WHEAT QUALITY COUNCIL 2009 ANNUAL MEETING SUMMARY
By Ben Handcock, Executive Vice President

 The Wheat Quality Council (WQC) held its annual meeting, forum and technical review sessions February 17-19, 2009 at the KCI Embassy Suites Hotel in Kansas City, MO with over 125 industry participants in attendance.

 The WQC is the only industry-wide organization that brings together all wheat interests from breeders and producers to millers, processors and bakers.  These participants are provided information on the milling and baking qualities of wheat varieties that will be released, grown and processed in the next few years.

 The wheat breeders have an opportunity to network with the industry to determine what quality characterists the millers and bakers would like to see in new wheat varieties.

BOARD OF TRUSTEES
 The meeting began with the WQC Board of Trustees meeting on Tuesday, February 17.  Following discussions on financial, membership and budget reports, the annual election was held.  The following people will serve on the WQC governing board for 2009:  Brian Walker, Horizon Milling-Chair;  Brett Myers, Westbred-Vice Chair;  Jim Powers, Perten Instruments-Past Chair;  Hayden Wands, Sara Lee-Executive Committee;  Jackie Rudd, TX Wheat Producers-Executive Committee;  Brad Seabourn, USDA/GMPRC-Executive Committee; plus Tim Aschbrenner, Cereal Food Processors; Glen Weaver, ConAgra; C.J. Lin, Mennel Milling; Mike Fassezke, Star of the West Milling; Jay Romsa, General Mills; Jeff Zyskowski, Horizon Milling; Bill Gambel, Caravan Ingredients; Phil Farmer, AgriPro-Coker; Neal Fisher, ND Wheat Commission; Laird Larson, SD Wheat Commission, Ed Souza, ARS Soft Wheat Lab; and Jane DeMarchi, North American Millers Association.

FORUM
The theme of the forum this year was “Wheat Research and Technology Advances.”

 Ron Lindgren, ADM Milling, reported on their study of the Potential use of solvent retention capacity for hard winter wheat sourcing.
 Ed Souza, ARS Soft Wheat Lab, updated us on the advances being made in the mapping of genes for wheat quality.
Greg Fox, Westbred,  presented his thoughts on advances made in scab resistance in recent years and in newer varieties.  Bob Bowden, USDA/GMPRC, gave a report on the efforts being made to combat the newest stem rust race, Ug99.
Tom Herald, USDA/GMPRC, presented a potential plan for new milling facilities on their campus in Manhattan, KS.

 The keynote dinner speaker was John Oades, US Wheat Associates, Portland, OR. John did a great job of reminiscing about his 26 years with US Wheat.  He also did some prophesying about the future of our industry.  John plans to cut back to one-half time this year and retire sometime in 2010.  We will miss his expertise and leadership in the Wheat Quality Council.

 We had several reporters covering the forum this year and they do a much better job than I do.  Watch for articles from Milling and Baking News, Reuters and the High Plains Journal.  We thank them for their coverage.

REVIEW OF LINES ENTERED FOR REVIEW THIS YEAR
Forty-eight breeder submitted lines and checks were entered for evaluation from the 2008 growing season.  These lines were either hard spring, soft winter or hard winter

 In the Hard Springs:
 Westbred:  Has released a line named “Samson”.  This new variety was well-liked by almost everyone and earned the millers award this year. Greg Fox received the award for a lifetime of service to the industry and for breeding a wheat variety that makes life a little easier for the millers. Congratulations to Greg. 

AgriPro:  Has released two new varieties.  One has been named “Jenna” and is best adapted to the northern areas of the spring wheat growing region.  The other has been named”Brennan” and is best adapted to the southern spring wheat areas.

 Trigen Seed:  Has released a new variety named “Albany”.  It will respond to high management and produce tremendous yields. 

World Wide Wheat:  Entered a hard white line that is tolerant of Hessian fly and stripe rust. It was well-liked by most cooperators. It’s future is unknown at this time.

 University of Minnesota:  Has released a new variety named “Sabin”.  It has high grain yield and good scab resistance. 

South Dakota State University:  Is releasing a new variety named “Brick”.  It has exceptionally heavy test weight, good yield potential and good scab resistance.

 North Dakota State University:  Is releasing two new varieties.  One will be named “Mott” and is resistant to wheat stem sawfly for growing in areas with sawfly infestation problems. The other will be named “Barlow” and is being promoted for production in the western areas of the region. NDSU also entered one red and one white line that are not being advanced at this time.

In the Eastern Soft Winters:
Pioneer Seed Company:  Entered Pioneer 25R39, an awnless soft red early line with a good disease resistance package and broad adaptation.

 Purdue University:  Entered Pur 02444A1-23-9 with FHB resistance and possible release in 2009.  Entered Pur 03112A1-7-3  with FHB and Barley Yellow Dwarf resistance and possible release in 2009.  Entered Pur 99600A2-4-32 with a good disease resistance package and possible release in 2009.  They also entered one line that is not being considered for release.

AgriPro-Syngenta:  Entered W 1377 which has a very high test weight and good grain and straw production potential.

 Virginia Tech:  Has released “Southern States Brand 5205” a soft red high-yielding variety for use in crackers and pastries. It was rated very high.  Has released “Shirley” a soft red high-yielding variety with good milling and pastry baking qualities.  Has released “Renwood Brand 3434” a soft red stiff straw cultivar with good baking quality.

 Michigan State University:  Has released “Envoy” a soft white high-yielding variety adapted to Michigan.  Has released “Coral” a soft white awnless variety with good resistance to FHB.  Has released “Ambassador” a soft white very high-yielding variety with good winter hardiness.  Has released “Red Amber” a soft red variety with high yield and good flour yield.

 University of Missouri:  Entered MO 011126 with consideration for release in 2009.  It has high yield and test weight plus excellent disease resistance.

In the Hard Winters:
Colorado State University:  Had three entries.  Have a registered release to ConAgra of Thunder CL, a hard white variety.  Has excellent mill and bake qualities.  Had another hard white CO03W054 with very strong dough mixing qualities. Possible release in 2009.  Had a hard red on increase for potential release in 2010 that also exhibited very strong characteristics.

 Kansas State University-Hays:  Have “Tiger” on increase for possible release in 2010.  Not very sprout tolerant, but excellent noodle properties. May go into an identity preserved program.  Is a hard white.

 Kansas State University-Manhattan:  Had a hard red that will be suited for Eastern Kansas. Has an excellent disease package and is tolerant of shattering. Not named.

 Oklahoma State University:  Have released “Pete” a hard red beardless to be used for both grazing and grain. Is a replacement for “Deliver”.  Have released “Billings” another red for grain production that has large kernel size for Oklahoma plus a good disease package. Also entered a hard red with a 1B/1R translocation. Functional quality may be a stretch for this one.

 South Dakota State University:  Entered one hard white line. Has above average resistance to preharvest sprouting, but not very exciting results in evaluation this year.

 AgriPro-Coker:  Has released three varieties.  “Art” is a hard red best adapted to central Kansas.  Seed was available in the fall of 2008.  “Hawken” is another hard red with seed available last fall. It is best adapted to northern Kansas and into Nebraska, Colorado and South Dakota. “NuDakota is a hard white best adapted to Colorado, western Nebraska and western South Dakota.

Cooperators
A total of 36 cooperators from across the United States evaluated our lines from 2008.  This is a huge investment of time and effort on their part. They are truly dedicated to our program and deserve our sincere thanks and gratitude for their participation.

 Upcoming Events

 Wheat Tours:
Ø  Hard winter tour Dates are May 4-7, 2009
Ø  Hard Spring and Durum Tour Dates are July 27-30, 2009
    (Registration forms at www.wheatqualitycouncil.org)