Where does our wheat go?
A drive across Washington’s wheat country is something worth doing at least once in a lifetime. You’ll witness vast fields of wheat stretching over hills and plains, totaling millions of acres. It’s an experience that might have you wondering where all that wheat could possibly go. But the shorter question would be; where doesn’t it go?
Wheat is one of the world’s most essential crops, providing 20 percent of the calories necessary to feed the planet’s seven billion people. Washington alone exported more than 5.4 million metric tons of wheat last year alone. Wheat is widely consumed in more than 100 countries and is one of the first domesticated crops. For more than 20,000 years, people have been eating wheat. First as seeds, then pounded into flatbreads. Human history is closely tied to wheat through traditions passed down generation after generation.
Today, many of those traditions rely on wheat grown in Eastern Washington. Known for its quality, wheat from the region is highly sought after for use in homes around the world. About 80 percent of the wheat grown in Eastern Washington is soft white wheat. It’s just one of six wheat classes grown in the U.S. and is used for cookies, pastries, and other non-yeast products.
From the plates of the very farmers who grew it, to the mouths of school children in Indonesia, Mexico, and Thailand, wheat is a staple all over the world. Japan, a long-time top buyer of Washington’s soft white wheat, uses the flour to make decadent sponge cakes found in bakeries around the country. Purchasing more than 1.2 million metric tons of wheat from our state last year, the Philippines has been a top export market for more than a decade. Here, Washington wheat is used to make the country’s most popular bread: pandesal. This humble Filipino breakfast bread is made simply of eggs, salt, sugar, yeast, and—you guessed it—flour.
Soft white wheat, the smallest of the US wheat classes, is consistently in demand throughout Asia to make delicate sponge cakes and desserts. But soft white and the other classes of wheat grown in Washington are also utilized here in the states as well. Though most of the state’s crop is exported (roughly 90 percent), what is bought domestically is used to make everything from pizza crust and whole-grain bread to pie crusts and pancakes. If you’re browsing your grocery store shelves for anything containing wheat, there’s a good chance what you’re getting was partly grown in Washington.
Washington’s reputation for its quality and dependability of wheat is in large part thanks to the efforts of the state’s grain commission. More than 20 years ago, Washington became the first state to compile a Preferred Wheat Variety brochure, putting end-use quality at the forefront of Eastern Washington wheat production. Every year, the brochure lists available varieties by their quality attributes based primarily on their milling and baking functionality. This dedication to quality keeps Washington wheat in demand abroad and here at home.
Though Washington isn’t the top producing wheat state in the U.S., it is home to one of the most productive regions in the country. Shaped by volcanic eruptions and immense flooding, the now arid desert of Eastern Washington is inhospitable to most crops. But here, wheat thrives. Washington’s wheat farmers work tirelessly to produce the highest quality wheat possible in spite of Mother Nature’s best efforts to leave the land empty.
It’s remarkable that the wheat grown in Eastern Washington, by families who have worked the land for generations, ends up on the tables of families around the world. Each year, farmers set out to improve their practices every single day to ensure their customers are getting the best and safest possible wheat available. Feeding the world is not just a slogan for Washington’s wheat farmers, it’s their passion and livelihood.