Wheat is a cash crop that produces the food grain "wheat" consumed in raw or processed form across the world. While the grain is processed for domestic and commercial use, the straw is used as fodder for farm animals. Wheat is the third most produced cereal in the world.

Processing of wheat
Both the wild and domesticated varieties of wheat grains have hulls or husks. Hulled grains refer to the wheat grains that have tough glumes (membrane covering the grain) enclosing the grain tightly. They have a brittle rachis (the central shaft of the wheat ear). Threshing breaks the rachis and the wheat ear (the column of grains attached to the shaft/rachis) breaks into individual spikelets that are milled or pounded to remove the husk.

Free-threshing wheat has delicate glumes and a tough rachis. Threshing releases the grains from the glumes without the need for milling or pounding.

Types of commercially cultivated wheat
The common species of wheat cultivated commercially are:

• Common wheat or bread wheat – is the most widely cultivated variety.
• Hard red spring wheat – is a high protein, hard food grain used to make hard baked foods, breads and high gluten flour.
• Hard red winter wheat – is a mellow, hard, brown colored variety used in hard baked goods and as a high protein additive in other flours.
• Soft red winter wheat – is a low protein, soft wheat that is the primary ingredient of self raising flour. It is used to make soft baked goods such as cakes, muffins, pastries, and pie crusts.
• Hard white wheat – is a hard, light colored, medium protein, high starch opaque variety grown in temperate damp regions. This wheat is used for brewing and bread making.
• Soft white wheat – is the soft, light colored, high starch and very low protein variety of wheat. It is used in pastry flour.
• Durum wheat – is the second most widely cultivated variety in the US. The translucent, hard and light colored grain is used to make semolina for foods such as pasta and noodles.
• Einkorn wheat – has many more variants.
• Emmer wheat – is no longer popular.
• Spelt wheat – is cultivated in limited quantities.

White wheat is costlier than amber and red colored wheat.

Uses of wheat
Wheat is used in countries around the globe in various forms. Wheat chaff or branches are used in some regions to make baskets and small brooms.

Wheat is commonly used as:

• flour (ground wheat) to make bread, baked goods, pasta, noodles, cereals, and more
• fermentation agent for producing boza, vodka, beer, alcohol and biogas
• forage crop for livestock
• malt after germination and drying
• bulgur by parboiling, drying, crushing and removing chaff
• broken wheat for porridge
• a base for other grain breads such as oats and rye

The demand for wheat is growing while production has fallen due to long lasting droughts in wheat producing countries such as China, Australia, US, and some in South America, Africa and Middle and East Asia. This has lead to a sharp spike in wheat prices throughout the world.