Harvesting wheat

Five kinds of wheat are commonly grown in the United States and Canada. They are:
*Hard red winter wheat, used for bread
*Soft red winter wheat, used in ckaes and pastries
*Hard red spring wheat, best for bread
*White wheat, used mainly for pastry flour
*Durum wheat, used for spaghetti

Harvesting is the same for all grains other than corn. All grains of wheat must be effectively stripped from the whole plant stem. In removing seeds or grains from the plant stem effectively, a series of operations are performed by the individual process elements as the material passes through it.

These functional elements are put together to form a successful machine called a combine harvester. Combines harvest the crop once the kernels have dried to 15 percent moisture or less Harvesting of winter wheat starts in May and usually is completed by late July.

Harvesting of spring wheat begins in late July and is completed by late August. If the harvest was not complete during the brief period, the grains would fall from the seed heads and be lost.

The grain that is harvested must meet consumer’s and food processor’s demands for appearance, taste, cooking qualities and so forth.
Harvesting wheat