Duration: 10/01/2007 to 09/30/2012

Administrative Advisor(s):

NIFA Reps:

Non-Technical Summary

Statement of Issues and Justification

Wheat quality is defined by its diverse end-uses. Wheat's unique and varied processing attributes, as well as tradition, produced many market classes based on end-use quality and specialized industries capture value from those classes. Many scientific disciplines, both public and private, seek to improve the quality components of all market classes of wheat. The farming community, milling and baking industries, and the entire wheat industry recognize the need to coordinate quality improvement efforts. This project will create a multi-disciplinary committee for exchange of wheat quality information among growers, researchers and industry. Its primary goal is to use industry input to focus public research efforts and educate growers, researchers and industry about the wheat cultivars, newest wheat quality research tools, and wheat food product specifications. Past work of a similar committee led to shifts in acreage from lesser quality to higher quality varieties. Similar measurable results are anticipated from this project.

Objectives

Procedures and Activities

1. With the exception of soft red wheat, all market classes of wheat are grown in the Western region. The historical target values and accepted ranges for many quality parameters are established. Others are less clear and none are static as industry processes and products evolve. The milling and baking industry, through its large-scale tests can provide important guidance to the research community. The USDA/ARS Wheat Quality Lab and the Wheat Marketing Center can translate these needs and information to small-scale tests, so that breeders can implement procedures and information into cultivar improvement efforts. Further coordination of breeding and extension testing can identify environmental areas conducive to high quality wheat production for specific market classes. Expertise, superior germplasm and optimal production areas can combine to meet market needs and opportunities. This project will be venue for that combination to occur among research, extension, and industry partners.

2.Information exchange between interdisciplinary research groups and industry occurs at the yearly project meeting. Informal exchanges also occur among research groups and with industry throughout the year through working relationships developed in the project. A Web site will be established in associations with the USDA/ARS Western Wheat Quality Lab to facilitate information exchange in the interval between meetings.

3. Analysis of Regional nursery samples by the USDA/ARS Wheat Quality Lab provides quality information on a standard set of lines grown across a wide variety of environments. This information not only enables the breeder to know how widely adapted his or her lines are with respect to quality, but also could inform industry as to which cultivars have promise for their purchasing area. The relatively large amount of seed per cultivar generated by the regional nurseries allows the USDA/ARS Wheat Quality Lab to conduct more extensive quality evaluations. Most Western states also conduct extension testing of new cultivars in on-farm trials to determine local adaptation in farm production settings. Like the regional testing system, the grain produced in the extension testing system is evaluated for end-use quality.

4. The influence of genotype, environment, and their interaction on end-use quality can be established using regional and extension nursery samples as well as yield trial seed from each breeding program. Individual state and ARS laboratories will conduct small sample evaluation for protein quality (SDS sedimentation or SRC lactic acid), color (using PPO tests or Minolta values on noodle sheets), test weight and kernel hardness, etc. This information can be shared at either the annual meeting or on the Web. These trials are increasingly used by wheat quality laboratories to develop quality indices and to cull wheat cultivars of undesirable quality before the cultivars reach wide production.

5.Molecular markers are becoming available that may pinpoint quality traits that can only be determined by extensive testing and baking. The ability to identify genes and linked markers is advancing more rapidly than our ability to understand their significance in commerce. Similarly instrumentation such as TxTA2 texture analyzer and the Rapid Viscoanalyzer for measurement of starch pasting are providing extensive measurements of end-use but without linkage to industry evaluation and criteria the significance of those measurements are largely lost. A prime goal of this project is to identify new methods for assessing and selecting quality but also to tie those methods to measures of value by the end-users of the wheat.

Expected Outcomes and Impacts

Projected Participation

View Appendix E: Participation

Educational Plan

Annual meetings will provide a major opportunity for educational outreach and exchange between industry and research. Project participants will meet in conjunction with the Pacific Northwest Wheat Quality Council (PNWWQC)and the Pacific Northwest Division of the AACC. The PNWWQCis an industry centered group that meets to discuss quality issues and collaborates on cultivar testing. Interaction with this group has proved to be enlightening and invaluable. Researchers throughout the Western Region now have access to industry-developed techniques such as the solvent retention capacity test through industry collaboration in the project and PNWWQC. Along with researchers, extension educators, and industry, the participation by growers and their representatives at the state wheat commissions at the annual meeting either by individual farmers or their representatives on the state wheat commissions. This input by growers to the committee is encouraged to improve farmer understanding end products and markets available for their crops and how their cultural practices and varietal choices impact these products.

Researchers communicate the information gathered at the project meeting with growers at field days, in growers meetings and through technical bulletins. More involvement by quality lab personnel in these activities should occur. Quality evaluations produced by the project and PNWWQC directly influence the release decisions of wheat breeders in the Western region. Similarly, quality evaluations produced by these joint councils are used by wheat commissions in promoting superior quality wheats and in discouraging production of inferior quality wheats.

Organization/Governance

Elected officers consist of a chair, chair-elect and secretary.

The following individuals associated with regional wheat commissions, private plant breeding companies, federal agencies, milling companies and baking companies are long-time participants in the PNW Wheat Quality Council and will be active participants in this WERA project:

Kevin Blocker Washington Wheat Commission

Rangan Chinnaswamy Federal Grain Inspection, Kansas City, MO

Dale Clark West Bred Plant Breeding

Patricia Dailey Idaho Wheat Commission

Jill Ebi Horizon Milling

Bob Fisher Horizon Milling

Tim Hansen Kraft-Nabisco

Gary Hou Wheat Marketing Center

Kaleen Long Continental Mills

Naomi McKay Continental Mills

Reuben McLean Pendleton Flour Mills

John Oades US Wheat Associates

Earl Pryor Oregon Wheat Commission

Jay Romsa General Mills

Tana Simpson Oregon Wheat Commission

Ed Sousa USDA-ARS SWQL

Literature Cited

The prosperity of the Pacific Northwest (PNW) and western states wheat industry depends on the stability and profitability of the export market, since about 85% of wheat produced in the Pacific Northwest is exported. Asian countries, where noodles are the primary wheat-based products, are the major buyers of PNW wheat. The total market value of U.S. wheat exported to Asian countries is estimated to be 400 million dollars per year. Approximately 50% of the total wheat in Asian countries is processed and consumed in the form of noodles. However, the market share of U.S. wheat for Asian noodle products has consistently declined over the last 20 years (from over 80% to 53% in Korea, for example), largely due to the less favorable noodle quality of the U.S. compared to Australian wheat. To compete favorably in international wheat trade and to retain and further expand the share of U.S. wheat in Asian markets, it is imperative to improve the quality of wheat for white salted and instant fried noodle applications. Starch and protein, two major constituents of wheat flour, primarily govern the processing and product quality of Asian noodles. Accordingly, the relationships of protein and starch, as independent entities, have been relatively well defined with respect to noodle processing and quality. However, it is now clear that the independent effects of starch and protein alone are insufficient to fully describe the quality requirements of a complex, multi-component food system such as noodles. However, there is little understanding of the interactive effects of starch, protein, and other constituents on the processing and product quality of noodles, or of the nature of starch and protein interactions inherent to these products. A clear understanding of the interactive effects of protein and starch on noodle quality, as well as the nature of their interactions, is vital for the establishment of a noodle flour quality profile (based on protein and starch characteristics), which will subsequently accelerate the development of noodle wheat varieties.

At the same time, quality standards must be maintained or improved in PNW wheats for other uses and there is increased interest in the production of other market classes of wheat in the region due to current incentives in federal farm programs and usually higher prices in general. On average, over 50% of the wheat exported from the U.S. (all classes but soft red) moves through the Port of Portland and there are many opportunities for regionally produced grain of adequate quality to be added to this export stream. Given these possibilities, it is imperative for the on-going success of the U.S. wheat industry that there is harmonization of quality standards and testing procedures among the wheat producing regions. It is essential that we improve our understanding of how wheat quality is affected by production practices such as fertilization and tillage. This project affords opportunities not only for scientists to share information and plans but for members of the domestic U.S. wheat milling industry as well as exporting companies to engage in conversations and planning for improvement of wheat quality.

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Attachments

Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

CO, MT, OR, UT, WA

Non Land Grant Participating States/Institutions

USDA-ARS/Washington