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Home Download Summer 2009 issue [pdf] Science Update 16.5 NIH grant for Idaho Savings from drip irrigation Hope for hops pest Idaho bean seed & Mexico Helping crop producer manage cost Extend your financial know-how Trout's selenium surprise Features Cover Stories Wheat: 50 years of collaboration Updating wheat growers What's next? Hard whites, etc. Testing Idaho wheat quality 6 classes of wheat Who-done-its? Research Other Features Managing wasps at home Dual credits for HS students Streching food $$$ 6 Tips for great victory garden Alums go global    Winowiecki in Africa    Mothershed & Abu Ghraib    Greene in Russia, etc.    Schumakers in Jamaica    Boise's Manzo helps refugees Bookshelf: Short Season Gardening Backpage: CALS at Special Olympics Roots: Alumni Alumni Awards Calendar Class notes Alumni board Why Thiessens donate to UI CALS Letters Dean's letter Editor's letter Alum president's letter Readers' letters Archives

6 classes of wheat and 2008 Idaho wheat production Click on the image for more information. WHEAT IS GROWN IN MOST OF THE 50 STATES, several hundred varieties of it. Wheat improvement work began formally in 1897 when the U.S. Department of Agriculture set up an active program of wheat research and development. Experiment stations from land- grant universities are the primary source of new wheat varieties. They help maintain uniformity within a wheat class. Plant scientists at federal and state stations are guided by needs of farmers for high-yielding wheats that resist drought and disease and by quality requirements of millers and bakers at home and abroad. CLASS VARIETY is determined by a wheat’s hardness, color of the kernels, and planting time. Each of these six classes has its own relatively uniform characteristics related to milling, baking, or other food use. EXPORTS—Idaho exports about half the wheat it grows to 25 foreign countries. Biggest buyers are Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, South Korea, and Indonesia. No. 1 in Idaho SOFT WHITE WINTER, SPRING, and CLUB Description Grown mainly in the Pacific Northwest. Used in the same way as soft red winter wheat (for bakery products other than bread). Lower in protein; higher in carbohydrates than hard red wheats High yields Accounts for 10-15% of total U.S. wheat production Uses Flour for baking cakes, crackers, cookies, pastries, quick breads, muffins, snack food Acres grown in Idaho: 2008 Spring—184,600 Winter—558,600 Club—15,300 TOTAL: 758,500 acres Developed at UI / Acres grown in Idaho in 2008 SWS: Alturas .................93,300 SWW: Brundage ..........156,000 Lambert ....................... 31,500 Brundage .......................25,700 < back to the chart No. 2 in Idaho HARD RED SPRING Description Mostly grown in Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas, Minnesota Contains highest percentage of protein (13-14%) Superior milling, baking 20% of U.S. wheat exports Uses Excellent for bread Acres grown in Idaho: 2008 254,800 Developed at UI/Acres grown in Idaho in 2008 Jefferson ........................55,700 Jerome .............................5,900 < back to the chart No. 3 in Idaho HARD RED WINTER Description Dominant U.S. export and largest class produced each year, mainly in Great Plains states. Wide range of protein content (average 11-12%) Good milling, baking characteristics Uses Bread, rolls, sweet goods, all-purpose flour Acres grown in Idaho: 2008 252,200 acres Developed at UI/Acres grown in Idaho in 2008 Boundary........................40,900 Moreland .......................26,700 Bonneville .....................21,300 Weston...........................17,200 DW...................................9,000 < back to the chart No. 4 in Idaho HARD WHITE SPRING, WINTER Description Future of this industry? Newest class of wheat is grown mainly in Idaho, California, Kansas, and Montana. Closely related to red wheats except for color genes. Has a milder, sweeter flavor, equal fiber, similar milling, baking proper ties. Versatile: can be used alone or blended with soft white at the mill to make yeast, flat, and pan breads. Uses Asian noodles, bright white noodles, steam breads, yeast breads, hard rolls, bulgur, tortillas Acres grown in Idaho: 2008 Spring—73,700 USDA report shows no HWW, but the Idaho Wheat Commission (IWC) reports 4,000 acres were grown in the Burley area in 2008. Developed at UI/Acres grown in Idaho in 2008 None < back to the chart No. 5 in Idaho DURUM Description Hardest of all U.S. wheat. Grown in same northern states as HRS. 80% of U.S. production is from North Dakota. Uses Semolina flour for pasta Acres grown in Idaho: 2008 23,000 Developed at UI/Acres grown in Idaho in 2008 None < back to the chart Not grown in Idaho SOFT RED WINTER Description Grown mainly east of the Mississippi High yielding but relatively low protein Uses Flat breads, cakes, pastries, crackers Acres grown in Idaho: 2008 None Developed at UI/Acres grown in Idaho in 2008 None < back to the chart NOTE: Figures in this table come from 2008 Idaho Wheat Varieties, a July 2008 survey by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, available at www.usda.gov. Wheat production totals do not add up to the 1.4 million acres planted in Idaho in 2008 because the survey was made in July, and not all growers responded. The USDA estimated production value of Idaho’s 2008 wheat crop at $646 million. Three of the top six varieties planted are releases by UI wheat breeders—Brundage (11%), Alturas (6.5%), and Jefferson (4%). Photos by KATHERINE O’BRIEN, University of Idaho and KEN CHAMBERLAIN, Ohio State University. top