Winter wheat

<h2 id="cultivation">Cultivation</h2>
<p>Winter wheat is grown as a <a href="/facts/Cash_crop/fwvVrxLT">cash crop</a> or a <a href="/facts/Cover_crop/NwHmsTQb">cover crop</a>. Optimal growing conditions for winter wheat include high-drainage soil with medium texture. Mid-quality soil nutrient content is best for winter wheat, with an appropriate supply of <a href="/facts/Nitrogen/Nf1QpGDz">nitrogen</a> being critical for the wheat to be able to establish itself in time before winter dormancy. In addition, a firm <a href="/facts/Seedbed/4wLEAc2t">seedbed</a> helps protect the wheat over the winter period.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> In the United States, about 40% of the total wheat production is of a strain known as hard red winter wheat, with soft red winter wheat contributing another 15% of the annual wheat crop. There are also winter varieties of white wheat.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> Soft red winter wheat is also grown in the Canadian province of <a href="/facts/Ontario/HUkxk5Rf">Ontario</a>, along with white winter wheat.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a>
</p>
<h2 id="benefits-of-growing-winter-wheat">Benefits of growing winter wheat</h2>

<ul><li>If used as <a href="/facts/Cover_crop/NwHmsTQb">cover crop</a>, winter wheat helps maintain <a href="/facts/Topsoil/BDClBQrs">topsoil</a>, preventing soil erosion over winter when many fields lie <a href="/facts/Fallow/G6t9P5yA">fallow</a>.</li>
<li>Winter wheat out-competes many weed varieties.</li>
<li>Can be grown as both cover crop and cash crop.</li>
<li>Easy to manage while still providing good yield.</li>
<li>Helps build soil (through heavy production of organic material) and cycle nutrients through soil.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a></li>
<li>Uses soil moisture more efficiently since it starts to grow earlier in the spring.</li>
<li>Crop is harvested earlier in the season, which is beneficial in regions with rainy autumn weather.</li></ul>
<h2 id="united-states">United States</h2>

<p>Winter wheat was brought to <a href="/facts/Kansas/koenIXmE">Kansas</a> by German-<a href="/facts/Russian_Mennonite/5tjTLFqY">Russian Mennonites</a> in the 19th century.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Bernhard Warkentin and <a href="/facts/Mark_A._Carleton/dteEvQm3">Mark A. Carleton</a> played a major part in the spread of winter wheat as a commercial crop. Warkentin organized mills in central Kansas and imported seed from <a href="/facts/Ukraine/Qof0uqAj">Ukraine</a> to meet growing demand. Carleton worked for the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Agriculture/3PK2rx7C">United States Department of Agriculture</a> (USDA) as a crop explorer. He went to <a href="/facts/Russia/jfkCwyxn">Russia</a> to find other wheat varieties and worked with <a href="/facts/Kansas_State_University/SVBVNaBr">Kansas State University</a> researchers to develop new ones. Winter wheat production quickly spread throughout the <a href="/facts/Great_Plains/LWPW30WU">Great Plains</a>, and was, as it still is, usually grown using the techniques of <a href="/facts/Dryland_farming/LTwF0H7W">dryland farming</a>.
</p>
<h2 id="effects-of-climate-change">Effects of climate change</h2>
<p class="note">Further information: <a href="/facts/Effects_of_climate_change_on_agriculture/ru4tQClx">Effects of climate change on agriculture § Wheat</a></p>
<p>For <a href="/facts/Temperate_climate/6WPypCzC">temperate climate</a> zones such as Canada,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> increases in yields for winter wheat due to <a href="/facts/Climate_change/rEN4BDE7">climate change</a> are predicted. For <a href="/facts/Ukraine/Qof0uqAj">Ukraine</a>, where temperatures are increasing throughout the year and precipitation is predicted to increase, winter wheat yields could increase by 20–40% in the north and northwestern regions between 2010 and 2050.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a>
</p>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>B. C. Curtis, S. Rajaram, H. Gómez Macpherson (eds.). 2002. Bread Wheat: Improvement and Production. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:2"><p>Oulton, Randall. "Durum Wheat". CooksInfo.com. Archived from the original on 2023-09-28. <a href="http://www.cooksinfo.com/durum-wheat" target="_blank">http://www.cooksinfo.com/durum-wheat</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:3"><p>"Winter Wheat". Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). Andy Clark, Communications Director. 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-05-10.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: others (link) <a href="http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Nonlegume-Cover-Crops/Winter-Wheat" target="_blank">http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Nonlegume-Cover-Crops/Winter-Wheat</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:4"><p>Sauer, Christine; Hutchins, Claire (September 13, 2023). "Five Classes of U.S. wheat". United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved 10 January 2025. <a href="https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail?chartId=107340" target="_blank">https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/chart-gallery/gallery/chart-detail?chartId=107340</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:5"><p>Wrigley, Colin; Corke, Harold; Seetharaman, Koushik; Faubion, Jon, eds. (2016). Encyclopedia of Food Grains. Vol. 1. Academic Press. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-12-803537-5. <a href="978-0-12-803537-5" target="_blank">978-0-12-803537-5</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:6"><p>"Winter Wheat". Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE). Andy Clark, Communications Director. 2007. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-05-10.{{cite web}}:  CS1 maint: others (link) <a href="http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Nonlegume-Cover-Crops/Winter-Wheat" target="_blank">http://www.sare.org/Learning-Center/Books/Managing-Cover-Crops-Profitably-3rd-Edition/Text-Version/Nonlegume-Cover-Crops/Winter-Wheat</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:7"><p>Federal Writers' Project of the Work Projects Administration for the State of Kansas (1939). Kansas: A Guide To The Sunflower State. New York: The Viking Press. p. 57. ISBN 0403021677. <a href="0403021677" target="_blank">0403021677</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:8"><p>Qian, Budong; Zhang, Xuebin; Smith, Ward; Grant, Brian; Jing, Qi; Cannon, Alex J; Neilsen, Denise; McConkey, Brian; Li, Guilong; Bonsal, Barrie; Wan, Hui (2019-07-01). "Climate change impacts on Canadian yields of spring wheat, canola and maize for global warming levels of 1.5 °C, 2.0 °C, 2.5 °C and 3.0 °C". Environmental Research Letters. 14 (7): 074005. Bibcode:2019ERL....14g4005Q. doi:10.1088/1748-9326/ab17fb. ISSN 1748-9326. S2CID 159213414. <a href="https://doi.org/10.1088%2F1748-9326%2Fab17fb" target="_blank">https://doi.org/10.1088%2F1748-9326%2Fab17fb</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
<li id="fn:9"><p>World Bank. 2021. Ukraine: Building Climate Resilience in Agriculture and Forestry. 151p.https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/893671643276478711/pdf/Ukraine-Building-Climate-Resilience-in-Agriculture-and-Forestry.pdf <a href="https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/893671643276478711/pdf/Ukraine-Building-Climate-Resilience-in-Agriculture-and-Forestry.pdf" target="_blank">https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/893671643276478711/pdf/Ukraine-Building-Climate-Resilience-in-Agriculture-and-Forestry.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
</ol>

Winter wheat open-in-new

Winter wheat