Wheat in September

Wheat is a type of grass that is grown as a crop across the world. It is the most important human food that comes in a grain form. It is only second to maize as a cereal crop and this is a major animal foodstuff. Rice is the third biggest cereal crop.

Wheat is a basic food as it is used to make flour that is an ingredient of so many other foods such as bread, cakes, pasta and noodles. It is used to make beer, alcohol and Vodka and more recently it has been made into a bio fuel which is seen as one of our future power sources. Wheat is planted to a lesser extent as food for livestock and for thatching, which is a traditional method of making a roof for a house or cottage.

Winter wheat is sown in late September to November and comes to harvest in August. Winter wheat is the highest yielding cereal in Britain and has the largest surface area. It is higher in protein and energy than all other cereals except Maize.

Spring wheat is sown between February and April and is harvested in September. It has a much lower yield but is very good for making bread. It makes two flour types. There is soft wheat, where the grains break up during milling (when they are ground down). This is used for French bread, biscuits and flour. Then there is hard wheat where the grains do not break up in milling and this is used for bread and flour. These two types of grain can be mixed together to make different flours.

Wheat can be classified into three quality types:

• Class one is a higher risk crop because it can be damaged by the weather, it has low yields and so the price goes up. The yield is the amount of grain that can be collected in an area of ground.  There can also be more wastage.
• Class two is lower quality but can be mixed with class one for specific flours. It provides a medium yield.
• Class three is high yielding and is less likely to be damaged by the weather. It fetches a lower price.

In 2007 the amount of wheat we have in store has reached its lowest level since 1981. 2006 was the first year in which the world consumed more wheat than the world produced. This gap is likely to increase as wheat is used in bio-fuel. In the UK we only import (bring into the country) 5.9% of our wheat and most of this comes from France, America and Canada. However, more wheat is exported than imported. The wheat we import is mainly used for bread making.

Date

1/9/2007