Differences of view on quality of New Zealand wheats

Press, 30 October 1981, Page 15

Differences of view on quality of New Zealand wheats

- It is clear from statements Jnade in the last few days -that views differ about the Quality of , New. Zealand •wheats. ' Criticism has come from ihe Bread Information jCentre, New Zealand of Bakers. The (general manager of the Wheat Board. Mr A. G. ElJiott, has pointed out, however, that in the last two years there have been few complaints from consumers, which would give the impres.sion that quality is reasonably satisfactory, but he ‘/agrees that there is room for -greater consistency in qual‘ity. and although agreeing quality is reasonably

satisfactory. Dr H. C. Smith, director of the Crop Research Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, whose division is involved in wheat breeding, also makes the point there is room for improvement. The Bread Information Centre, in a statement issued last week, alleged that a conflict of interest existed between wheatgrowers and users.

Growers on the one hand were interested in wheat varieties which . produced high yields, it said. The more wheat they grew the more the Wheat Board was obliged by law to buy from them at a guaranteed price. Flour millers and bakers, on the other hand, were concerned about the “milling quality” of the wheat. The minimum standard, last fixed in 1969, was too low in relation to changes demanded by improved technology and product quality. In modern mechanised processes, which required greater tolerances, flour at the present minimum standard did not always have the quantity and quality of protein necessary if bakers were

to produce goods of the standard and variety which the market demanded.

Bakers were very much the' wheatgrowers’ biggest customer, the association said. Growers could' grow whatever varieties they pleased within the constraints of soil type, drainage and climate, but the baker, whatever his requirements, had to make do with the rawmaterial produced to a minimum specification, which was no longer wholly appropriate to modern baking needs.

The wheat used by the miller came from the board and he could not produce better flour than the quality which the wheat permitted. Similarly the baker could not make a better product than the quality of the flour permitted.

Maintaining good nutritional value because of variations in wheat quality also created problems -for millers and bakers. “The real answer to the problems of the miller, baker and consumer is a larger and more regular supply of wheat varieties, which offer genuinely good milling and baking standards,” said the association.

Ideally the aim of breeding wheats should be the development of new strains which offered high quality with high yield. But wheat breeders said unanimously that while they could improve both yield and quality further, they believed that wheats with better baking qualities would always be outyielded by lower quality varieties. .

Breeding programmes could only be successful if the grower adopted the best new strains and under the present payment system yield was winning over good baking quality.

Bakers considered that the wheat-buying system instituted last year enabled growers to obtain a true world price. What the local grower now received was a price based on a three-year moving average of the f.o.b. price for Australian standard white wheat, which was known to provide generally high baking quality. In fact, the new pricing system gave the local grower the added advantage of having an element of the freight cost included in his price, which the Australian grower did not receive.

It was considered that New Zealand growers were getting an unfair benefit from a world price if they planted wheat which yielded high but delivered a product lower than standard world quality.

A view was growing among millers and bakers that the time had come for the Wheat Board to take a new look at the differential payments for wheats of various qualities. A key factor in an assurance of improved quality was comprehensive testing at all stages, combined with segregation of different qualities at all stages. Bakers and millers would have to assist in the development of successful wheats by defining their requirements more precisely. Their specifications could then be related to the raw material by extensive and sophisticated scientific analysis. However, the general manager of the Wheat Board, Mr Elliott, defended .the quality of New Zealand wheat.

“There will probably always be some conflict between yield and quality if it is not possible to combine these two factors, but in the present system any such conflict can be regulated through the board." he said. “I hope that the Bread Information Centre is not saying that the current level of wheat quality in New Zealand is unsatisfactory. It is consumer satisfaction, which is the'yardstick, and over the last two years there has been little consumer complaint. “High yield is not the only thing that growers are interested in. Consistency, resistance to disease and sprout and good growing response are also required by growers. “Modern manufacturing methods may require more X)f wheats, but what has been done or is being done to improve manufacturing methods?

“The addition of gluten to improve quality (mentioned in the statement) is certainly a procedure which involves the baker in cost — perhaps the cost of developing increased wheat yields coupled with higher quality would be greater? “The alternative of importing all of our wheat requirements may finally lead to a more costly and insecure marketing situation. “There is nothing to suppose, however, that the baking industry will. have to wrestle with high-yielding, low-quality wheats because the Wheat Board can discount these cultivars and control the quantity of lower quality wheat being grown. “It is also unlikely that another Karamu situation could occur again,” said Mr Elliott referring to a variety that did not come up to expectations as far as quality

was concerned. “Since the time when Karamu was released there has been considerable development in terms of general market awareness. more extensive quality testing and segregation of wheats — according to variety and quality category — and in the blending and storage of -flour, so that if another Karamu did reach the market, the machinery which is now in place would soon ‘normalise’ the situation.

“To say that under the present pricing formula for wheat yield is winning over good baking quality is misleading. There are few difficulties with wheat quality at present and,- notwithstanding the progress' that has been made- since the first interindustry meeting in 1977, the Wheat Board is continuing with its quality improvement programme to encourage and to work with all sectors of industry.'

“It is the board’s view that the quality and yield of our present main wheat varieties are now at a good standard in relation to the needs of both flour users and wheatgrowers, provided greater consistency in both can be achieved.

“Consolidation at present quality and yield levels and improved consistency in our inconsistent seasonal conditions should be the major wheat breeding and agronomic objectives for our standard wheat varieties,” said Mr Elliott.

The director of the Crop Research Division, Dr Smith, said that he endorsed almost every word when the above summary of the statement of the Bread information Centre was read, to him. He added that his only slight reservation applied to the statement that the bakers had.to use wheat produced to a minimum standard. The Wheat .' Board, he said, by setting premiums endeavoured to achieve a satisfactory average quality — they aimed to produce the standard quality represented by Australian standard wheat-, which was a recognised international standard. It also had to be recognised that while the farmer might grow what wheat he liked his decision was subject’ to the differential prices offered by the board. However,. the general tenor of the argument suggesting the need for a better system of payment for quality highlighted the main requireinent of the wheat industry today. All that was required in this context was that wheat be identified by,variety and that the protein content be measured for each sample and the price paid to the

farmer be based on the variety and protein,content. At this very moment Dr Smith said that his division had prepared a whole series of photographs of wheat grain characters, at the request of the Wheat Board to enable wheat brokers to be instructed in variety identification. There was now a system of identifying all wheat varieties grown commercially in New Zealand.

Dr Smith said that he would be going to Dunedin with Mr Elliott for the first meeting with brokers next Monday to demonstrate the identification of characters, and this would be followed by further meetings with brokers at Invercargill and Gore later in November. There were also instruments to measure protein so that there were no major problems in that respect either.

Dr Smith said that the system was certainly operating reasonably satisfactorily at present but there was quite a bit of room for improvement.