5 best places to buy wheat berries

So you want to mill your own flour? Then you need to know about the 5 best places to buy wheat berries. You’ve been to the grocery store – and you haven’t seen them on the shelves – but wheat berries are readily available, often locally, if you know where to look.

I’ve been milling my own flour for over three years. But to be totally honest, until a few years ago, I did not know what wheat berries existed. As the granddaughter of a wheat farmer, that is a bit embarrassing. I mean, I knew wheat grew on farms, and that it could be ground into flour. But I didn’t know HOW that worked, and I didn’t know that I could do the grinding myself.

But why would I WANT to grind my own flour? Big bags of it are ready to go on the grocery store shelves! Until they weren’t, and like many in 2020, I started to look for ways to be a little bit more self-sufficient. I had already started a garden, and in several of the blogs I leaned on for advice, fresh ground flour was a common theme.

It turns out that, properly stored, wheat berries last a really, really long time. Which means you can buy a 50 lb bag, and they’ll still be good for many years. Many years, as in 20-30 years! I can’t think of any other healthy food sources that have that kind of longevity.

However, I don’t want to store my wheat berries for 30 years. I want to use them to make healthy and delicious food for my family. Before I could start milling my own flour, or make my first loaf of sourdough, I had to find someplace to buy wheat berries. They sure weren’t anywhere to be found on my grocery store shelves.

After four years of milling my own flour, I’ve identified the best places to buy wheat berries.

Nearby farmers

Depending where you live, you may be able to find a local farmer who is growing their own wheat and will sell to you. Living in Kentucky, this is not my situation. But if my grandfather was still farming in western Nebraska, you can be sure I’d be asking him for my yearly supply. Make sure you ask about the farming practices though. I look for organic wheat berries, as I want to limit chemical exposure that comes from herbicides and pesticides.

My husband and I traveled to rural Ohio for a little getaway, and came across Stutzman Farms near Millersburg. Stutzman Farms produces organically grown wheat and sells wheat berries (along with flour and lots of other products prepared using their grains, such as granola). You can bet that I snapped up multiple bags of wheat berries at their little store. I believe they are an Amish family, and they don’t have any website or online sales, but they do sell via phone and fax. Here is the price list they gave me when we were there in 2024:

Local co-op or health food store

Check your health food stores and ask your friends if they know of any nearby co-ops or buying clubs. We currently belong to a buying club in Louisville, KY. Even though it is 2 hours from our home, we’ve found it worth the cost and time to drive over. Besides wheat berries, the club also does the hard work of finding high quality trustworthy (often local) options for pretty much everything we need in our kitchen. We also purchase non-toxic household and personal care items through our buying club. I love that I’m spending my hard-earned money with local farmers instead of the big chains, while also benefiting from higher quality products.

The health food stores around us do not carry wheat berries, but at least one has a source that they can special order for us. It is worth asking!

Amish bulk food store

We live in an area that has several Amish communities within a few hours drive. My family and I enjoy exploring both the beautiful scenery as well as the high-quality products they sell in their shops. The local restaurants serve delicious home-style meals.

Amish communities often have discount and bulk food stores, and those almost always carry wheat berries. My favorite Amish bulk food store is near Arthur, Illinois, an enormous store called Beachy’s. They sell both small bags of wheat berries as well as the 50 lb bags.

Finding an Amish store near you can be challenging. The genuine Amish stores won’t have a website or a Facebook page, of course. There are a few websites that carry listings by state (I like this one and this one). If you don’t see one listed near you, and you know there is an Amish community near-by, ask around. Also check the county tourism website. When the Amish community is large enough to attract visitors, the county often keeps track of listings of businesses. They may even have a printed map you can request.

Azure Standard

Azure Standard (that’s my referral link) is a family-owned “natural health food distributor bringing bulk and specialty health foods to communities all across the nation”, per their website. I love that Azure sells so many organic options for just about any food. They have bulk options, as well as smaller size options. The most unique aspect of Azure is their delivery mechanism. When you place your order, you must select a drop site. Then on a specific date and time, you show up to that site. The semi-truck with your order shows up, and unloads that drop’s order, then continues on to the next drop site.

This delivery process saves cost for Azure, which is passed on to us as the buyers. But I will definitely say I’ve found it to be challenging to deal with. At the time the order is placed, only the week of the delivery is set. The date and time are determined later, and are subject to change. The truck was delayed on my very first order at the last minute. Eventually we were told to come back the next day, but without a specific time being set. I had to watch my email and quickly react, as we had maybe 30-60 minutes from the time the email came til the delivery occurred.

Despite the inconvenience, I’ve continued to order from Azure several times each year. The products they provide are outstanding, especially for the prices they charge. And if you are looking for like-minded community, the drop pickups are a great chance to meet new friends.

Online retailers

Buying wheat berries online can be expensive, mainly because of the shipping cost. I’ve found several wheat berry producers that will ship, with great prices on the berries. However, the shipping costs more than the berries. Know of an option where shipping costs don’t make online purchases unreasonable? Post it in the comments below please – I would LOVE to know! Amazon does have options (some with free shipping), and some also appear to ship in food grade buckets.

Is organic a must?

A note about organic versus non-organic: I prefer to limit my family’s exposure to chemicals including herbicides and pesticides. If you find a farmer locally, you can ask about the farm’s practices. But for any of the other options, I tend towards sticking with organic options for this reason.

A few brands available in stores and online retailers may publish information about their standards with regard to chemicals. I would personally spend the time to research those before I purchased a non-organic option.

That said, organic will cost more than non-organic (organic certifications are not cheap), and the health benefits of non-organic fresh milled flour are still greater than non-organic flour off the grocery store shelves. Do what you can with what you have – that’s a motto I wholeheartedly support.

There you have it – the 5 best places to buy wheat berries. Happy milling!

This post contains affiliate links which means I make a small commission at no extra cost to you.

5 best places to buy wheat berries