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Wheat is produced in almost every state in the United States, and is the principal cereal grain grown in the country.〔 The type and quantity vary between regions. The United States is ranked third in production volume of wheat, with almost 58 million tons produced in the 2012-2013 growing season, behind only China and India (the combined production of all European Union nations is larger than China)〔http://apps.fas.usda.gov/psdonline/circulars/grain.pdf.〕 The United States ranks first in crop export volume; almost 50% of total wheat produced is exported. The United States Department of Agriculture defines eight official classes of wheat: durum wheat, hard red spring wheat, hard red winter wheat, soft red winter wheat, hard white wheat, soft white wheat, unclassed wheat, and mixed wheat.〔(Subpart M -- United States Standards for Wheat ).〕 Winter wheat accounts for 70 to 80 percent of total production in the U.S., with the largest amounts produced in Kansas (10.8 million tons) and North Dakota (9.8 million tons). The U.S. hard red spring wheat crop is exported to over 70 countries each year to the extent of 55%. Of the total wheat produced in the country, 50% is exported, valued at US$9 billion. ==History== Although it was first introduced in the Western Hemisphere following the discovery of the New World in the 15th century, wheat came to be grown the North American soil only during the colonial period. During the colonial period, wheat was sown by broadcasting; reaped by sickles, and threshed by flails. The kernels were then taken to a grist mill for grinding into flour. ;19th century In 1830, it took four people and two oxen, working 10 hours a day, to produce 200 bushels. The geographic center of wheat-growing areas in the U.S. in 1839 was to the north and west of Washington, D.C., and spread further over time to the far west of the country. Production conditions also resulted in extending the wheat growing areas into harsher climatic regions. Data on wheat production is available for the period between 1885 and 1930. Improvements in wheat breeding in the U.S. was an activity of the state agricultural experiment stations while the federal officials concentrated on exploring possibilities of gaining from appropriate varieties developed in other parts of the world. After the American Civil War, the western Mississippi Valley and the Great Plains to its west, where large fertile lands were available, resulted in expanding wheat farming. By this time, better tillage equipment was in use, rail roads provided better access to world markets, better trading and warehousing facilities were facilitated, and more particularly introduction of hard winter was introduced. In the 1870s, Turkey red wheat, a hard variety of wheat, was introduced to the farmlands of Kansas by Russian Mennonite immigrants. This wheat variety spread quickly.〔(Encyclopedia of the Great Plains ), p. 56.〕 New technology substantially enhanced productivity in the 19th century, as sowing with drills replaced broadcasting, cradles took the place of sickles, and the cradles in turn were replaced by reapers and binders. Steam-powered threshing machines superseded flails. By 1895, in Bonanza farms in the Dakotas, it took six different people and 36 horses pulling huge harvesters, working 10 hours a day, to produce 20,000 bushels. Following the invention of the steel roller mill in 1878, hard varieties of wheat such as Turkey Red became more popular than soft, which had been previously preferred because they were easier for grist mills to grind.〔Shannon, ''The Farmers Last Frontier'' p 410〕 ;20th century-present Exports from 1914 to 1922 amounted to more than 200 million bushels.〔 The annual wheat production of the United States more than tripled in the fifty years between 1871 and 1921; it increased from about 250 million bushels during the period of 1869-70-71 to over 750 millions during the period of 1919-20-21. With recorded wheat production of more than its domestic consumption (production was as much as 2.5 times the consumption), as World War II started, wheat stocks could not be lifted and the result was its use as livestock feed and for industrial alcohol.〔 After the war years, there were four "best" years (1945-1948) when the average annual production peaked to 1,228 million bushels, double the production of war years.〔 In 2002, 50% of the U.S. wheat crop was exported, while 36% was consumed by the American population and 10% was fed to livestock, with the remaining 4% set aside for seed. Wheat harvesting occurs on land area of between 60-63 million acres. Genetically modified wheat, which "is not approved for cultivation anywhere in the world", was found in an Oregon farm in June 2013. The grain was modified by Monsanto to tolerate weed killer treatments. It is not known whether the unapproved wheat is present elsewhere.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Wheat production in the United States」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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