Project Number: 5430-44000-024-02
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jul 15, 2009
End Date: Jul 14, 2014

Objective:
To collect, test, and disseminate real-time wheat quality data for the hard winter wheat growing region each year during harvest in order to promote the domestic and export sale of U.S. wheat. Plains Grains, Inc. (PGI) will collect and provide hard winter wheat samples to the USDA-ARS-HWWQL for end-use quality analysis. These representative samples will have been produced throughout the hard winter wheat growing region, varying in specific end-use marketing and functionality parameters.

Approach:
The USDA-ARS-HWWQL will quantify the physical and chemical properties of these samples, and characterize their end-use quality and functionality for pan bread. The resulting data will be provided to PGI so that they can produce an interactive website that will enable potential domestic and international wheat buyers to view interactive maps of the wheat production regions and ascertain “near real-time” quality and production data in those regions. The ability to monitor wheat quality in real-time has the potential to not only increase end-use product utilization (sales), but to also enhance product development (research).