Soft wheat stores 12-15 yrs, not as long as the 20-30 yrs for hard, but hardly a short storage life.

I got this information from The Bread Builders:

There are two colors of wheat: White and red (actually there is a new golden variety that I just tried, it has a very mellow flavor and is almost as light as white wheat) Red produces a darker flour with a stronger flavor than white. It also produces more gluten (the stretchy proteins that make bread fluffy and light) than white.

There are two types of of each color: hard and soft. Hard wheat has more protein that stretches into longer strands, so it is perfect for bread. Soft has less protein making it perfect for baked goods where you don't want a spongy or stretchy dough, like cakes, cookies and pies.

Each wheat has two growing seasons: Winter and Spring. 75% of wheat is winter wheat. Winter wheat tends to have more more minerals but less protein than it's spring counterpart.

So when you buy wheat you ask for it by hard/soft, white/red and winter/spring. What variety you get depends on what you are using it for.

For baking you will want a soft white, winter or spring.

For breads you will want a hard red or white, preferably spring (though winter is more available and won't make a huge difference in your bread.) If your family objects to the distinctive flavor of whole wheat, you might want to start with hard white spring wheat. If you are new to bread-making, a hard red spring wheat will make it easier for you to make lighter, fluffier bread (because it's higher in protein.)