Americas’ First Wheat
© Paleetsot / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0
In 2023/2024 US farmers produced an estimated 1.8 billion bushels of wheat. But there was a time, long before the US was even founded, when zero wheat grew in the New World.
Wheat, you may be surprised to know, is not native to America. It was first cultivated in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East ~10,000 years ago. From there, it spread to the Near East, Western Asia, Greece, Balkans, Italy, France, Spain, the UK, Scandinavia and China. Wheat was prolific in the Old World, but it wasn’t successfully cultivated in the Americas until 1529 AD.
Of course, Christopher Columbus and other early explorers brought wheat with them, but they never really got it to take root. That credit goes to Juan Garrido.
Juan Garrido also has the credit of being the first African in the New world. He was born in West Africa, moved to Portugal and, at age 15, traveled to Seville, Spain. Juan, a free African and convert to Catholicism, became a conquistador and traveled to the New World with Juan Ponce de Leon. The two Juans rummaged about Puerto Rico and Florida for gold until they were forced out by native people.
Juan Garrido also accompanied Hernan Cortes to Mexico, where he helped lay siege to the Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan. That didn’t go so well, but at least Juan made it out alive. For his service, Juan was given a piece of land near Mexico City, where he put down his arms and became a farmer. He successfully produced grapes and wheat for the growing catholic communities in the area.
There in the Americas’ first, shimmering wheat fields, the conquistador amassed gold of another kind with his wife and three children until his death some time between 1547-1550.
Brian Rutter, PhD, is the cofounder of Hundredfold Video and plant biologist working for 2Blades at the University of Minnesota. Subscribe to our newsletter to receive our “Sower Stories – Odd Facts About Plants” and video production tips in your inbox every month!
Works Cited:
“Juan Garrido.” nps.gov, 19 Sept 2017, https://www.nps.gov/people/juargarrido.htm#:~:text=For his service, Garrido was,and religious settlers in Mexico. Accessed 16 June 2024.
Seaver, Carl. “The life of Juan Garrick, the first black conquistador.” historydefined.net, https://www.historydefined.net/juan-garrido/. Accessed 16 June 2024.
Velimirović, Ana, Zoran Jovović, and Novo Pržulj. "From neolithic to late modern period: Brief history of wheat." Genetika 53, no. 1 (2021): 407-417.
“Wheat sector at a glance.” era.usda.gov, 2024, https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/crops/wheat/wheat-sector-at-a-glance/#:~:text=In 2023/24, U.S. farmers,from last year's record low. Accessed 16 June 2024.
