Wheat Letter Blog Archive - Page 35 of 104

Wheat Marketing Center Creates Educational Bridge Between U.S. Wheat Farmers and Customers

Global demand for wheat food grows stronger every year, making exports vitally important to U.S. wheat farmers. As the export market development organization for the U.S. wheat industry, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) works to help wheat buyers, millers, bakers, wheat food processors and government officials understand the quality, value and reliability of all six U.S. wheat classes. USW relies on its successful working relationships with world-class educational partners that enhance its technical and trade service assistance to help separate U.S. wheat from its competitors. One of those partners is the Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) in Portland, Ore.

Located in the historic Albers Mill Building, WMC is a research and educational bridge between U.S. wheat farmers and their customers, dedicated to linking quality wheat and quality end products.

“Consumer tastes are evolving in domestic and international markets,” said Janice Cooper*, WMC Managing Director. “WMC’s programs demonstrate how U.S. wheat can be used to meet changing consumer demand with products that are nutritious and cost-competitive.”

In the mid-1980s, several state wheat commissions saw a need for a research and training facility to help U.S. wheat customers understand how to utilize U.S. wheat best. With the help of the late Oregon Senator Mark Hatfield – who helped secure a federal grant to renovate the Albers Mill Building – WMC opened in 1988. Its charter members, state wheat commissions from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Colorado, Nebraska and the Port of Portland, and five additional industry members make up its board leadership. The building is also home to the Oregon Wheat Commission, Federal Grain Inspection Service, and the USW West Coast Office.

Wheat Marketing Center staff with USW technical experts.

Technical Training. Dr. Jayne Bock, Wheat Marketing Center Technical Director, discusses baguette qualities with David Oh, USW Seoul; Adrian Redondo, USW Manila; and WMC Managing Director Janice Cooper in March during a core competency training session.

Three Pillars of Work

WMC programming focuses on three pillars: technical training, research and crop quality testing.

Every year, USW identifies U.S. wheat market needs and works in partnership with WMC to provide technical training courses focused on addressing those topics. In March, WMC welcomed USW technical staff from around the world to a dynamic course focusing on technical solutions to customer challenges. And USW has commissioned several new research projects from WMC related to rapid visco analysis (RVA), sponge cake methodology, U.S. wheat flour blending options and other studies that will benefit overseas customers.

WMC also hosts a variety of other technical training courses, including independent courses that it organizes itself, partnerships with other entities and custom proprietary company courses.

In addition to technical training, WMC is involved in innovative research and product development.

“We identify research projects based on market need and market opportunity,” said Cooper. “If there is a challenge with the wheat harvest, we identify what research can be done to help navigate U.S. wheat customers through those challenges. Likewise, we study market demand and look for opportunities to help the industry move in new directions with new products.”

WMC uses its several pilot-scale lines to give participants a hands-on experience.

“From crackers to Asian noodles and cookies to a full baking lab, we have the ability to make a wide array of wheat products in-house,” said Cooper. “This equipment is the perfect size to link what is done in a research and development lab and a full-scale food production facility, which is ideal for research, training and product development.”

Bon Lee, WMC Operations Manager, displays noodle dough

Noodle Line Ready. Bon Lee, Wheat Marketing Center Operations Manager, holds dough strips to be used in the educational partner’s pilot noodle line. In the background, Claudia Gomez, USW Santiago; David Oh, USW Seoul; and Wei-lin Chou, USW Taipei, were at the WMC with other USW technical colleagues in March for a training conference.

Testing the quality of the crop is also an important service WMC provides. Each year it tests the quality of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) harvest and makes those results available in weekly reports on its website, as well as in USW’s weekly harvest report. WMC is responsible for the soft white (SW) and hard white (HW) wheat analysis featured in the annual USW Crop Quality Report and an additional, more extensive SW regional report.

Customer Focus

While many of its programs are focused on U.S. wheat customers, it is also important for the WMC to share why striving for better wheat quality is important and at the root of its mission. Throughout the year, WMC hosts several grower workshops and programs for other visiting food and agriculture groups.

“The best way to explain what we do and why is for people to visit,” said Cooper. “With the other wheat industry partners in our building and our proximity to the many export elevators here, it makes visiting the Wheat Marketing Center a well-rounded opportunity.”

For those searching for more information instead of a visit, the WMC website serves as a gateway for valuable multi-media resources on research, the facility’s equipment, crop quality and testing. Ultimately, Cooper wants U.S. wheat farmers and customers to understand how WMC is helping the industry continue to move forward.

Building Knowledge

“We are unique because our focus is on end products, technology and giving customers a hands-on opportunity to take products made with a control flour that they are already using and compare it side by side with U.S. wheat and see the difference for themselves,” said Cooper. “Customers leave with a better appreciation of how valuable U.S. wheat really is and an understanding of the commitment made by U.S. wheat farmers to provide the flour they need to make the highest quality end products they are looking for.”

Learn more about the Wheat Marketing Center and its programming and services at https://www.wmcinc.org/.

*Cooper plans to retire from WMC in 2022, and the search for her successor is underway. Also, WMC has hired Ms. Liman Liu to train with Bon Lee. Liu has extensive commercial baking and product development experience, having spent the last eight years at Dave’s Killer Bread (now part of Flowers Foods.)

By Amanda J. Spoo, USW Director of Communications

Read about other USW educational partners in this series:

Northern Crops Institute Continues Tradition of Adding Value to U.S. Spring Wheat and Durum
IGP Institute Capitalizes on Resources and Location to Provide Hands-on Training
Wheat Foods Council Is A Leading Source Of Science-Based Wheat Foods Information

March 30, 2022/by actualize

Hard Red Winter, Mark Fowler, Technical Service Activities

Defining U.S. Wheat’s Comparative (Competitive) Advantage: Hard Red Winter

In the increasingly competitive global wheat market, it is important to review the advantages that U.S. wheat delivers to millers and bakers. This post examines the advantages that hard red winter wheat brings to the market.

Let us start with the value that the largest wheat class, hard red winter (HRW) wheat, brings to the global market. With annual average production over the last five years of 22.64 million metric tons (MMT) or more than 831 million bushels, U.S. HRW accounts for more than 41 percent of the total wheat produced in the United States.

Milling Advantages

Mills that only use one class of wheat in their grist are few and far between. Blending classes of wheat from different origins is a standard and crucial for the mill and its customers. Blending adds consistent quality in mill operation and, in the resulting flour products, to the wheat foods processor. It helps the mill produce the most valuable flour at a lower cost, and, of course, blending is needed to produce the range of flour products for specific end uses.

For these reasons, the quantity and quality of U.S. HRW produced annually create an optimal foundation for any wheat procurement strategy. From the miller’s perspective, U.S. HRW brings consistency to the grist. For a mill to perform optimally, it needs to be well-balanced. Constantly changing mill grist creates a milling environment that is difficult to keep balanced. A balanced mill optimizes flour extraction and helps maximize milling efficiency. Maintaining U.S. HRW as the foundation of the mill grist allows the miller to blend local wheat, other U.S. wheat classes, or wheat from other origins as cost advantages or product differentiation opportunities develop in the market.

Baking Advantages

U.S. HRW is available in a wide range of protein levels, which is excellent for making a variety of wheat foods alone or blended with flour from other classes to optimize performance and flour cost. It is also suitable for producing an all-purpose flour that can be used in a wide range of products. Medium protein flour from HRW can be used for several types of yeast and flatbreads, and noodles. Low protein HRW flour can be used in a blend with soft white (SW) or soft red winter (SRW) to make some types of biscuits (cookies). Higher protein HRW can be used for pizza crust, artisan bread, or non-durum pasta as a 100 percent grist or blended with high protein hard red spring (HRS) wheat to reduce wheat cost and optimize the quality characteristics of the finished products.

USW technical colleagues evaluate hard red winter flour performance in bread

Evaluating Hard Red Winter Flour Performance. USW technical experts from around the world visited the United States in March 2022 to update their already strong knowledge of U.S. wheat performance. Here, at the Wheat Marketing Center, Portland, Ore., evaluating bread quality made with flour from hard red winter and other U.S. wheat classes are (L-R): Adrian Redondo, USW Manila; David Oh, USW Seoul; Andres Saturno, USW Santiago; Peter Lloyd, USW Casablanca; Roy Chung, USW Singapore; Tarik Gahi, USW Casablanca; Bon Lee, Wheat Marketing Center (foreground); Casey Chumrau, Idaho Wheat Commission (background).

In the end, the greatest benefit to the baker is the same as the miller: consistency when used as the sole wheat type or used in a blend to improve the baking characteristics, such as dough stability or water absorption, of local wheat or wheat from another origin. U.S. HRW is always available to the market and provides the most reliable foundation for the formulation of nearly any wheat-based product.

U.S. Wheat Advantages

As we highlight each specific class in this series, let us not forget the advantages that all U.S. wheat classes bring to the market. First, and perhaps the most important, is consistency in quality and supply. Although each new crop year brings different challenges and opportunities, U.S. wheat is always available to the global market. Second, U.S. wheat delivers variety. Wheat is a raw material manufactured into a bakery ingredient, flour. The flour made from each unique class of U.S. wheat brings value to the market in the unique quality characteristics to make a variety of baked goods and noodles.

Each region, country and culture have wheat-based food products that are uniquely their own. With six distinct wheat classes, the United States has the right wheat class to help deliver the optimal quality and value for every variety of product on the market.

Learn more about the six classes of U.S. wheat here or leave a question in the U.S. Wheat Associates’ “Ask The Expert” section.

By Mark Fowler, USW Vice President of Global Technical Services

Read more about other U.S. wheat classes in this series.

Hard Red Spring
Hard White
Soft White
Soft Red Winter
Durum

March 29, 2022/by actualize

Wheat Quality

A Prescription for Improving Wheat Quality and Yields

Wheat Letter recently reported on how improving U.S. wheat quality takes cooperation between people and industries around the world. Following up on the post about the Wheat Quality Council (WQC) meeting on Feb. 23, 2022, in Kansas City, Mo., this post is excerpted from a story in BakingBusiness.com about best management practices for growing more and improved hard red winter (HRW).

At the WQC meeting, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Vice President and West Coast Office Director Steve Wirsching emphasized that breeding wheat for higher yields and improved quality is crucial to continue serving domestic and overseas wheat buyers.

Growing wheat is often challenging, but recent adverse environmental conditions have made the venture even more so. Extreme drought and sometimes high winds without rain to relieve parched fields have ravaged the nation’s hard red winter wheat growing regions.

Breeding Protects HRW from Bad Weather

Justin Gilpin, CEO, Kansas Wheat

Justin Gilpin, Chief Executive Officer of Kansas Wheat, noted at the WQC meeting that as of late February, 85% to 90% of U.S. HRW were growing under drought conditions, based on USDA and U.S. Drought Monitor data. He showed most wheat crops across the hard winter wheat belt was rated poor to very poor, although conditions have improved slightly since then. At the same time, Gilpin suggested that the winter wheat surviving the drought was doing so because of its quality, proving that plant breeders’ investments have been worth the effort invested in public breeding programs by farmers, universities and governments.

Quality and Yield

The BakingBusiness.com article continued with a summary of regional and national programs to help farmers maximize wheat quality as well as its yield. One of the most recognized programs is the annual National Wheat Yield Contest, which is coordinated by the National Wheat Foundation [USW is a co-sponsor of the contest]. And while the word “quality” is missing from that title, it is certainly a component of the contest, said Gilpin. Trying to bridge the gap between wheat producers and users, the contest now aims to recognize high-yielding and industry-desired high-quality wheat.

Another initiative dedicated to helping farmers produce high-quality wheat with high yields is the Kansas “Wheat Rx” program, a partnership between Kansas Wheat and Kansas State University Research and Extension.

Stronger Flour Needed

“The importance of management and ‘Wheat Rx’ as the prescription for high-yielding and high-quality wheat are, together, the new priorities for wheat production in the state,” Gilpin said. He added that U.S. flour millers want to supply higher quality, stronger flours for bakers, a desire shared by overseas millers.

Kansas Wheat Rx is a prescription for economical and sustainable production of high-yielding and high-quality wheat.

At the WQC meeting, Kansas Wheat Vice President of Research and Operations Aaron Harries and Kansas State University Research and Extension Agronomist Romulo Lollato shared their insights and research from the collaborative program. They said the Kansas Wheat Rx focus is to help producers identify the best wheat varieties for their specific environment and production practices.

For centuries, wheat has fed the world. Ensuring strong and high-quality varieties through modern plant breeding, along with maximizing yield potential, will sustain wheat’s role in feeding future generations.

March 28, 2022/by Steve Mercer

Wheat Industry News

Recent news and highlights from around the U.S. wheat industry.

Speaking of Wheat

“Disruptions like Russia’s invasion of Ukraine can have a long tail in global trade. I think that is one reason why the [USDA] Secretary is very interested in getting my successor [as USDA Under Secretary for Trade and Foreign Agricultural Affairs] named. And…Gregg Doud’s successor at USTR [as Chief Agricultural Negotiator] named, because more than half the battle is just showing up. And now that we are getting out from under COVID, showing up can make such a difference. If you are not showing up…somebody else is.” – Ted McKinney, CEO National Association of State Departments of Agriculture on Agri-Pulse Newsmakers.

NAWG Elects New Officers

National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) recently elected Nicole Berg as its next President. Berg is a fourth-generation farmer from Paterson, Wash., where she farms alongside her dad and two brothers. They grow dry-land and irrigated wheat, Blue Grass Seed, Field Corn, Sweet Corn, Sweet peas, green beans, and alfalfa. During her tenure, Berg will lead conversations about the next Farm Bill and act as the voice of the nation’s wheat growers. Other NAWG officers include Dave Milligan, Cass City, Mich., Past President; Brent Cheyne, Klamath Falls, Ore., Vice President; Keeff Felty, Altus, Okla., Treasurer; and Pat Clements, Springfield, Ky., Secretary. Read more here.

Celebrating National Ag Day on the National Mall

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) will join the North American Millers Association and National Association of Wheat Growers to host a booth at the inaugural Celebration of Modern Agriculture on the National Mall in Washington D.C., March 21 to 22 for National Ag Day. The public event will showcase U.S. equipment manufacturers, farmers, ranchers, and agriculture innovators on the cutting-edge of science and technology. Learn more about the event here.

USDA Report Shows Conservation Practices Increasing

A new USDA report shows the use of no-till, crop rotations, more efficient irrigation methods, and advanced technologies by U.S. farmers have climbed in recent years. USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) report demonstrates progress through voluntary conservation over ten years. Findings from the report will inform future conservation strategies, including USDA’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis. Read the full article here.

Largest Drought Area Since 2021

The U.S. Drought Monitor released March 8 indicated more than 61% of the contiguous U.S. is in some classification of drought, the largest percentage since 2012. The report emphasized, “the southern Plains and South continue to dry out. As spring approaches and [winter wheat] dormancy is broken, impacts are already showing in these areas….”

Subscribe to USW Reports

USW publishes various reports and content available to subscribe to, including a bi-weekly newsletter highlighting recent Wheat Letter blog posts and wheat industry news, the weekly Price Report, and the weekly Harvest Report (available May to October). Subscribe here.

Follow USW Online

Visit our Facebook page for the latest updates, photos, and discussions of what is going on in the world of wheat. Also, find breaking news on Twitter, video stories on Vimeo, and more on LinkedIn.

March 17, 2022/by Amanda Spoo

Rail Transportation, Wheat Export Supply System

Reciprocal Switching Policy Would Benefit U.S. Wheat Importers

U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) joined other major shipping groups this week in calling on the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (STB) to adopt policies that have the potential to lower costs and improve service for wheat rail shippers and their customers. The policy proposal, commonly referred to as “reciprocal switching,” has been under the STB’s consideration for some time.

Reciprocal switching seeks to provide rail shippers such as grain elevators who are commonly only served by one railroad access to ship on other railroads, provided they are located within a reasonable switching distance. The desired effect is the creation of competition between railroads, where previously there was none. That competition has the potential to lower costs for USW customers around the world.

What is Reciprocal Switching?

The STB defines reciprocal switching (sometimes referred to as competitive access) as follows: Under reciprocal switching, an incumbent carrier transports a shipper’s traffic to an interchange point, where it switches the rail cars over to the competing carrier. The competing carrier pays the incumbent carrier a switching fee for bringing or taking the cars from the shipper’s facility to the interchange point, or vice versa. The competing carrier’s total rate to the shipper incorporates the switching fee. Reciprocal switching thus enables a competing carrier to offer its own single-line rate to compete with the incumbent carrier’s single-line rate, even if the competing carrier’s lines do not physically reach a shipper’s facility.

Freight Waves, an online publication, defines this concept in simpler terms: reciprocal switching occurs when a shipper has access to one freight railroad but wants access to a nearby competing freight railroad to cultivate a competitive pricing environment. A shipper can get that access at an interchange between the two railroads.

An executive order by President Biden encouraged the STB to “promote competition and economic opportunity,” and specifically to encourage reciprocal switching.

Seal of the Surface Transportation Board

The Surface Transportation Board is an independent federal agency charged with the economic regulation of various modes of surface transportation, primarily freight rail. STB held a hearing on proposed reciprocal switching regulations March 15 to 16, 2022,

What USW Advocates

Except for the Pacific Northwest, U.S. wheat production is not close to river transportation, and export facilities are too far away to rely on trucking. As a result, railroads play a key role in the export supply system. Over the last decade, rail rates have increased exponentially, and rates to ship wheat are higher than for other commodities with similar handling characteristics.

USW’s comments filed with the STB noted those higher rates between 22% and 39% for wheat movements compared to corn in four major regions. A June 2017 USDA Agricultural Marketing Service study corroborated these results, finding no underlying cause driving the increases in wheat rates. These premiums relative to other commodities demonstrate the current market power of U.S. railroads and the lack of competition afforded to wheat shippers.

USW also encouraged the STB to consider other relevant factors as it considers a new policy, such as: (1) whether the arrangement would further the rail transportation policies in 49 U.S.C. § 10101; (2) the efficiency of the proposed route; (3) whether the arrangement would allow access to new markets; (4) the impacts, if any, of the arrangement on capital investment, quality of service, and employees; (5) the amount of traffic that would be moved under the arrangement; and (6) the impact, if any, of the arrangement on the rail transportation network.

U.S. Wheat Competitiveness

Reciprocal switching has existed in Canada for many years, called “interswitching.” The situation there makes a compelling comparison to the United States because the spring wheat and durum growing regions are similarly positioned in the country’s interior. And the shipping distances to export facilities are nearly identical. However, despite the similarities, work collected by one of USW’s member state wheat commissions showed comparable origin-to-export point rail moves in Canada were 30% less than similar U.S. moves at the time.

Differing government rail policies (including more favorable terms for reciprocal switching) are one of the few significant differences in market position between the two countries. USW also realizes that the competitive access benefits Canadian farmers enjoy will make the proposed merger of Canada’s CP railroad with the KCS more advantageous for Canadian growers – if the STB does not apply its standard to enhance competition.

More Efficient Competition

USW believes that implementing reciprocal switching will make the rail system more efficient. We hope it will compel the railroads to provide better service and be more prepared by introducing more competition into the rail industry.

March 16, 2022/by Steve Mercer

Columbia Snake River System, Wheat Export Supply System

Facts About U.S. Wheat Exports and the Columbia Snake River System

The Columbia Snake River System is the network of federal dams and locks on the Columbia River and connected water bodies, including the Snake River. This system enables grain barges to carry wheat 360 miles from Lewiston, Idaho, to export elevators as far west as Longview, Wash.

In marketing years 2019/20 and 2020/21, more than 55% of all U.S. wheat exports* moved through the system by barge or rail. Of the more than 15.0 million metric tons (MMT) of U.S. wheat exported from Pacific Northwest (PNW) export elevators each of those years, an estimated 4.6 MMT arrived by barge.

In addition, an estimated 10% of total annual U.S. wheat exports each year passes through the four locks and dams on the Snake River between Lewiston, the most inland port in the nation, and its confluence with the Columbia River.

Chart shows the amount of U.S. wheat by class that is exported through the Columbia Snake River System

Four Classes of Wheat are exported from PNW export elevators after arriving through the Columbia Snake River System by barge and rail. Source: Federal Grain Inspection Service.

Grain Superhighway

In October 2019, U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) Market Analyst Michael Anderson shared his experience aboard a four-tow barge moving wheat from Lewiston to western export elevators on the deep-water Columbia River. Eight locks on the system allow barges to safely navigate the nearly 222-meter drop in elevation over that distance.

“The Columbia Snake River System is a superhighway of sorts for moving wheat and other agricultural products from farm to market,” Anderson said. “The ability to move such a large volume of grain efficiently makes the river system a very cost-effective and “green” logistical option. The Army Corps of Engineers maintains the lock system. And its history goes back to the 1930s when President Franklin Roosevelt personally inaugurated Bonneville, the first of the eight dams and locks east of Portland.”

From Way Up River. Wheat is loaded onto a barge tow on the Snake River, the eastern segment of the Columbia Snake River System, near the start of its journey to export.

Earlier in 2019, Anderson noted why barging represents an essential part of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) wheat export supply system, including rail and trucking.

Barge Efficiency

“The rivers can move more volume at once, with greater fuel efficiency,” he wrote. “One barge can carry the same amount of wheat as 35 rail cars or 134 trucks. A barge tow can carry more than one 100-unit train or 538 trucks. And one barge can move a ton of wheat 647 miles per gallon while a truck can only move a ton of wheat 145 miles per gallon.”

The Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA) also reports that barging is a very safe way to move cargo, with fewer injuries, fatalities and accidental spills than other transportation options.

Economic Value

This system transports four classes of U.S. wheat grown by dependable farmers in 10 states. In addition, some of that wheat and other crops for export markets are irrigated with water from the system. And the dams on the Columbia Snake River System generate 90% of the renewable electric power in the PNW.

Map of the Columbia Snake River System from Pacific Northwest Waterways Association

Eight Steps Down. Lock and dam systems on the Columbia Snake River System allow barges to efficiently and safely navigate the 222-meter elevation change from Lewiston, Idaho, to export elevators as far west as Longview, Wash.

A Necessary Link

The Columbia Snake River System and other major U.S. river systems truly connect the United States to its trading partners. The river system keeps U.S. wheat competitive by moving higher volumes more efficiently. USW, its state wheat commission members, wheat associations and supply chain stakeholders in the tri-state region of Idaho, Oregon and Washington all support the Columbia Snake River System and will work to see that it continues working for wheat buyers around the world.

* Source: Federal Grain Inspection Service

March 15, 2022/by Steve Mercer

Wheat Quality

Cooperation Drives Continuous Wheat Quality Improvement

Wheat quality improvement is at the heart of the U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) mission to enhance the value of U.S. wheat for overseas customers and profitability for U.S. wheat producers. Improved quality makes U.S. wheat more competitive in global markets and, in turn, increased demand benefits producers at home.

USW cooperates with stakeholders across the domestic and international industries to encourage U.S. wheat quality improvement.

Active Participation

Activities include past Wheat Quality Improvement Teams connecting U.S. wheat breeders with overseas customers to better understand the most important quality characteristics they need. Also, USW is helping fund milling and baking quality testing for entries in the 2022 National Wheat Yield Contest sponsored by the National Wheat Foundation (winning entries must meet specific quality standards). USW also puts wheat quality improvement in the spotlight at producer meetings.

Image shows HRW wheat breeders meeting with customers in Lima, Peru, to discuss U.S. wheat quality improvement.

Breeders with Customers. The most recent USW-sponsored Wheat Quality Improvement Team in December 2018 took U.S. hard red winter wheat breeders to Peru (above) and other Latin American countries to better understand what wheat quality customers need. USW photo.

Most recently, USW Vice President and Director, West Coast Office, Steve Wirsching, and Assistant Director Tyllor Ledford participated in a Wheat Quality Council meeting in Kansas City, Mo. This is an annual forum where wheat breeders from the Great Plains states gather to review the latest results of ongoing wheat quality studies.

Honest Evaluation

“It is a challenging task for wheat breeders to develop varieties that deliver higher yields for the producer and better functional quality for end-users,” Wirsching said. “But the data shows they are doing just that. And one reason is breeders hear the honest evaluation of about how the varieties they developed performed in the field at meetings like this.”

At the meeting, Wirsching reviewed how U.S. hard red spring (HRS) wheat quality has trended over ten years using data from the USW Crop Quality Reports that Ledford had prepared. He showed breeders that HRS yields are increasing about one-half bushel per year while also meeting high breeding quality targets for kernel soundness and flour performance.

Moreover, he showed HRS genetic advancements were achieved even across variable growing conditions in the Northern Plains production region of Montana, North Dakota, and Minnesota.

Pushing for Improvement

USW also pushes to improve wheat quality and value by acknowledging areas where breeders can improve quality, such as water absorption. Absorption is an important quality characteristic valued in the export market to help bakers optimize their profits. Wirsching noted that the HRS ten-year crop average water absorption was 63%, which did not meet the HRS breeding target of 64% as measured by the farinograph.

Producers Can Also Help

Producing high-quality, high-performing wheat also takes best management practices on the farm. At the Wheat Quality Council meeting, Wirsching encouraged public wheat industries to develop producer outreach programs like Kansas’s “Wheat Rx” effort. Wheat Rx is a partnership between Kansas Wheat and Kansas State University Research and Extension to share the latest research recommendations for high-yielding, high-quality wheat to Kansas wheat farmers.

Image shows Steve Wirsching, USW, discussing wheat quality improvement at the Wheat Quality Council meeting.

Best Management Practices. At the Wheat Quality Council meeting, Wirsching encouraged public wheat industries to develop producer outreach programs to promote continuous wheat quality improvement. Photo by Romulo Lollato.

Other efforts will include preferred variety lists (PVL), which rank wheat varieties by quality and help wheat producers make informed decisions based on quality outcomes and yield potential.

“Published PVLs are helping improve soft white wheat quality in Washington, Oregon and Idaho,” Wirsching said. “Also, Grain Craft, a private milling company, is now publishing a PVL for hard red winter wheat, which is influencing variety selection in the Central Plains states.”

After attending the meeting, Assistant Director Tyllor Ledford said the Wheat Quality Council is a uniquely collaborative organization.

Building Dependable Value

“Stakeholders like breeders, farmers, millers, bakers, state wheat commissions, and export organizations all come together to pursue a common goal,” she said. “And the product of this cooperation is making quality improvement a priority so that U.S. wheat can remain a dependable value to our customers around the world.”

Future Wheat Quality Council meetings are scheduled to focus on U.S. soft red winter and soft white wheat quality. Look for more information about these and other events focused on wheat quality in future Wheat Letter posts.

March 10, 2022/by Steve Mercer

Wheat Industry News

Recent news and highlights from around the U.S. wheat industry.