Wheat
In the United States, wheat ranks third among field crops in both planted acreage and value of production, following corn and soybeans. Such factors as domestic competition for planted area and global competition for export markets influence the size of the U.S. wheat crop. However, the country remains a major producer; only China, the European Union-27 and India annually harvest more wheat.
The five major classes of U.S. wheat are hard red winter, hard red spring, soft red winter, white and durum. Each class has a different end use, and production tends to be region-specific. Hard red winter and hard red spring wheat account for 65 percent of production; they are primarily used for bread and bread flour. White wheat accounts for 10 to 15 percent of production and is used for noodles, crackers and cereals.
2008 was a year of records for wheat production: the highest number of acres harvested, the highest yield and the highest price per bushel. As a result, total production reached 2.5 billion bushels and total value reached $16.6 billion. Kansas and North Dakota were the largest producers of wheat, followed by South Dakota, Montana and Oklahoma.
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