Wheat isn’t native
to Kansas, but for many people across the country and
the globe, when they think wheat,
they think Kansas.
The state has the nicknames, “Wheat State,” “Breadbasket of
the World,” and plenty of facts to support them: For instance, Kansas
produces more wheat than any other state, nearly one-fifth of the U.S. crop,
enough to
fill a train stretching from western Kansas to the Atlantic (Kansas Wheat Commission).
Kansas
hasn’t always been the Wheat State. Early
settlers, particularly farmers settling after the Civil
War, planted corn because it was familiar
and had thrived in the wetter eastern U.S. where they had come from.
That changed, starting in the 1870s. First, grasshoppers devoured the 1874
corn crop, then drought hit several crops hard. And then came an influx of
German-speaking
Mennonite immigrants — drawn by railroads selling land and seeking farmers
whose crops would move on their lines — from Russia’s grain-growing
regions.
Not only had these Mennonite farmers grown wheat, but they also brought seed
with them. Unlike the varieties earlier settlers had grown, ones susceptible
to heat and disease, the Turkey Red variety was a hard red winter wheat that
could be planted in the fall, survive brutal winters and be ready to harvest
in May or June, before summer’s harsh heat.
Turkey Red’s popularity grew as farmers saw how well the Mennonites did
with it, The seed supply increased, flour mills were developed to process the
tougher hard wheat, and harsh winters killed off other varieties. Turkey Red
remained the state’s most popular variety for six decades.
From the start, growing wheat in Kansas was hard work requiring continual innovation.
Settlers found a dry, cold climate far different than what they were used to.
The soil had to be back-breakingly unearthed from hard sod, and once exposed
could become dried-out and wind-blown if good planting practices weren’t
employed.
Through trial and error, farmers, especially the farther west they were, learned
to use less seed so as not to deplete moisture. It took decades to learn the
right times to plant wheat in the fall, so that it would be well-established
before going dormant for winter and so that pests couldn’t prey on it
(Paulsen).
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Production grew steadily,
hitting 100,000 acres in 1869 and 1,000,000 acres in
1876. Today’s harvests
average about 10,000,000 acres. Early on, yields were
low, usually 10 to 20 bushels per acre. From 1993 to
2002, yields averaged 38 bushels, from total crops
averaging 375 million bushels. (Kansas Agricultural
Statistics
Service, Paulsen).
In addition to improved inputs, including fertilizer
and irrigation, today’s
high wheat yields are due in large part to the improved varieties of wheat, developed
primarily by researchers at Kansas State University. Today’s varieties
on average are made up of about half Turkey Red wheat, bred to produce more
grain and flour, grow shorter stalks, respond to fertilizers better, mature
sooner,
and resist pests. The varieties are developed by cross-breeding, selecting
the best traits from around the world, including some semi-dwarf varieties
from Asia.
Hard white winter wheat, sought by Asian countries and other markets for noodles,
yeast breads, and flat breads, makes up a growing percentage of production,
about 5 percent, with hard red winter wheat making up virtually all of the
rest.
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| Harvesting wheat. Photo supplied by Freefoto.com. |
In the early days, when wheat was cut by hand, farmers
worked far fewer acres and could cut only 2 acres
a day. With the mechanical reaper, farmers could
cut 8 acres a day. Today, when modern combines descend upon fields in waves,
1,000
bushels can be harvested in an hour and an acre cut in 6 minutes or less (Kansas
Association of Wheat Growers). Technology has increased farm size, making farms
more efficient but also making farming more economically risky. Wheat is a
major part of the state’s economy, with more than one-third of Kansas’ 63,000-plus
farmers growing the crop, contributing more than a billion dollars to the state
economy.
Next: Wheat exports to East Asia
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