California wheat growers look for premium quality

Faced with higher costs than most of the competition, California wheat growers are steadily progressing toward identifying varieties that may fetch a premium because they are well suited for particular markets.

About 20% of the wheat grown in the state is already sold to premium pasta markets under the name Desert Durum, which was trademarked in 2016 by the Arizona Grain Research and Promotion Council and the California Wheat Commission.

The newly published California Preferred Wheat Varieties identifies the state's dozen best for making bread as part of a campaign to build the state's brand with large commercial mills.

But work is also underway to specify varieties that are exceptional for other purposes.

"We know that wheat is utilized in a lot of ways besides in a loaf of bread; it is used in tortillas, and a lot more is in sourdough bread," said Claudia Carter, executive director of the California Wheat Commission. "This list is only for bread making; we are also going to be working on a durum variety list and a tortilla-making list."

Carter made her remarks during the 2019 California Wheat Annual Collaborator Meeting, which brings together growers, plant breeders, millers and bakers to discuss grain cooperation from seed to end use.

San Leandro-based Mi Rancho research and development director Joe Trummer discussed the results of his tests of varieties for making tortillas on a commercial scale.

"We make 4 million tortillas a day; that's over a billion a year," Trummer said. "We would prefer to have California-grown wheat; that is a great story because we market ourselves as a California company."

Grain headed toward this fast-growing market must produce flour that meets highly particular standards.

"People pack a lot of wet things inside a tortilla, so it has to withstand a lot of abuse," Trummer said. "We need something that can absorb a lot of water, and have a short mix time. We like dough with a good combination of elasticity and extensibility."

After closely examining and testing eight entries, Trummer concluded that one, an experimental University of California variety, might produce flour competitive with the mix currently used at Mi Rancho.

The Wheat Commission and UC have recently completed a rating of the state's best wheat varieties for bread making, based on testing flour from grain grown at 19 locations for three years.

"The purpose of this exercise is to add value to California wheat," said Jorge Dubcovsky, UC Davis wheat breeding program team leader. "We know it costs more and we are looking for a way to recover that cost. We wanted to do something similar to Desert Durum, which brings value to growers."

High quality California grain might allow growers to receive a premium from mills looking to include it to raise the overall bread-making level of their flour blends.

The dozen recommended varieties are WestBred's Joaquin Oro, WB 9229, WB 9112 and WB 7556; Agri-Pro Syngenta's Blanca Grande 515 and SY Sienna; UC Davis Yecora Rojo, Patwin 515HP, Central Red and UC 1815; Linagrain Seeds' LCS Star; and Arizona Plant Breeders' APB 500709.

"These ratings were based 20% on the grain quality, mostly the protein level, 15% on the milling and 65% on the baking," Dubcovsky said.

The UC Davis small grains website has detailed information on each of these varieties, including disease resistance and yield under irrigated or dry farmed conditions in different growing regions (http://smallgrains.ucanr.edu/Variety/.)

The California Wheat Commission also has lists of varieties that are not recommended, but still acceptable, and of varieties that are not acceptable for grain, milling and bread making qualities based on three years of tests.

One caveat is that the location and the weather can be even more important than the variety in determining the quality of the grain in any single year.

"The environment can affect your quality a lot, even more than the genetics," Dubcovsky said. "These comparisons were made within a single environment."

The suitability of wheat varieties for the purposes of artisan bakers is also being evaluated by a longtime collaborator with the Wheat Commission whose family has a long history in Northern California milling.

"We're trying to use California wheat to keep California growers going," said Keith Giusto, a third-generation baker, fourth-generation miller, and owner of Keith Giusto Bakery Supply in Petaluma.

Giusto evaluated 10 varieties for the suitability of the dough for artisan baking, the volume and crust of the loaf, and the texture, color and flavor of the bread.

"Artisan baking is a lot different than manufactured baking," he said. "A lot of my rating is subjective as to what I think is good. You have to take my scores with a grain of salt. I look for flavor and crust. We're looking for something with lower protein that is more extensible. We're looking at using flour, water and salt, and that's it."

While no single variety matched the mix Giusto prefers at his Artisan Baking Center, two numbered experimental UC varieties, a numbered variety from Westbred and a hard red from Syngenta, AP octane, all scored well.

(Bob Johnson is a reporter in Sacramento. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)