Quality in the New Zealand wheat and flour markets

Interest in the quality of New Zealand wheat and flour is ever ongoing. A further catalyst to interest in the topic was the announcement that New Zealand farmgate wheat prices would be directly linked with world prices as from the 1981 harvest. This greater exposure of the wheat industry to international market forces has caused wheat millers and flour bakers to advocate more forcefully for quality improvements. Quality is the set of attributes which the different sectors of the market look for in wheat based products. The objective of this study is to compare the market quality demands with the existing quality supplies of New Zealand grown wheat and flour, in order to suggest management changes that would bring quality supplies closer to quality demands. The market for wheat and flour is segmented, and centres around that required for milling (300,000 tonnes), animal foods (60,000 tonnes) and seed (13,000 tonnes). For every 100 tonnes of wheat milled approximately 78 tonnes of flour is extracted for human consumption and industrial use, whilst the remaining 22 tonnes becomes bran and pollard byproducts for animal use. The resultant flour is sold mainly to bakers for the production of bread. Other flour buyers include householders, starch and gluten manufacturers, biscuit makers, cake makers and pasta manufacturers. Wheat for milling needs to have a low screenings content, low moisture content, low sprout index, freedom from insect and bug damage, and heavy grain weight. Millers also require to know grain hardness, protein content and dough strength. Animal feed wheats need to have desirable nutritional qualities primarily in the form of high total energy yield. The seed wheat market requires varieties that are profitable to growers, and multiply into grain that meets the quality requirements of the market to which it is destined (i.e. milling grade or animal feed). Milling grade wheat products and associated quality requirements are varied. The breakfast cereal market often requires health promoting products that are high in both fibre and protein. Good bread flour comes from high protein, relatively hard wheats exhibiting strong dough characteristics. Other products requiring this flour type are cracker biscuits, fruit cakes and puff pastry. Biscuit flour needs a lower protein, softer wheat exhibiting weaker dough characteristics. Products requiring this flour type are sweet biscuits, plain cakes and short pastry. Pasta flour is best made from certain hard wheat varieties. Starch flour needs a high protein content and a high paste viscosity potential. Quality is affected by management applied at various points along the distribution chain. An organisation that exercises considerable control over this management is the New Zealand Wheat Board. Important quality management aspects include breeding, farm pricing and segregation. This latter topic includes the segregation of milling grade wheat, the segregation and blending of the resultant flour, plus the associated storage and transport. Suggestions that would bring existing standards closer to the qualities required in the market include the introduction of: (i) Milling grade protein payments to growers (ii) Animal feed contracts (iii) An industrial flour category (iv) A lower flour extraction rate (v) A minimum grain weight for defining milling grade wheat. The institution that has the power to implement and coordinate these suggestions is the New Zealand Wheat Board, because it is the single authority responsible for marketing New Zealand wheat and flour. Further research needed, to establish how best to implement some of these suggestions, is also discussed.