Spring Wheat Must Reclaim its Quality Crown
By Paul Aasness, Chairman; Minnesota Wheat Council
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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.
The work was done by AG-NOMICS Research, a New Brighton, Minn., consulting firm, which surveyed 50 U.S. baking companies that make food products from hard red spring wheat.
An ironic point was brought out in the study. From the late 1980s to the early 1990s, trends indicate that demand in the United States is growing fastest for flour-based products that traditionally use higher protein hard wheat flours.
Sales of tortillas, bagels, pizza crust, and specialty breads are booming; in fact among products that use higher protein hard wheat flours, only English muffins showed a per capita decrease in consumption between 1987 and 1992.
One would assume that the increased demand for these higher quality products would result in greater usage of spring wheat, which is usually higher in protein, has greater gluten strength and is used to make better quality bread products. Frequently, it is used in blending wheats with less protein to enhance their quality.
However, usage of spring wheat is actually down. In fact, spring wheat is the only class of wheat grown in the United States to have lost market share in the domestic food market. The amount of spring wheat used for food in 1991-93 declined 8 million bushels from 1986-88.
A key reason is quality problems in spring wheat, especially in the last two years due to fusarium head blight or scab.
Because of a shortage of quality spring wheat, bakers switched to other classes with lower protein and used more vital wheat gluten to make their flour products.
Two points can be drawn from this study. One is that by knowing more about what end users want from spring wheat flour, we are more prepared to take steps in marketing spring wheat in ways that both producers and end users will benefit.
The other point is that spring wheat must reclaim its quality reputation with end users. Weather is one determinant of crop quality we as producers cannot control. A return to better production weather will definitely put us back on track for better wheat quality.
However, another determinant of crop quality comes with the varieties grown. Quality advances can be made by developing spring wheat varieties that are more resistant to diseases and have stronger quality characteristics.
That is the challenge in place for the one major spring wheat breeder left in the U.S. private sector, and for public researchers at our land grant universities, including the University of Minnesota and North Dakota State University.
Public wheat breeding programs are funded in part by producers through the wheat checkoff, which in Minnesota is administered by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council.
In the past, land grant researchers were successful in developing varieties resistant to rust and other diseases. With a good track record in place, we are optimistic that success will be found again, this time to solve the critical need for more scab resistant varieties.