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Dismal harvest has consequences for millers, tooWICHITA, Kan. (AP)--The dismal 2007 wheat harvest is just beginning to be felt by millers and bakers as they prepare for the new crop to enter the food chain. The poor harvest is likely to be most keenly felt by flour millers in south-central Kansas and north-central Oklahoma, said Kendall McFall, a miller in the international grains program at Kansas State University. "Those mills are used to being able to buy all the wheat they need in the local area," he said. "This year, they are going to have to be looking farther from home and bringing wheat in by truck or rail. There's no doubt it will increase their cost of doing business." Chemists at mills and bakeries also will face a challenge in keeping their flour and their products consistent. "There are changes every year," said Leland McKinney, who oversees the Wheat Quality Lab at Kansas State, where wheat samples from across the Great Plains are collected, tested, milled and baked. "But in a year like this, the changes are more dramatic." This year's harvest is much lower in protein, around 11 percent to 11.5 percent, and much lower in test weight. Preliminary milling and baking tests show it to be of relatively poor quality. By the end of September, the lab will have final reports on a wide range of tests that it will distribute to domestic and international millers to help them make decisions about wheat purchases. But there are adequate supplies to keep U.S. mills busy and bakers supplied with flour, said Jay O'Neil, an economist with the international grains program at Kansas State. Kirk O'Donnell, vice president for education at the American Institute of Baking, said the quality of this year's crop, while down, is sufficient to provide consistent quality breads. "There will be adjustments that bakers will be making in ingredients and in mixing time," he said. "But overall, from what we've tested, we're pretty happy with the performance we're getting." O'Neil said most consumers would be surprised at the complex work that goes into making sure that the product they see on the shelf stays consistent. One thing millers can typically do when supplies of hard red winter wheat are short is blend in more hard red spring wheat. Wheat gluten also can be added to the blend to increase protein levels. Other ingredients can be varied to keep the taste and texture of bread consistent. But tweaking can have unintended consequences. "I remember one year we used a little too much spring wheat," O'Neil said. "We got a lovely loaf with good taste and texture. And pretty soon we got complaints from the bakers because the loaves were turning out too big, and they didn't fit the plastic sleeves." Consistent size, batch after batch, is also important to fast-food companies that need their hamburger buns to always be exactly the same size. "It's no accident that every loaf of the same brand of bread is identical in size and shape," O'Neil said. "It's something most consumers never give a second thought to, but it takes a lot of work to make that happen." Date: 8/23/07
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