United States Department of Agriculture

Agricultural Marketing Service

Federal Grain Inspection Service

U.S. Standards May 2014

Distribution: FGIS, OSP, Industry Originating Office: FMD PPMAB

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) prohibits discrimination in its programs on the basis of race, color, 

national origin, sex, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, and marital or familial status. (Not all prohibited 

bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternate means for communication of program 

information (Braille, large print, audiotape, etc.) should contact USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and 

TDD).

To file a complaint, write to the USDA, Office of Civil Rights, Room 326-W, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, 

Washington, DC 20250-9410, or call (202) 720-5964 (voice and TDD). USDA is an equal employment opportunity 

employer.

Subpart M -- United States Standards for Wheat

Contents

Subpart M -- United States Standards for Wheat 1

Terms Defined 2

Principles Governing the Application of Standards 4

Grades and Grade Requirements 5

Special Grades and Special Grade Requirements 6
Official US Standards for Grain

Wheat

May 2014

Page 2

Terms Defined

§ 810.2201 Definition of wheat.

Grain that, before the removal of dockage, consists of 50 percent or more common 

wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), club wheat (T. compactum Host.), and durum wheat (T. 

durum Desf.) and not more than 10 percent of other grains for which standards have 

been established under the United States Grain Standards Act and that, after the 

removal of the dockage, contains 50 percent or more of whole kernels of one or more of 

these wheats.

§ 810.2202 Definition of other terms.

(a) Classes. There are eight classes for wheat: Durum wheat, Hard Red Spring wheat,

Hard Red Winter wheat, Soft Red Winter wheat, Hard White wheat, Soft White wheat,

Unclassed wheat, and Mixed wheat.

(1) Durum wheat. All varieties of white (amber) durum wheat. This class is divided into

the following three subclasses:

(i) Hard Amber Durum wheat. Durum wheat with 75 percent or more of hard and

vitreous kernels of amber color.

(ii) Amber Durum wheat. Durum wheat with 60 percent or more but less than 75 percent

of hard and vitreous kernels of amber color.

(iii) Durum wheat. Durum wheat with less than 60 percent of hard and vitreous kernels 

of amber color.

(2) Hard Red Spring wheat. All varieties of Hard Red Spring wheat. This class shall be

divided into the following three subclasses:

(i) Dark Northern Spring wheat. Hard Red Spring wheat with 75 percent or more of dark,

hard, and vitreous kernels.

(ii) Northern Spring wheat. Hard Red Spring wheat with 25 percent or more but less 

than 75 percent of dark, hard, and vitreous kernels.\

(iii) Red Spring wheat. Hard Red Spring wheat with less than 25 percent of dark, hard,

and vitreous kernels.

(3) Hard Red Winter wheat. All varieties of Hard Red Winter wheat. There are no

subclasses in this class.

(4) Soft Red Winter wheat. All varieties of Soft Red Winter wheat. There are no

subclasses in this class.

(5) Hard White wheat. All hard endosperm white wheat varieties. There are no 

subclasses in this class.
Official US Standards for Grain

Wheat

May 2014

Page 3

(6) Soft White wheat. All soft endosperm white wheat varieties. This class is divided into

the following three subclasses:

(i) Soft White wheat. Soft endosperm white wheat varieties which contain not more than

10 percent of white club wheat.

(ii) White Club wheat. Soft endosperm white club wheat varieties containing not more

than 10 percent of other soft white wheats.

(iii) Western White wheat. Soft White wheat containing more than 10 percent of white

club wheat and more than 10 percent of other soft white wheats.

(7) Unclassed wheat. Any variety of wheat that is not classifiable under other criteria

provided in the wheat standards. There are no subclasses in this class. This class 

includes any wheat which is other than red or white in color.

(8) Mixed wheat. Any mixture of wheat that consists of less than 90 percent of one class

and more than 10 percent of one other class, or a combination of classes that meet the

definition of wheat.

(b) Contrasting classes. Contrasting classes are:

(1) Durum wheat, Soft White wheat, and Unclassed wheat in the classes Hard Red 

Spring wheat and Hard Red Winter wheat.

(2) Hard Red Spring wheat, Hard Red Winter wheat, Hard White wheat, Soft Red Winter

wheat, Soft White wheat, and Unclassed wheat in the class Durum wheat.

(3) Durum wheat and Unclassed wheat in the class Soft Red Winter wheat.

(4) Durum wheat, Hard Red Spring wheat, Hard Red Winter wheat, Soft Red Winter 

wheat, and Unclassed wheat in the class Soft White wheat.

(5) Durum wheat, Soft Red Winter wheat, and Unclassed wheat, in the class Hard

White wheat.

(c) Damaged kernels. Kernels, pieces of wheat kernels, and other grains that are badly

ground-damaged, badly weather-damaged, diseased, frost-damaged, germ-damaged,

heat-damaged, insect-bored, mold-damaged, sprout-damaged, or otherwise materially

damaged.

(d) Defects. Damaged kernels, foreign material, and shrunken and broken kernels. The

sum of these three factors may not exceed the limit for the factor defects for each

numerical grade.
Official US Standards for Grain

Wheat

May 2014

Page 4

(e) Dockage. All matter other than wheat that can be removed from the original sample

by use of an approved device according to procedures prescribed in FGIS instructions.

Also, underdeveloped, shriveled, and small pieces of wheat kernels removed in properly

separating the material other than wheat and that cannot be recovered by properly

rescreening or recleaning.

(f) Foreign material. All matter other than wheat that remains in the sample after the

removal of dockage and shrunken and broken kernels.

(g) Heat-damaged kernels. Kernels, pieces of wheat kernels, and other grains that are

materially discolored and damaged by heat which remain in the sample after the 

removal of dockage and shrunken and broken kernels.

(h) Other grains. Barley, corn, cultivated buckwheat, einkorn, emmer, flaxseed, guar,

hull-less barley, nongrain sorghum, oats, Polish wheat, popcorn, poulard wheat, rice, 

rye, safflower, sorghum, soybeans, spelt, sunflower seed, sweet corn, triticale, and wild 

oats.

(i) Shrunken and broken kernels. All matter that passes through a 0.064 x 3/8 oblonghole sieve after sieving according to procedures prescribed in the FGIS instructions.

(j) Sieve. 0.064 x 3/8 oblong-hole sieve. A metal sieve 0.032 inch thick with oblong

perforations 0.064 inch by 0.375 (3/8) inch.

Principles Governing the Application of Standards

§ 810.2203 Basis of determination.

Each determination of heat-damaged kernels, damaged kernels, foreign material, wheat

of other classes, contrasting classes, and subclasses is made on the basis of the grain

when free from dockage and shrunken and broken kernels. Other determinations not

specifically provided for under the general provisions are made on the basis of the grain

when free from dockage, except the determination of odor is made on either the basis of

the grain as a whole or the grain when free from dockage.
Official US Standards for Grain

Wheat

May 2014

Page 5

Grades and Grade Requirements

§ 810.2204 Grades and grade requirements for wheat.

(a) Grades and grade requirements for all classes of wheat, except Mixed wheat.

Grading factors

Grades U.S. Nos.

1 2 3 4 5

Minimum pound limits of:

Test weight per bushel

Hard Red Spring wheat or White Club wheat

All other classes and subclasses

58.0

60.0

57.0

58.0

55.0

56.0

53.0

54.0

50.0

51.0

Maximum percent limits of:

Defects:

Damaged kernels

Heat (part of total)

Total

Foreign material

Shrunken and broken kernels

Total 1

Wheat of other classes: 2

Contrasting classes

Total 3

Stones

0.2

2.0

0.4

3.0

3.0

1.0

3.0

0.1

0.2

4.0

0.7

5.0

5.0

2.0

5.0

0.1

0.5

7.0

1.3

8.0

8.0

3.0

10.0

0.1

1.0

10.0

3.0

12.0

12.0

10.0

10.0

0.1

3.0

15.0

5.0

20.0

20.0

10.0

10.0

0.1

Maximum count limits of:

Other material in one kilogram:

Animal filth

Castor beans

Crotalaria seeds

Glass

Stones

Unknown foreign substances

Total 4

Insect-damaged kernels in 100 grams

1

1

2

0

3

3

4

31

1

1

2

0

3

3

4

31

1

1

2

0

3

3

4

31

1

1

2

0

3

3

4

31

1

1

2

0

3

3

4

31

U.S. Sample grade is Wheat that:

(a) Does not meet the requirements for U.S. Nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5; or

(b) Has a musty, sour, or commercially objectionable foreign odor (except smut or garlic odor) or

(c) Is heating or of distinctly low quality.

__________

1

 Includes damaged kernels (total), foreign material, shrunken and broken kernels.

2

 Unclassed wheat of any grade may contain not more than 10.0 percent of wheat of other classes.

3

 Includes contrasting classes.

4

 Includes any combination of animal filth, castor beans, crotalaria seeds, glass, stones, or 

 unknown foreign substance.

(b) Grades and grade requirements for Mixed wheat. Mixed wheat is graded according 

to the U.S. numerical and U.S. Sample grade requirements of the class of wheat that

predominates in the mixture, except that the factor wheat of other classes is 

disregarded.
Official US Standards for Grain

Wheat

May 2014

Page 6

Special Grades and Special Grade Requirements

§ 810.2205 Special grades and special grade requirements.

(a) Ergoty wheat. Wheat that contains more than 0.05 percent of ergot.

(b) Garlicky wheat. Wheat that contains in a 1,000 gram portion more than two green

garlic bulblets or an equivalent quantity of dry or partly dry bulblets.

(c) Light smutty wheat. Wheat that has an unmistakable odor of smut, or which contains,

in a 250-gram portion, smut balls, portions of smut balls, or spores of smut in excess of 

a quantity equal to 5 smut balls, but not in excess of a quantity equal to 30 smut balls of

average size.

(d) Smutty wheat. Wheat that contains, in a 250-gram portion, smut balls, portions of

smut balls, or spores of smut in excess of a quantity equal to 30 smut balls of average

size.

(e) Treated wheat. Wheat that has been scoured, limed, washed, sulfured, or treated in

such a manner that the true quality is not reflected by either the numerical grades or the

U.S. Sample grade designation alone.