In the United States, the wheat harvest will usually start in early May in southern Texas reach its peak in the hard red winter areas of the Southwest in early June, and end in October in the northern portions of the red spring wheat area.
Many years ago, the common method of harvesting grains was the binder, which may possibly still be used on some small farms.
Binders have been replaced nearly everywhere by combines, large and small.
These machines cut and thresh the crop and are usually self-propelled. Spring wheat may be cut windrowed or swathed before thrashing.
After combining, most spring and winter wheat is either stored in the farms for a time or promptly taken by truck to local elevators it is loaded on railway cars and carried to terminal markets.
Each year better highways and larger payloads increase the distances wheat can be hauled economically by truck.
Particularly in the corn belt area, soft red winter wheat is often stored in the farm, since smaller amounts are produced in the region and adequate storage facilities are not prohibitive in cost.
Both farm storage and hugh cooperative terminal storage facilities are common in the major wheat producing areas, where government programs in some years subsidize both types of storage.
Harvesting the Wheat
