Hi Carissa, 

Very few crops have been subject to the type of genetic engineering commonly referred to as GMO; however, virtually all plants have evolved naturally or have been cross-bred within the same species to yield new varieties.

Most of the wheat we harvest and consume today is the result of many years of traditional selective breeding by farmers and scientists. Traditional selective breeding creates new hybrids by combining two wheat plants with desirable traits. We’re proud to work with university agricultural programs to better understand their processes, how they select desirable traits to breed for, and how we can participate in order to improve the flour that we mill. One example of this is an endowment we’ve co-funded to support  organic grain breeding and research at Washington State University’s Bread Lab.

Some of the desirable traits that are selectively bred in wheat include better drought tolerance, fuller seed heads, better baking quality, and shorter stalks (to prevent decreased yields from wind damage). Hybridization efforts have additionally led to wheat varieties that use fewer resources (fertilizer, water, fuel) and yield more wheat per acre.

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