Background

Wheat is the third largest field crop in the United States, following corn and soybeans. In 2007 the United States raised 2.1 billion bushels of the grain valued at $13.7 billion. The states growing the most wheat include (in order): North Dakota, Kansas, Montana, South Dakota and Texas. Since 1981 the area harvested for wheat has decreased to 51 million acres. The cause of this decline is twofold. First, foreign competition for the wheat market has caused wheat returns to decrease relative to other crops that U.S. farmers could produce. Next, current government programs allow these alternative crops to be planted.
 
The United States is a major wheat-producing country. While half of the U.S. crop is exported, the U.S. share of wheat exports has decreased in the past twenty years, hovering around 30 percent in 2007. That year, 1.3 billion bushels of wheat were exported. The largest buyers of U.S. wheat were (in order): Japan, Egypt, Nigeria and Mexico. The United States imported 108 million bushels of wheat, primarily from Canada.  August 2008 . . . Hard Red Wheat

Marketing

• Consumer Attitudes to Whole Grain Wheat and Other Beneficial Components of Wheat Products, Sean Fox and John Crespi, Kansas State University, 2008.
• National Association of Wheat Growers
• U.S. Wheat Associates - On behalf of America's wheat producers, this organization supplies training and information to customers in over 100 countries. 
• Wheat, ERS, USDA  - Examines supply, use, prices and trade for wheat, including supply and demand prospects, in major importing and exporting countries. Contains data and information on U.S. wheat by class.
• Wheat Foods Council 
• Wheat Marketing Center, Portland, Oregon.
• Wheat Outlook, ERS, USDA, August 2008.
• Wheat Quick Stats, NASS, USDA.
• Wheat Year in Review, ERS, USDA, May 2008.

Processing/Manufacturing

• American Institute of Baking (AIB) - Source for education and research in the science of baking, bakery management, equipment, ingredients, cereal science, nutrition, food safety and hygiene, occupational safety and maintenance engineering.
• Flour Milling Feasibility Template, Oklahoma State University, 2004 - This template is designed to assess the feasibility of a flour mill.

Production

• Arkansas Wheat Research, University of Arkansas.
• Kansas Wheat Commission
• Wheat Page, Kansas Association of Wheat Growers (KAWG).
• Wheat Page, K-State Research and Extension, Kansas State University.

Case Studies/Businesses

Links checked January 2008.