The state’s wheat growers continue to reap dividends from their investment in quality made a quarter-century ago, when they established a full-service lab and kitchen in Woodland that is able to test their harvest at every step from grain to baked goods.
While the forage grain market is largely driven by yield and protein, the various baking markets depend on subtler qualities that can be evaluated at the lab.
“We test from the grain, to the milling, to making the products,” said Claudia Carter, executive director of the California Wheat Commission. “There are 17 wheat commissions in the U.S., and we are the only one that owns a lab. The other commissions go to universities for labs, but this is the only wheat lab in California.”
The Woodland facility is widely used by growers, but also by many of the other parties down the line who need reliable information about grain quality.
“The millers use the lab the most,” Carter said. “They use it often; they send their flour. They use mixes and they want to know what works the best for bread, pizza, tortillas or pasta. We have millers that send samples in every week, every two weeks, or once a month.”
The lab also attracts bakers of all sorts who are hoping the advanced diagnostics will help them sort out troubles in their own kitchens that have them stumped.
“Bakers come to us when they are having problems,” Carter said. “We do troubleshooting for them.”
Bread makers want to know if the flour will have the strength to hold gas bubbles during fermentation, according to Carter, and tortilla makers need to know their product will hold up once it is wrapped around a moist filling.
“Send a sample, information or schedule a visit with us to work out any issues your company has with the flour used for baking,” the commission invites the industry. “We often help people work through issues surrounding a specific product. Additionally, we can help if you’re having trouble interpreting data from tests on your products.”
The relationships the Wheat Commission has built over the years with the California baking community is about to bear fruit in a unique educational collaboration.
“We’re going to partner with an artisan baker to offer an artisan bakery course,” Carter said.
The Wheat Commission already uses the lab to teach three hands-on courses — an introduction to wheat quality for breeders, millers, and bakers; a second course on durum quality; and a third devoted to tortilla quality.
“Helping companies create products that comply with specific criteria is a big part of what our lab does,” according to the Wheat Commission website. “We are not limited to wheat-based products only, but work with other grains as well! We help industry by creating and testing grain-based products that meet specific needs. We also offer on-site training.”
Grain seed breeding companies also bring their varieties to the lab for detailed testing, but the core users are the growers who built the facility.
“We have growers sending samples from California, Oregon and Idaho,” Carter said. “They are looking for information about quality. Besides the protein content, we look at the protein quality.”
When the state’s wheat growers started the lab, they had quite a bit of help from their many friends and associates.
“The growers started the lab in 1993; they thought ahead that they had to have a lab to test quality,” Carter said. “The U.S. Department of Agriculture in Albany had a lot of equipment they donated when they closed a facility. Mills have donated equipment when they closed labs, and money came from the industry.”
In recent years, the lab has made great strides toward the growers’ goal of becoming financially self-sufficient.
“The lab uses both commission funds and fees for service,” Carter said. “Five years ago, the lab had a $100,000 a year deficit that was made up by commission money, and the growers wanted that reduced. Now the deficit is $20,000 to $30,000 because of the fees for service.”
Growers, millers and others can learn the moisture content of a five-gram grain sample or the kernel size distribution of a 200-gram sample for $10, or learn the protein, test weight or falling number for prices ranging from $5 to $20.
There are also standard prices for tests that are vital for flour analysis, or for how the flour will hold up when used for baking breads, pastas or tortillas.
The commission uses the lab’s diagnostic capabilities to evaluate varieties tested by the University of California, Davis, wheat breeding program, and to help UC Cooperative Extension outreach efforts.
Research on other small grains, like barley and oats, is also aided by the diagnostic capabilities at the Woodland facility.
The Wheat Commission regularly updates information about classes and other activities at the lab on its Instagram and webpages (http://californiawheat.org/).
