Winter wheat

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An ear of winter wheat

Winter wheat is a cereal. In the northern hemisphere, winter wheats are planted in the fall, from September through December. Winter wheat sprouts before freezing occurs, then becomes dormant until the soil warms up in the spring. Persistent snow cover might be disadvantageous; however, winter wheat needs a few weeks of cold before being able to flower. The wheat grows and matures until ready to be harvested by early July.

Soft spring wheats are used in the United States to make all-purpose flour used in a wide variety of baked products, but in Canada is labelled as specialty cake flour. Hard winter wheats have a higher content in protein and gluten and are often used for yeast breads. Durum is the hardest wheat and is primarily used for making pasta; however, almost all durum wheat grown in North America is spring planted.

Winter wheat is grown all through Europe and in northern Asia. It was brought to the United States, specifically Kansas, by Russian Mennonites in the 19th century. Bernhard Warkentin and Mark Carleton played a major part in the spread of winter wheat as a commercial crop. Warkentin organized mills in central Kansas and imported seed from Ukraine to meet growing demand. Carleton worked for the USDA as a crop explorer. He went to Russia to find other wheat varieties and worked with Kansas State University researchers to develop new ones. Winter wheat production quickly spread throughout the Great Plains and was and still is usually grown using the techniques of dryland farming.