
Future Wheat Varieties May Be Tailor-Made
for Foreign MarketsBy Linda
McGraw November 2, 1999In the future, U.S. hard red winter
wheat varieties may be tailor-made to meet the quality needs of foreign
markets, thanks to a new Cooperative Research and Development Agreement
(CRADA). The agreement allows the Agricultural Research Service, the
American Institute of Baking, and
Kansas State University to act as
liaisons between U.S. wheat breeders and foreign buyers. In the past, traditional wheat breeding has emphasized higher yields. But
thats no longer enough to attract more business. Todays wheat
producers need new, targeted wheat varieties to expand their markets overseas,
according to Don E. Koeltzow, director of ARS
Grain Marketing and Production
Research Center in Manhattan, Kansas. Researchers at the Kansas-based research facility will analyze the milling
and baking qualities of hard red winter wheat grown in California, Colorado,
Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Texas. Then the
researchers will match those quality traits with the needs of foreign buyers.
Flour samples from U.S.-grown hard red winter wheat varieties will be provided
to 12 foreign cooperators. The cooperators will provide feedback about how well
these varieties meet the quality traits desired by buyers in their respective
countries. More hard red winter wheat--the kind used to make white pan bread and hot
dog and hamburger buns--is grown than any other kind of wheat in the United
States. Fifty-percent of all U.S. wheat is currently exported. The CRADA joins
federal and state research expertise with industrys ability to market a
product. The expected outcome: a higher demand for U.S. wheat in foreign
countries. ARS operates four wheat quality laboratories located in Manhattan, Kan.;
Wooster, Ohio; Fargo, N.D.; and Pullman, Wash. The labs were established to
help breeders improve the quality of wheat varieties grown in their respective
regions. ARS is the chief research
agency of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Scientific contact: Don E. Koeltzow, ARS Grain
Marketing and Production Research Center, 1515 College Avenue, Manhattan, KS
66502, phone (785) 776-2701, fax (785) 776-2792,
[email protected]. U.S. Department of Agriculture | |