U.S. Farmers Are Growing Less Wheat. New Varieties Could Help Revive The Industry

By Calen Moore

It was 1874 when a large influx of immigrants from Russia settled in the Great Plains bringing with them a hard red variety of wheat.

This wheat variety grew well in the harsh summers and dry winters.

Hard red winter wheat is still a common sight on the Plains – most especially Kansas – which came to be known as the “breadbasket of the world.” Yet, while Kansas is still a top wheat-producing state, wheat acres have been shrinking. That’s also been true in Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas since the 1980s, as drier conditions and competition from other crops made wheat less attractive to farmers.

But scientists think developing wheat hybrids could usher in a new era.

Developing a hybrid

Wheat hasn’t changed much since it was first brought over to the U.S. Researchers and farmers have worked to improve other crops, such as corn and soybeans, but wheat has proved more difficult.

Agronomist Logan Simon is among scientists working to create hybrids. Most days he tends to his test plots used to experiment with corn, cotton and wheat in western Kansas.

“It gives us some greater optimism as we move into a potentially drier future,” Simon said of the research.