Please note that the USDA or ARS is not advocating any specific wheat over another specific wheat as you read the below article about some good news for growers and users of SRW.

SWQL NewsKernel
April 19th, 2001
USDA ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory
Wooster, OH

Occasionally, a newsworthy item concerning eastern U.S. soft wheat quality comes our way. With the development of a mostly updated e-mail address list, we hope to be able to pass them along to you in this "SWQL NewsKernel".

Many of you may know that the past wheat harvest in France was apparently very poor. Now, remember that the French have been breeding wheat for their type of bread for quite some time.

Monday, Patrick Finney received an e-mail from a bakery in Morocco, stating that they used flour from SRW out of Charleston, SC. They said it made the best French baguette and another type of French bread they have ever made.

Wednesday, Patrick also received a phone call from Tunisia stating that they really, really like the SRW wheat they are using for bread and want to purchase 20,000 tons of the same.

Also Wednesday, Patrick received a call from a broker from Russia who wanted the same quality of SRW wheat for simple Russian, European-type bread and flat bread in the provincial area bordering Iran and Afghanistan as well as the area bordering northern Turkey. The broker assured him that it was SRW with strong mixing strength that he wanted.

For a long time we have known that SRW with gluten strength can make some truly great international type breads...likely better than some of our very strong hard wheats for some products. So take heart soft wheat community and emphasize the cracker/export markets and our SRW exports will increase. Of course, it would be wise to be certain that those exported SRW wheats have good gluten strength.

How do you spell VALUE-ADDED?

Respond to: Charles Gaines, USDA ARS Soft Wheat Quality Laboratory, 1680 Madison Avenue, Wooster, OH 44691 Tel: (330) 263-3891, Fax: (330) 263-3651, e-mail: gaines.31@osu.edu

NCSGGA help start and fund the first formalized wheat quality survey for Soft Red Wheat in conjunction with U.S. Wheat Associates upon the advice of the late USWA President Winston Wilson as a way to let International customers know the intrinsic values of SRW. The wheat quality survey suggestion was the first priority offered by Mr. Wilson when approached by NCSGGA board members Johnny Barnes and Ron Day along with David Taliaferro and Pete Onley of Virginia in meeting discussing ways to create an East Coast Initiative for wheat exports.

Since that key meeting North Carolina, Virginia and other SRW states Arkansas, Ohio, Illinois, and Missouri has been included in The Wheat Quality Survey that is distributed worldwide by U.S. Wheat Associates and industry partners.

Brazil made a recent purchase of wheat in which the source origin was specified to be North Carolina so we understand. The wheat was shipped out of the port of Charleston, S.C. during the first quarter.