Submitted by: agcomm,  Thu Nov 20 09:45:32 1997


                        November 20, 1997
 
Crop Quality Survey Shows Average Wheat Crop Despite Scab Impact
 
     Despite devastating yield losses caused by scab this year,
the quality of the region's hard red spring wheat and durum wheat
held steady, according to an North Dakota State University crop
quality survey.
     NDSU grain quality specialist Amar Debbouz notes that the
wheat crop around the region showed a wide range in quality. In
general for hard red spring wheat, test weight averaged 59.7
pounds per bushel, down from last year's 61.5 pounds and nearly
matching the five-year average of 59.9 pounds.  Protein levels
averaged 14.1 percent, up from the last year's level and the
five-year average of 13.9 percent for grain at 12 percent
moisture. 
     "There were some areas with significantly reduced quality
because of scab," Debbouz says.
     For durum, protein levels showed a significant increase this
year.  Average protein was 14.2 percent, up from 13.6 percent
last year and the five-year average of 13.4 percent on a 12-
percent moisture basis.  "This increase in protein should improve
the processing and cooking qualities of pasta," Debbouz says. 
Average test weight was 59.2 pounds per bushel, down  slightly
from last year's 60.7 pounds and the five-year average of 59.6
pounds.   
     For spring wheat the researchers also look at qualities like
flour protein and gluten strength, reflections of baking quality,
vitreous kernels, a test associated with flour yield, and falling
number, a measure of sprout damage to kernels, as well as a
number of other characteristics. Most of those qualities are
about average for this year's crop. 
     "Those are measures that give our buyers an indication of
how well our wheat will function in the end product," notes
Dennis Gordon, chair of NDSU's cereal science department.
     The survey also looked at many of the same qualities in the
durum crop.  They also look at gluten content and semolina yield.
     NDSU conducts the annual crop quality survey in the Dakotas,
Minnesota and Montana to help domestic processors and foreign
grain buyers make purchasing decisions.  "The survey helps the
people who buy our grain set their purchasing decisions and
decide what they should buy.  The survey helps processors know
what to expect and how they'll need to change their processing
conditions to meet quality considerations," Gordon explains. 
     "The survey tells producers if they're producing grain
that's above or below average in various qualities and if they
need to make some adjustments," Gordon says. 
     Typically, processors purchase wheat from the Northern
Plains to blend with wheat from other regions to improve baking
and processing characteristics, Gordon says.  That means it's
important for the area to maintain its reputation for high
quality grain.  He notes that the survey results also help guide
NDSU crop breeding programs so that new varieties of wheat not
only have improved yield, but improved quality as well. 
     Improved yield and disease resistance are well-recognized
bench marks for plant breeders and producers, but quality is
equally important, Gordon says.  "When we go shopping for a
shirt, a car, a tractor, or education, quality is what
everybody's after.  It's not different for grain."
     Although producers aren't paid based on the gluten strength
or semolina yield of their crop, it's still important for them to
consider quality as they choose varieties and manage their crops.
     "If you continue to grow only for yield, your markets will
erode.  The pay-off is in the long term.  In the long-term
quality always wins," Gordon says.                              
                               ###
NDSU Agriculture Communication
 Sources: Dennis Gordon (701) 231-9438 
Amar Debbouz  (701) 231-7727
Editor: Tom Jirik (701) 231-9629