Hard White Wheat varieties:

• Antelope
• Arrowsmith
• NuDakota
• NuGrain
• Trego

Hard white wheat has been recognized as a separate wheat class by the USDA-FGIS since 1990, however, only a few grain buyers are set-up to handle and market hard white wheat at this time. You need to identify a buyer for your white wheat grain before you place the first kernel of wheat in the ground! There is no guarantee of a buyer at harvest if you have not made prior arrangements. On-farm grain storage may be an indispensable aspect of white wheat production at its inception due to the fact that many elevators may not have sufficient demand to dedicate storage space for white wheat.

Susceptibility to preharvest sprouting of hard white wheat has been a major production concern. Rain, high humidity, and low temperatures after ripening may cause the grain to sprout in the spike. In reality, however, there is a wide range in tolerance to preharvest sprouting among white and red winter wheat varieties. Some hard white winter wheat varieties are actually more tolerant to preharvest sprouting than some hard red wheat varieties (Table). If preharvest sprouting is a concern, be sure to select a wheat variety that has very good or good tolerance to sprouting. The risk of preharvest sprouting is much less in the semi-arid areas of western Nebraska than in the sub-humid areas of central and eastern Nebraska (Figure).

Winter wheat variety tolerance to preharvest sprouting. Varieties listed at the top of the table are the most tolerant to preharvest sprouting and those at the bottom of the table are least tolerant to preharvest sprouting. Ranking provided by Dr. Robert Graybosch, Research Geneticist, USDA-ARS Grain, Forages and Bioenergy Research Unit, Lincoln, NE.