Winter wheat

Winter wheat is one of the most important crops in the world and plays a central role in German agriculture. It arose from the domestication and crossing of various wild grasses and has been developed further over thousands of years through intensive breeding. It originates from the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East, where it was first cultivated about 10,000 years ago.

On our farm, winter wheat has the largest share of all crops. The entire harvest is stored in our own silos until it is collected. We sow winter wheat between the end of September and the end of October at a seed rate of 250 to 350 grains per square metre. Before sowing, the soil is usually loosened deeply just once; as a rule, we do without the plough. Marketing depends on the quality of the harvest: if the wheat meets the required standards, it is delivered to mills as milling wheat; otherwise it is sold as brewing or feed wheat.

Since the introduction of the new German Fertiliser Application Ordinance (Düngeverordnung), however, it has become harder to produce wheat of high baking quality (A-grade wheat). Reaching the required protein content of 13–13.5 % as well as other criteria such as a Hagberg falling number of at least 250 seconds and a specific weight of 76 kg/hl would require more intensive nitrogen fertilisation, which is strictly regulated. In recent years we have therefore mostly achieved a protein content of only about 12 %. Only in low-yield years, when there is less dilution, do we reach about 13 % protein. Since 2020, imports of high-quality wheat into Germany have tended to rise, partly because of increased demand for quality wheat, which often can no longer be produced in sufficient quantities in Germany.