Grain Guild Fights An Old “Axiom”: You Can’t Grow Wheat For Food In Illinois

An Illinois food movement hopes to convince the state’s farmers that they can grow wheat specifically for bread making. The goal of the Grand Prairies Grain Guild is to boost the supply of locally grown bread and baked goods on restaurant menus and grocery shelves. Illinois is no stranger to grain production. The USDA says farmers there harvested 44.8 million bushels of wheat from 740,000 acres in 2014. But the Grain Guild, convinced that wheat can be a local food product, wants to see farmers planting “food-grade, hard winter wheat for regional bakery products". The Guild is focusing for now on Illinois wheat, but also hopes to eventually include oats, buckwheat, rye, corn, soybeans and sorghum.