Building a kernel photo library with new and updated images from each of the six classes of U.S. wheat requires the single steady hand of a skilled photographer.

And hundreds of hands of support from everyone else.

Photos in the wheat kernel photo library project, which U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) began planning earlier this year, include magnified up-close shots of individual kernels, as well as cross-cut shots that show an internal view of the kernel. There are photos of small piles of the grains that depict uniformity and color.

The library is still “under construction,” but once it is complete, photos will be used for a variety of projects. Having access to clear and accurate kernel images allows USW to educate and inform both internal and external audiences.

The wheat kernel photo library project took a major leap forward in June. Over two days, a Middle photographer captured images of a dozen different varieties of U.S. wheat – the six classes and several subclasses – from fields across the country.

Therein lies the referenced “hundreds of hands of support” – wheat kernels photographed for the USW project were sent to the NDSU campus in boxes and buckets from Idaho, Kansas, Maryland, Ohio, Oregon, Texas and North Dakota.