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Scientific name:	Triticum aestivum L
Cultivars:	Many classes of wheat: Hard red spring wheat (mainly in northern Great Plains; high quality bread) Hard red winter wheat (mainly in WA, MT, CO KS, NE) Soft red winter whea (KS, MO, IL, IN,OH) Soft white wheat (Oregon, Washington, Idaho) Durum wheat: has low gluten, not for bread making, used for pasta (semolina), (ND, SD, MT, MN)
Origin:	South East Turkey
Growth Habit:	Bunch type; Upright tillers; long-day plant, where long days speed time to flowering
Life Cycle:	Annual
Use
Production:	1-4 tons DM by next spring (winter wheat) for grazing or hay.
Nutritive Value:	Good as long as harvest is not beyond hard-dough stage Limited moisture favors protein concentration, 11.5 to 14%
Herbaria Image:	Click this link
Identification
Seed Head:	Spike; awns not as straight as in Rye or Barley
Seed:	ribbed front, and smooth back 60 lb/bushel 20,000-24,000 seeds/lb
Shoot:	Hollow stems at internodes; nodes can be pubescent (hairy) or not (glabrous)
Leaf:	Leaf blades are smooth near the base
Auricles:	Prominent (less than barley) and hairy
Ligule:	Membranous
Adaptation
Soil:	Well drained, silt and clay loam
pH:	7 to 8.5; does not tolerate acid soils well
Moisture:	Grown in < 30 inches (in US); it can grow from 10 to 70 inches No tolerance to flooding
Temperature:	Adapted to cold well, but it can grow in hot climates if humidity is not too high. Plants with 2 or more tillers and good crown will tolerate cold better > 50°F at crown will loose winter hardening hardiness Warm, humid conditions favor disease development Winter kill of crown at 3 to 4°F May winter kill at 10-20°F without snow With snow cover it may withstand
Other:
Establishment - Management
Seeding rate:	100 lb/acre (1.6 bu/acre)
Seed cost:
Planting date:	Spring wheat: early in the spring; winter wheat: early in the fall for good establishment before winter.
Planting depth:	1.5 to 2 inch Planted too shallow crown will develop too close to soil surface and becomes susceptible to winter kill Crown should develop 1 inch below soil
Frost seeding:	Spring wheat, not winter wheat.
Fertilization:	N provides the greatest response and determines N concentration 40-100 lb N/acre are common; too much N will delay maturity, cause plants to lodge, and decreasing yield P and K fertilization according to soil test Spring wheat: at planting; winter wheat: split application is used, with some N, all P and K applied prior or at planting, and rest of N in grown season to guarantee good N levels during blossoming (for adequate protein)
Grazing:
Hay:	Used as emergency crop when alfalfa and clovers fail.
Notes
Straw after combining is valued for bedding Preferred by horses over oats