The sun was setting in Lincoln County, Washington, one of the state’s main wheat growing areas, when I snapped this photo near Wilbur.

Wheat fields are a golden yellow, stiff, and dry when they are harvested for the global commodities market, in this case from a farm in Lincoln County.

Washington state is famous for many crops. We produce about 80 percent of all beer hops in the nation (yes, bow before our hops growers, please). We produce fruit of all kinds, from wine grapes to cherries. We grow many grain crops too, including wheat, particularly in the middle and eastern half of the state. Right now, harvesters are running night and day, grain is filling silos, and farmers are calculating their earnings. You can learn about the different varieties of wheat grown in the state, including durum for pasta and hard red wheat for Asian noodles and general flour, from the Washington Association of Wheat Growers. This is the fourth most productive wheat-growing state in the country, and yes, the golden wheat definitely does have golden rewards, relative to other crops on the global markets. As for me, I think I would be miserable without my pasta, bread, and cookies. (Click on each photo to see a larger picture on a separate picture page.)