Winter cereals, also called winter grains, fall cereals, fallgrains, or autumn-sown grains, are biennialcerealcrops sown in the autumn. They germinate before winter comes, may partially grow during mild winters or simply persevere under a sufficiently thick snow cover to continue their life cycle in spring.
They are harvested earlier than grains of the same type sown in springtime. In general, winter cereals have a much higher yield than spring cereals because they can use snow as moisture for growth.