May 1999
(Volume 2, Number 7)

Katherine Lee Bates must have had Kansas and its fields of golden wheat in mind when she wrote the words to "America the Beautiful" in 1893.

Wheat was not always the main Kansas crop. Corn was grown by the Native Americans who lived here.

Before combines arrived in Kansas in 1917, wheat was cut slightly green and allowed to ripen in a shock or stack.

According to legend, 24 Mennonite families from the Russian Crimea introduced hard Turkey Red winter wheat to the plains of Kansas in the 1870s.

Wheat is the world's most important grain crop.

Hard Red Winter Wheat - the kind grown in Kansas - is planted in the fall.

Kansas has always been proud of its role as a top wheat producer. And, you don't have to look hard to see evidence of this pride. The mascot for one of our state universities even gets into the act!

. . .that grain storage bins are called elevators because they have lifts that are like office elevators except they move grain instead of people.

Dave and Shirley Voran, Kansas wheat farmers, operate The Kansas Wheat House, a Cimarron-based business that manufactures snack foods made from wheat.

It's easy to forget how much we have come to depend on wheat. You'll want to try the Chocolate Chip Cookies recipe.

Use the clues to find the right words for the wheat crossword puzzle.