Wheat Processing Module

Cassie Jones

This module will recognize components of wheat processing prior to receipt at feed mill, identify classes of wheat and wheat by-products commonly used as livestock feed ingredients, list food safety hazards associated with wheat and wheat by-products and identify specialized equipment used to process wheat and wheat by-products. This grain module is brought to you by the Iowa Grain Quality Initiative, and was produced by the Crop Advisor Institute.

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Learning objective: Recognize components of wheat processing, identify classes and fractions of wheat, learn the specialized equipment needed, and understand potential food safety hazards.

Introduction: Wheat is sometimes fed as a grain to livestock in addition to being milled for flour. For pigs, it is ground, and for cattle it is steam-flaked. However, wheat is primarily grown for human consumption and is often not economically efficient to feed to livestock.

Processing: Wheat is processed into various grades of flour by cleaning, tempering, grinding, sifting, and purifying. Flour is sold to the baking industry.

Classes of wheat: The seven official classes of wheat are soft white, soft red spring, soft red winter, hard red winter, hard white, hard red spring, and durum. Classes are divided by hardness, color of kernels, and planting period. Each class has specific baking properties. The most common wheat by-products are wheat screenings and wheat middlings. The more fibrous and coarser fractions are used as animal feed ingredients. (Potential feed safety hazards associated with wheat or wheat by-products include non grain material, pesticides, chlorine, and vomitoxin.)

Equipment: Receiving separators, roller mills, sifters, and purifiers are important equipment in the wheat processing industry.

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Publication Date: 09/2016

Permanent link for this product: https://store.extension.iastate.edu/product/14579