What does the sheath of wheat stand for at a funeral?

It is a sheaf of wheat, not a sheath, that is a covering for a knife or sWord, also called a scabbard. I am not sure this is a funerary custom. In some of the Scandinavian countries a sheaf of wheat is displayed in front of a House on Christmas, this being a local Yuletide custom, nothing morbid. As wheat is edible food stuff one could raise objections to a waste of useful food when people are hungry. I guess it must be a Scandinavian folk-way, as is the Yule custom that is similar.