A company on the cutting edge of Autonomous Decision Science, an artificial intelligence-based technology that gathers and analyzes an almost limitless amount of data to help clients make decisions (and make decisions for clients), has been closely examining the Russia-Ukraine war and the impact it is having on global food insecurity. Stephen DeAngelis, founder, president and chief executive officer of Enterra Solutions, said the war in Ukraine, one of the world’s leading exporters of wheat, corn, barley and sunflower oil, along with the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change, have dramatically changed the global supply and demand picture.

The food industry supply chains have been challenged with severe weather events, price volatility, competition for planted acres, and global disruptions in trade and transportation as evidenced in the Black Sea region. Peter F. Levangie, president and chief executive officer of Bay State Milling Co., noted that companies are increasingly sourcing closer to home and avoiding reliance on a single supplier. Innovations that lead to more drought resistance varieties and reduced reliance on overseas suppliers for ingredients, such as high fiber wheat flours, also will limit exposure. Jeff Zyskowski, vice president and supply chain lead for Ardent Mills, Denver noted the importance of strong collaborative partnerships to anticipate any potential disruptions and leverage a broad supply and distribution network. New technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) could benefit supply chains as well. Software that allows companies to view entire the value chain can drive efficiency, manages costs, and react quickly.

Wheat starch is made up of two granule sizes – the larger A-type and smaller B-type granules. Researchers at the John Innes Centre have recently identified a key enzyme involved in the formation of smaller B-type starch granules. Removal of this ubiquitous enzyme, designated PHS1, produces wheat starch with low, or no, B-type starch granules. Starch is often modified to achieve specific properties required for each food or non-food end-use. This knowledge may help researchers create variations in starch though genetic means, optimized for different food and industrial applications. Future research may include how granule size impacts digestibility and nutritional value of dietary starches.

The Australian Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) will invest more than a billion dollars over the next 5 years in R&D and extension. The goal is to maximize the impact of research investments and ensure a strong, profitable, and sustainable grains industry into the future. GRDC seeks to 1) harvest existing potential to hit yield and profit targets; 2) Reach new frontiers and deliver step changes in crop productivity; 3) Grow markets and capture more value from the crops; and 4) Ensure Australia’s grains industry remains a global leader in sustainability. A broad portfolio of investments is envisioned that will range from multi-million dollar national projects to smaller projects focused on regional farming systems.

Einkorn, a diploid bread wheat progenitor, was farmed as early as 12,000 years ago. It was gradually replaced by hexaploid bread wheat as people selected for larger grain and easy threshing. Einkorn is still being grown in some environments for use in certain local, rustic breads. Both wild and domesticated varieties still exist, which means it could be a unique genetic resource for modern wheat to improve traits such as tolerance to disease, drought, and heat. An international research team led by University of Maryland has now published a complete genome sequence for Einkorn in the journal Nature. Einkorn can be used as model species and genetic reference not only for bread wheat, but for rye, barley, and oats. Comparing gene sequences can identify gene targets for traits that differ between ancient and modern grains. Researchers have already begun identifying economically important genes in Einkorn and selectively breeding these into modern bread wheat.

Idaho has extremely diverse growing conditions for wheat. Selecting varieties best adapted to local conditions and management practices is critical to achieving the highest possible grain yields and reducing vulnerability to diseases, insects, and unusual weather events. The University of Idaho Extension Wheat Nurseries provide an objective, uniform, and statistically sound evaluation of winter and spring wheat varieties and variety candidates in diverse Idaho environments. Public varieties from Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and Utah and selected private entries are evaluated each year. The extension nurseries provide valuable data to support variety release and identify varieties which perform best in specific locations and management situations.

The downpour began in late May, drenching the wheat crops in central China. As kernels of wheat blackened in the rain, becoming unfit for human consumption, the government mobilized emergency teams to salvage as much of the harvest as possible. In a viral video, a 79-year-old farmer in Henan Province wiped away tears as he surveyed the damage. The unusually heavy rainfall, which local officials said was the worst disruption to the wheat harvest in a decade, underscored the risks that climate shocks pose to President Xi Jinping’s push for China to become more self-reliant in its food supply.

A novel cellulase nanofiber technology is being explored as means to control foliar disease in wheat. The nanofibers, when sprayed on the leaf, act as a mesh, non-chemical barrier to infection by fungal diseases. Produced from pine trees, nanofibers are used in other industries, such as cosmetics. The technology is not considered a pesticide, may outperform some pesticides, and is likely cheaper to apply.

Wheat growers currently have access to two production systems using herbicide resistant technologies to control grassy weeds – Clearfield and CoAXium. However, these two technologies, based on ALS- and ACCase inhibitor herbicides, are insufficient to solve all weed control problems and address evolving herbicide resistance issues.

USDA-ARS researchers have identified a new toxin that contributes to infection, spread, and severity of Fusarium head blight. The toxin is a trichothecene, called NX, which is related to, but different from, the deoxynivalenol (DON) toxin that impacts grain quality and use. Deletion of the toxin producing gene decreases fungal infection and spread in the wheat head. The gene provides an important new target to protect and control infection, as there are currently no cereal varieties that are completely resistant to the Fusarium head blight disease.

Researchers at the University of Hohenheim have identified 2,896 different proteins in flours from common wheat, durum wheat, and the wheat progenitors emmer, spelt, and einkorn. Although closely related botanically and genetically, about half of all proteins differed among the individual species. One of the largest proteomic studies to-date, the research shows wheat species differ significantly in levels of potentially allergenic proteins. Levels are reduced by 2 times in durum wheat and 5.4 times in einkorn as compared with common wheat. Common wheat and spelt have the same total allergen frequency. The information can be used to target breeding and selection for improved end-use quality, nutritional quality, and reduced allergies.

The University of Idaho soft white winter wheat (SWWW) breeding program has been working in close collaboration with Limagrain Cereal Seeds since 2012. Varieties co-developed by U of I and LCS are now being marketed with the ‘VI’, or ‘Varsity Idaho’, designation. The breeding collaboration has produced the leading Clearfield SWWW varieties UI Magic CL+, VI Presto, CL+, and VI Voodoo CL+. Conventional SWWW varieties include VI Bulldog, VI Shock, and VI Frost. These varieties, with support of LCS marketing efforts, have returned millions of dollars in royalties to support U of I wheat programs.

Winter wheat crops of U.S. Midwest and northern China are increasingly likely to be pushed beyond their physiological tolerances to heat and drought. A study published in the journal npj Climate and Atmospheric Science presents a worst-case scenario in which extreme weather impacts two key wheat producing areas in the same year.

ICARDA (International Centre for Agricultural Research in Dry Areas) is developing new image-based methods to identify plant genetic traits that promote tolerance to heat, drought, and pests.

Winter wheat sampled from a field in Nez Perce County, ID has been confirmed to have soilborne wheat mosaic virus (SBWMV). While this disease has been in the Walla Walla area in southeastern Washington for some time, it was just recently discovered in other regions of Washington including near Ephrata in Grant County. However, this is the first incidence of this wheat disease in Idaho. Symptoms of SBWMV initially appear as a light green to yellow mosaic on the leaves and leaf sheathes of wheat plants along with stunting and reduced tillering. Symptoms typically appear in late winter to early spring when temperatures are still cool.

Wheat stripe rust is one of the most damaging diseases of wheat. The Pacific Northwest is particularly vulnerable due to its favorable climate for the disease. Yield losses in susceptible varieties have averaged 35% over the last 40 years.

Wheat plants weakened by drought are inherently more susceptible to root roots, aphids, brown mites, and wheat streak mosaic virus carried by the curl mite.

As part of a collaborative project with Oregon State University, University of Idaho is seeking cooperators for a study of the Cereal leaf beetle to monitor its abundance and the abundance of parasitoid wasp that was introduced as a biological control agent nearly 20 years ago.

Multicrop systems have potential to reduce erosion, soil carbon loss, nutrient runoff, water pollution, and loss of biodiversity.

Spring is an incredibly busy time of year for wheat growers.

Herbicide-resistant weeds are among the most costly and serious threats to sustainable wheat production.

Much of the new crop of wheat in the Northern Hemisphere is either dormant or semi-dormant, waiting for its opportunity to evolve and produce.As of mid-February, assessing the prospects for 2023 wheat production has been a little tenuous, but it is hard to find serious problems that cannot be fixed.

The Grain Research and Development Corp. (GRDC) announced a $12.7 million national research project to support the integration of long coleoptile wheat into Australian farming systems. The announcement was made by GRDC Chairman John Woods at the Grains Research Update in Perth, Western Australia’s premier grains industry forum. The coleoptile is the protective sheath that encloses the emerging shoot and first leaves. The longer the coleoptile is, the greater the emergence potential when deep sowing. Long coleoptile wheats can be sown at depths of more than 10 centimeters, making better use of stored soil moisture.

Growing wheat in drought conditions may be easier in the future, thanks to new genetic research out of the University of California, Davis. An international team of scientists found that the right number of copies of a specific group of genes can stimulate longer root growth, enabling wheat plants to pull water from deeper supplies. The resulting plants have more biomass and produce higher grain yield, according to a paper published in the journal Nature Communications.

A new semidwarf gene has been identified that will improve early emergence of barley in deep seedings. Genes associated with the Green Revolution often led to shorter stems and shorter coleoptiles, making it more difficult for plants to compete and emerge from dry, deep seedings. The new semidwarf gene has a more moderate reduction in plant height and increase coleoptile length, overcoming these weaknesses. A diagnostic molecular marker will support faster breeding of varieties with the trait. Semdwarf. The research was product of a collaboration between the Western Crop Genetics Alliance, University of Tasmania and Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science.

No-till dryland wheat growers in Idaho are becoming increasingly reliant on glyphosphate for pre-plant and post harvest weed control. The repeated use of glyphosphate as the main weed management tool could result in widespread glyphosphate weed populations. To protect the value of glyphosphate in wheat production systems, it is important to identify effective alternate herbicides and mixtures for weed control.

Genome editing is a technology that allows researchers to develop new plant varieties with interesting characteristics, such as disease resistance. However, according to European legislation, these are potentially dangerous GMOs. But is it really so?

CIMMYT scientists have screened a sample of 990 bread wheat landraces using genome-environment associations against seven key climatic variables. The research identified proteins associated with drought and heat tolerance that can be used to improve modern wheat varieties and better adapt to extreme environments.

Genetic resources of crop plants are being held in nearly 2,000 gene banks around the world.

A University of Idaho livestock genetic scientist is part of an initiative that was recently awarded $1.9 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture funds to promote collaboration among plant and animal genomic researchers.

Nitrogen management in semi-arid dryland winter wheat production systems in Southeast Idaho is particularly complicated due to year to year variability in precipitation.

The world population is growing. At the same time, researchers and farmers need to figure out how to adapt agriculture to changing, and sometimes increasingly harsh environmental conditions.

Building the genetic makeup for the ideal wheat crop is no easy task. Just ask Liuling Yan, the Dillon and Lois Hodges professor of wheat molecular genetics and breeding in the Oklahoma State University Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, who recently discovered the TaCol-B5 gene in wheat plants. What makes this gene so special?

Researchers have developed several new varieties of wheat that tolerate soils with higher salt concentrations. After having mutated a wheat variety from Bangladesh, they now have a wheat with seeds that weigh three times more and that germinate almost twice as often as the original variety.

Yield reductions due to Hessian fly infestation of spring and winter wheat can be significant in northern Idaho. However, widespread economic losses in the region have not occurred in recent years due to effective resistance in many of the most widely planted and highest-yielding varieties.

Do fertilizer prices have you considering alternative nutrient sources for your grain production? Do you have a neighboring dairy wanting to incorporate manure into your cropping system?

The University of Idaho Extension has published a new bulletin focusing on management of Take-All Disease of Wheat in Idaho.

University of Idaho Extension barley agronomist Jared Spackman and UI Extension cropping systems agronomist Kurt Schroeder suspect many fields throughout Idaho that have historically been suitable for grain production but have been trending acidic are finally getting too far out of balance.

The Idaho Wheat Commission supports a multi-layered project to study the stripe rust epidemic through a collaboration between the USDA-ARS, Washington State University, and the University of Idaho.

Some of the foods we know and love could be gone from the planet faster than you might think - chocolate might be gone in 40 years and oranges are under threat as well.

Farmer-built, weed-specific sprayers are on the near-horizon for agriculture.

Agoro Carbon Alliance has announced a total payment of $9 million to farmers and ranchers enrolled in the first year of the carbon credit program. This carbon market was launched in June of 2021.

For Idaho growers concerned about increasing levels of herbicide-resistant weed seeds in their fields, harvest weed seed control systems may present a new approach.

Yield reductions due to Hessian fly infestation of spring and winter wheat can be significant in northern Idaho.

According to recently published research led by University of Idaho scientists, grain farmers in the Pacific Northwest should be cognizant of a relative newcomer to the region’s pest scene that seems to thrive with fewer hot days than other aphid species require.

An effort to identify genes in spring wheat that would allow it to be more heat and drought resilient recently earned more than $2 million in funding.

Upon review of all the safety and regulatory information submitted, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has concluded that it has no further questions regarding the safety of HB4® Wheat, and that it does not raise issues that would require premarket review or approval by FDA.

As harvest approaches, you’ve likely become acutely aware of the developmental stage of your wheat crop.

In a study funded by the Idaho Wheat Commission, Drs. Barrie Robison, Mary Ridout, and Leonora Bittleston explored the connections between starch quality and the microbiome -- the microorganisms in a particular environment...

A University of Idaho research team is refining a first-of-its-kind app that will allow grain farmers to instantly identify common pests and beneficial insects inhabiting their fields.

Researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) have proposed a new diagram to show how wheat yields are determined.

In this podcast that explores some on-farm cover crop strategies, we are introduced to first generation farmer, Adam Lasch, a no-tiller who started his farming career in 2011.

When consumers “eat wheat”, it is rarely in the kernel form that leaves your farm. There are at least two major steps required before enjoying a wheat product: milling and baking.

Does a soil pH problem have you stumped? Have you wondered how soil pH is affecting the nutrient availability on your own farm?

In a January 2022 bulletin, Drs. Walsh, Jayawardena, Liang, and Torrion published the findings of a 2016 and 2017 study on wheat in Montana and Idaho.

Identifying and cloning a gene from a wheat cultivar resistant to stripe rust could lead to new cultivars that recognize and resist disease ...

A research collaboration has helped to explain the chemical defenses that protect wheat plants against disease ...

Do high fertilizer prices have you considering a split Nitrogen application?

With rapidly increasing prices and increased reliance on glyphosate, it may be time to start looking elsewhere for your preplant burndown herbicide...