Animal, Plant & Soil Science E6-3 Wheat Production

1. Animal, Plant & Soil ScienceE6-3Wheat Production

2. Interest Approach • Bring a bag of flour, a bag/box of pasta, and a loaf of bread to class. Ask the students what these items have in common. Each product contains wheat. Now show the students a wheat head (or a picture of one). Ask them if it looks tasty. Probably not. Prompt students to discuss the processing of wheat from the field to the final product. Follow the discussion with a preview of the objectives for this lesson.

3. Objectives • 1 Identify the types of wheat, describe the characteristics and nutritional content of each, and determine the uses of wheat. • 2 Identify and describe the parts of a mature wheat head. • 3 Compare and contrast the types of wheat flour. • 4 Identify leading states and nations in wheat production, and determine the major import and export markets for the United States.

4. Terms • all-purpose or plain • flour • beard • bleached flour • bran • bromated flour • cake flour • durum wheat • germ • germ flour

5. Terms • gluten • graham flour • hard red spring wheat • hard red winter wheat • hard white wheat • head • husk • kernel hardness • middlings • pastry flour

6. Terms • self-rising flour • semolina flour • soft red winter • soft white wheat • spring wheat • white flour • whole grain flour • winter wheat

7. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • I. Wheat is the most important cereal grain crop. Its production in the United States is second only to corn. Unlike corn, wheat is predominantly used for human consumption. • Wheat is the leading food plant grown in the United States. In addition to being used for human consumption, wheat and its byproducts are used for livestock feed and supplements. The different types of wheat vary in terms of traits, nutrition, and uses.

8. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • A. There are two main classes of wheat. • 1. Spring wheat is planted in the spring, grows during the summer, and matures in early fall. Spring wheat is planted in the northern states where the winters are harsh. • 2. Winter wheat is planted in the fall, establishes itself over the winter, and grows rapidly in the spring.

9. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • B. Wheat can be classified according to the time of planting, color, and kernel hardness. • 1. The time of planting (season classifications) include spring wheat and winter wheat. • 2. Classification by color includes red-kernel wheat and white-kernel wheat. Red-kernel wheat is predominant in the United States. Due to more cleaning during milling, the red-kernel wheat produces slightly less flour yields. • 3. Wheat is also classified as soft-kernel or hard-kernel. Kernel hardness is the method used to determine wheat type based on the hardness of the endosperm.

10. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • C. Kernel hardness, color, and season can be crossed to develop a wide range of wheat types. Six main classes of wheat are grown in the United States. • 1. Durum wheat produces a very hard, translucent, light-colored grain that is used to make semolina flour. Semolina is the granular flour used to make a variety of pasta products. • 2. Hard red spring wheat is described as a hard, brownish, high protein wheat used for bread and hard baked goods. Bread flour and high gluten flours are commonly made from hard red spring wheat.

11. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • 3. Hard red winter wheat is a hard, brownish, mellow high-protein wheat used for bread and hard baked goods. It is sometimes added to other flours to increase protein in pastry flour for pie crusts. Some brands of unbleached all-purpose flours are commonly made from hard red winter wheat solely. • 4. Soft red winter is a soft, low-protein wheat used for cakes, pie crusts, biscuits, and muffins. Cake flour, pastry flour, and some self-rising flours (with baking powder and salt added) are made from soft red winter wheat.

12. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • 5. Hard white wheat is characterized as a hard, light colored, opaque, chalky, medium-protein wheat planted in dry, temperate areas. It is used for bread and for brewing. • 6. Soft white wheat is a soft, light colored, very low-protein wheat grown in temperate, moist areas. It is used for pie crusts and pastry.

13. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • D. The vast majority of wheat grown in the United States is made into flour. This flour can then be processed into bread, crackers, pasta, pastries, and cakes. Wheat can also be processed into ready-to-eat foods, alcohol, and dextrose.

14. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • E. Wheat byproducts make approximately half of the weight of the grain. These byproducts are high in protein, which makes them valuable in livestock feed rations. Wheat byproducts include wheat bran and middlings. Middlings are coarse particles that contain the germ and are of higher nutritional value than the bran.

15. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • F. Wheat can also be used as a source of hay. It produces good quality hay. Also, the remaining straw can be used as livestock bedding.

16. What are the parts of a mature wheat head? • II. Wheat is a domesticated grass plant that was first used for agricultural purposes 10,000 to 12,000 years ago in Southwest Asia. Although the wheat plant has more than one part, it is valued for its head. • The head is a caryopsis type of fruit and contains the beard and the kernels. Three common kinds of wheat heads exist: common, which has a longer, bearded head; club, which has a short head and no beard; and the durum, which is bearded and has hard kernels.

17. What are the parts of a mature wheat head? • The beard consists of long awns or bristle-like hairs. The parts of the wheat kernel are the husk, endosperm, bran, and germ. • The husk is the leafy outer protective covering of the seed. • The bran is the hard outer layer of grain and consists of combined aleurone and pericarp. • The germ is the embryo of the seed.

21. How do the types of wheat flour compare? • III. Wheat flour is the most widely used flour type. Flour consists of the endosperm (starchy part), the germ (protein part), and the bran (fiber part) of the wheat grain. Similarities and differences can be noted in the flour types. The three general types of flour include white, whole grain, and germ. • White flour is made from the endosperm only. Whole grain flour is made from the entire grain, including bran, endosperm, and germ. Germ flour is made from the endosperm and germ, but not the bran. A number of flour types are commercially available.

22. How do the types of wheat flour compare? • A. All-purpose or plain flour is blended wheat flour with an intermediate gluten level. It is marketed as flour useful for most household baking needs. • B. Bleached flour is treated with flour bleaching agents to whiten it and to give it more gluten-producing potential. Gluten is a combination of two types of protein found in the wheat grain.

23. How do the types of wheat flour compare? • C. Bromated flour is flour with a maturing agent added to help develop gluten. It is a role similar to those of flour-bleaching agents. Bromate is usually used. Because bromate is a suspected carcinogen, bromated flour has been banned in much of the world. However, it remains available in the United States. • D. Cake flour is finely milled flour made from soft wheat. It has very low gluten content, making it suitable for soft-textured cakes and cookies. The higher gluten content found in other flours would make the cakes tough.

24. How do the types of wheat flour compare? • E. Graham flour is a special type of whole-wheat flour. The endosperm is finely ground, as in white flour, while the bran and germ are coarsely ground. Graham flour is the basis of true graham crackers. Many graham crackers on the market are actually imitation graham crackers because they do not contain graham flour or even whole-wheat flour. • F. Pastry flour has slightly higher gluten content than cake flour, the gluten content is lower than that of all-purpose flour. It is suitable for fine, light-textured pastries. It may be called cookie flour or cracker flour.

25. How do the types of wheat flour compare? • G. Self-rising flour is “white” wheat flour or whole grain flour that is sold premixed with chemical leavening agents, such as baking powder. • H. Semolina flour is made of durum wheat. It has the highest protein content, andit is an important component in noodles, pasta, and Indian flatbreads.

26. What are the leading states and nations in wheat production? What are the major import and export markets for the United States? • IV. Nationally, wheat production is concentrated in the Plains states, but wheat is produced internationally as well. In 2002, the leading wheat producing states were (1) Kansas, (2) North Dakota, (3) Washington, (4) Montana, (5) Oklahoma, and (6) Texas, with winter wheat typically grown in the central plains and the southern states. • In addition to its national importance, wheat is a major export for the United States and several other countries and a needed import for many others. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the leading producers of wheat are (1) China, (2) India, (3) the United States, and (4) the Russian Federation.

27. What are the leading states and nations in wheat production? What are the major import and export markets for the United States? • A. The United States is the world’s leading wheat exporter. Joining the United States to account for approximately 80 percent of the world’s wheat exports are Canada, Australia, the EU-25, and Argentina.

28. What are the leading states and nations in wheat production? What are the major import and export markets for the United States? • B. The European Union, Japan, and South Korea are among the largest wheat importers. However, mainly developing countries with limited production capabilities rely on imports.

31. REVIEW • 1. What are the types of wheat? What are the characteristics and nutritional content of each? What are the uses of wheat? • 2. What are the parts of a mature wheat head? • 3. How do the types of wheat flour compare? • 4. What are the leading states and nations in wheat production? What are the major import and export markets for the United States?