Fast Facts About Growing Buckwheat and Eating It, Too

Buckwheat is a popular food for those on gluten-free diets, but it can actually help farmers make more money, too. Growing buckwheat for cereal can help crop farmers make the most of their available land. It is a preferred pseudocereal crop for wheat growers because it can be planted during the wheat off-season in the same ground where the wheat was.

Growing Buckwheat Makes the Most of Inactive Land

This way, a farmer can keep his land active throughout the year, even when wheat crops will not grow. It is especially common in Missouri, where weather conditions often yield a long growing season.

Buckwheat Matures Quickly for Fast Harvesting and Replanting

Buckwheat has a short, approximately two-month growing season that allows the farmer to plant and harvest the buckwheat before wheat grain planting season returns.

Buckwheat: Not Exactly a Grain, but Close Enough...or Even Better

A pseudocereal is a food item often used as a grain that is actually a small fruit, and not a grain. One thing that makes these grains different is that they are grown on a broadleaf plant, not a grassy plant like wheat.

People on gluten-free diets like pseudocereals because there is not gluten in them. Popular pseudocereals include buckwheat, quinoa and several species of amaranth.

Growing Buckwheat in the Wheat Off-Season