The Memories Wheat Grows

As a little girl, with the wheat harvest approaching, I could be found looking out the front window of my house lost in the view of wheat fields stretching toward the horizon. I wondered when I would see our cousins combine and eagerly count down the days before their arrival. Finally, when the golden heads of wheat swayed just right in the breeze, signaling the start of the harvest season, I would get the invitation I had been waiting for—to ride in the combine. For this little girl, that ride in the combine during wheat harvest was the coolest thing you could do.

That’s the magic of agriculture—it brings people together. It’s not just the work in the fields that unites us, but the products of that hard work that find their way into homes and hearts. The wheat farmers grow is milled into flour that becomes part of family traditions around the world. In our home baking was a constant, woven into every day of our lives. My favorites were the orange rolls we make each year for Christmas and Thanksgiving. Their sweet, citrusy aroma filled the house, and the beignets we fried fresh for birthdays, were dusted with powdered sugar like a light snowfall.

None of these memories could have been made without wheat and the farmers who grow this commodity. Wheat isn’t just a staple because of its versatility, it’s a staple because of the memories it helps create. Our family memories are growing, my parents have bought part of our family’s farm from my grandparents. The wheat fields on our farm and ranch are transitioning to the next generation. Someday I hope to play my part in continuing a family legacy providing little girls, like myself, an opportunity to look out their windows and see wheat fields. I hope little girls who see wheat fields are filled with the same excitement I had for the chance to ride in a combine and bake special treats. These moments share the story that agriculture is about connection, tradition, and the memories that grow alongside wheat. These are the memories of growing wheat that I am grateful for and hope to be part of for years to come.

2025 Wheat Scholarship Essay: Jayda Cant