Wheat harvest is underway around the United States. We visited Brandon, a farmer in Tennessee, in June to ride-along and get behind-the-scenes during his harvest. Brandon and his family—now in their 8th generation of farming in Tennessee—grow wheat, corn, soybeans, sunflowers, and berries. The family also raises hogs.

In this video, you’ll learn there’s a lot more to harvesting a crop than jumping in the tractor and heading to the field. And technology has played a huge role in helping farmers like Brandon work through harvest in an efficient manner. Check out this video to hear how Brandon explains technology in modern agriculture and how it helps his family farm at one of the most exciting times of the year for a farmer.

Wheat is an important grain for many people. Along with corn and rice, wheat is one of the top three grains produced by farmers around the world, with more than 730 million metric tonnes produced in 2016-17. The wheat harvested in this video is soft red winter wheat. This type of wheat is used for various pastries, such as cakes and pie crusts. Soft red winter wheat is planted in October. It sprouts during the late fall, and then, much like the grass in your lawn, it goes dormant during the winter months. In the spring, the wheat breaks dormancy and grows to produce grain. Other types of wheat include hard red spring, hard red winter, soft white, hard white, and durum.

Monsanto has a wheat seed business, WestBred.