systems – signals bouncing off a satellite, which directs a farmer where to apply more nitrogen, etc.

Certainly trends have also changed. Thirty years ago foccacia, croissants, wraps, bulgur and couscous, all wheat products, were not part of the mainstream. There weren’t McDonald’s outlets in hospitals or WalMarts. Boutique breads hadn’t yet taken their place next to mass-produced pan breads. For that matter, bread machines for the home were just coming off of the drawing boards.  And, – can you believe it -- there were no Krispy Kreme donuts!

The USDA Food Guide Pyramid, touting adults eat 6 to 11 servings of grain-based foods a day, help to increase per capita consumption of flour in the U.S.

Now, however, carbohydrates (an integral part of grain-based foods) have come under fire and the Food Guide Pyramid itself is being questioned. Consumers are bombarded with all sorts of confusing nutrition messages and, consequently, we are seeing significant reductions in domestic utilization numbers for wheat. (Domestic utilization is how we use wheat here in the states.) Proponents and opponents to the high protein/low-carb diets line up and fire salvos at each other. I will leave nutrition discussion to experts but, basically, wheat and grain-based foods do have a place in a healthy diet, as do all foods. Perhaps over simplistic but true – moderation is the key to all eating choices and routine exercise is, of course, necessary.

Speaking of trends and changes in the grain industry, one must consider the consolidation and, in some cases, elimination of country elevators and the establishment of super facilities that can put through 110-car train units where 26-car units were the norm years earlier.

An even bigger change for us all waiting in the wings is the controversial advent of genetically-modified wheat. Keep in mind that according to food manufacturers (as quoted by Katie Couric on the Today Show – October 28, 2003) 70% of all processed foods in our supermarkets now are made from genetically-modified ingredients. (In the most basic terms, genetic engineering involves inserting a desirable gene into a plant or animal.) I’ve eaten DNA and so have you. Much of anything made with corn sweeteners has been genetically-modified. You’ve heard of tomatoes which have been bred to contain more cancer fighting elements. You’ve perhaps heard of Golden Rice which has been modified to contain more Vitamin A to fight blindness in under-developed countries. People speak of Frankenfoods and the horror associated with them, and the truth is, we’ve been modifying our foods for easily over 20 years. Technology has spawned new terminology, as well. Now we have functional foods that provide something unique other than fuel for our bodies in that they prevent disease or enhance health. We are into a world of “nutraceuticals” whereby regular foods have been “beefed up” with vitamins or minerals through genetic design.

There is no genetically-modified wheat in commercial production in the U.S. but researchers are looking at ways to breed wheats better able to withstand pests and drought and produce more with less pesticides on smaller parcels of land to feed ever-increasing populations.

The U.S. wheat industry is committed to the adoption of a nationally and internationally accepted definition of biotechnologically-derived traits and urges the harmonization of scientific standards and trade rules. The national wheat industry recognizes the great promise it believes the technology will deliver to benefit both the consumer and the producer.

Here is one final thought – this time about non-food uses for wheat. Technology has made it possible to utilize various components from wheat to make, for example, strawboard, polyfilms, cosmetics, and coatings or binders for pharmaceutical tablets.   One firm is even experimenting with edible, biodegradable “dishes” that could be used on board aircraft carriers, for example, where garbage storage and disposal is a problem.  The day may come when you could have a bowl made from wheat, to hold your cereal, and eat them both!

Taken as a whole, the grain industry in Montana is the top agricultural revenue source, responsible for $355.0 million dollars in export value in 2004 (taken from Montana Agricultural Statistics Bulletin, 2005).

Any way you slice it, we in Montana shouldn’t take our waving fields of grain or our stubble fields for granted. They could, indeed, be considered our “bread and butter.”