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Alternate Wheats
In the dryland small-grain producing areas of eastern Washington,
alternate crops, such as safflower, corn, mustard, sunflowers and
flax, are often thought of as non-traditional crops for the region.
However, alternate, non-traditional crops may be any crop other
than soft white and white club wheats, either winter or spring types,
which are normally produced in the region.
Alternate
wheat types which fall into this category, and which have shown
potential for the region, include hard white spring wheat, dark
northern spring wheat and durum. The advantage of alternate types
of wheats is that they can be produced using the equipment already
in use to produce the soft white and white club wheats.
PRODUCTION
INFORMATION
HARD
WHITE WHEAT
The hard white
wheats produce flour that makes good bread, and they have good performance
in Asian noodles. The white bran tends to produce better noodle
color, and the noodle color or brightness is the best criterion
of quality When used for breads, the white bran tends to result
in higher flour yields for millers.
Dofing says
hard white wheats can be used to produce good bread and good noodles.
This, he says, makes them a useful dual-purpose wheat and presents
an export advantage.
From an agronomic
point of view, hard white wheat management is the about same as
that for soft white wheats. The desired protein levels are intermediate
between the hard red and soft white wheats.
A general
rule of thumb is that a soft white wheat requires 2.4 to 2.7 pounds
of N per bushel of grain produced. Hard red wheats require 2.5 to
3.6 pounds of N per bushel of grain, and the N fertilizer requirements
for the hard white wheats are somewhere between these two rates.
Hard white
wheat varieties which have been tested at Washington State University
include ID377S, ID533, ML107455, and Winsome. ID377S and ID533 were
developed by plant breeders at the University of Idaho and are available
through Pro-Mar. ML107455 will also be available through Pro-Mar.
Winsome was developed by Oregon State University.
In general,
in WSU trials across all precipitation zones in eastern Washington,
these hard white spring wheats have produced yields equal to or
approaching those of the top soft white spring wheats. Protein levels
have ranged from 9+% at Dusty to as high as 15.4% in the Horse Heaven
Hills. They have tended to be higher in the lower rainfall zones.
In the intermediate and higher rainfall zones, protein levels for
the hard white spring wheats have ranged from about 10% to about
13.5%. In general, protein levels for the hard whites have been
intermediate between the soft whites and hard reds when grown under
the same conditions.
When the soft
white, hard red and hard white wheats are compared, the respective
yields have averaged, respectively, 55, 52.2 and 53,8 bushels per
acre in the 16-20 inch rainfall zones. The respective test weight
averages are 58.5, 59 and 59.2 pounds per bushel, and respective
protein levels are 10.4, 12.3 and 11.2%.
In the over-20
inch rainfall zone, the respective yield averages are 73.9 for soft
white, 71.5 for hard red and 77.6 for hard white. Under these conditions,
respective test weights have averaged 59.6, 60 and 59.9 pounds per
bushel, and respective protein levels have been 10.1, 12.5 and 11.
MARKETING
HARD WHITE
SPRING WHEAT
At the present
time, all of the hard white spring wheat being produced in the Pacific
Northwest is being grown under contract to Pro-Mar, and it is mostly
the variety ID377S. Pro-Mar is a non-profit, new generation producer
cooperative that was incorporated in Idaho in 1996. Pro-Mar uses
a single-desk marketing concept and provides price management for
member growers who are shareholders in the co-op. It does both global
and domestic marketing and merchandising, and also does specialty
niche marketing. The actual marketing is done by MK Commodities,
an independent grain merchandising and marketing firm based in Portland,
OR. The objective of the Pro-Mar-MK Commodities partnership is to
produce and market identity preserved grain crops worldwide.
Pro-Mar has
been able to market wheat to flour mills in Utah, and to noodle
manufacturing plants in Asia and Latin America. It has served buyers
from Ecuador, Mexico, Kuwait, the Philippines, Costa Rica, Dubai,
Thailand and Columbia. Some of the ID377S shipped to Ecuador was
blended with durum wheat and use in that country’s semolina trade.
While it has
been marketing only hard white spring wheat, Pro-Mar hopes to expand
its operation and market all classes of wheat produced in the Pacific
Northwest and adjacent regions. It also has access to a flour mill
and does mill wheat and sell flour as well as bulk shipments. The
Loan Deficiency Payment under the government farm program goes to
Pro-Mar and then is redistributed to the Pro-Mar shareholders.
Pro-Mar says
the returns to its growers have been 10 to 40 cents above the price
for soft white wheat. The seed cost to growers is $15.50 to $16.50
per 100 pounds, and growers are required to plant certified seed.
They are not permitted to hold back seed and replant using it. Delivery
points for Pro-Mar are located across eastern Washington.
GROWER
EXPERIENCES
KARL FELGENHAUR
-- HARD WHITE
Felgenhaur
is a Pro-Mar shareholder and says it is the only game in town when
it comes to marketing hard white wheat. For the 1998 crop year,
which was settled in the fall of 1999, he received $3.27 per bushel
plus 16 cents. He sold his soft white wheat crop for $2.90. In his
view, one of the big advantages with Pro-Mar is that the grower
doesn’t have to worry about selling the crop.
When growing
a hard white wheat, he says the mindset is the same as for growing
certified seed. This means ensuring that the trucks, combines, storage
bins and grain handling equipment are clean and free of other varieties
before handling the Pro-Mar variety.
Agronomically,
Felgenhaur says the ID377S is very tolerant to Far-Go wild oat herbicide.
It has good test weight and yields are comparable to Alpowa. He
also says the ML455 variety that Pro-Mar is just now bringing on
line will have better end-use qualities and comparable yields.
The seeding
rate for ID377S is about 10% higher than for soft white wheats.
Felgenhaur seeded 90 pounds per acre. The fertility program he used
is about the same as the one he used for his soft white wheat –
95 to 100 lbs. of available N. Yields on four fields ranged from
70 to 55 bushels per acre.
If on-farm
storage is used, Pro-Mar pays 3 cents per bushel, compared to 2
cents for commercial storage. The member takes responsibility for
ensuring quality is maintained for on-farm storage.
Cooperating
Agencies: Washington State University Cooperative Extension, United
States Department of Agriculture, Eastern Washington Counties. Cooperative
Extension programs are available to all without discrimination.
Evidence of noncompliance may be reported through your local Cooperative
Extension office.
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