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In this issue:
Website
- Update of Sclerotinia decision guide tool
- Crop Management - rising to the nitrogen challenge
- The Grain Chain website
- Current HGCA-funded Research Projects
Events
- Malting barley topic breakfasts
- Dates for your diary
- WGIN stakeholders meeting in November
Publications
- New Wheat disease management guide on website
- New project Report 429 - Investigating wheat functionality through breeding and end use
- 2008 nabim wheat guide
Update of Sclerotinia decision guide tool
This tool helps to calculate the risk of Sclerotinia in oilseed rape. It is primarily intended to be used at flowering and relies on information being available for individual crops. When you enter your data the tool will calculate the potential risk for your crop.
http://www.hgca.com/minisite_manager.output/2995/2995/Sclerotinia%20Decision%20Guide%20Tool/Sclerotinia%20Decision%20Guide%20Tool/Decision%20Guide.mspx?minisiteId=24
Crop Management - rising to the nitrogen challenge
A podcast of Dr Keith Goulding's presentation, delivered at at the HGCA 2008 Milling Wheat Conference, provides an update on progress with revision of RB209, Defra's fertiliser recommendations. Click below to see the podcast.
http://www.hgca.com/content.output/2994/2994/News/News/Crop%20Management%20-%20rising%20to%20the%20nitrogen%20challenge.mspx
The Grain Chain
HGCA, the Flour Advisory Bureau (FAB) and The Federation of Bakers have collaborated to produce a new multimedia educational resource called The Grain Chain. This website offers children a fun way to learn about the 'field to fork' cycle; please click on http://www.grainchain.com/ for more information.
Malting Barley Topic Breakfasts
To help malting barley growers address the changing markets, HGCA in association with MAGB are holding a series of Topic Breakfasts focusing on getting the best from malting barley, through your variety choice, agronomy and marketing strategies.
For more information on a meeting in your area, please visit www.hgca.com/events
HGCA Summer events - Dates for your Diary
HGCA will again be involved in a number of agronomy partnership open days throughout June and July, showcasing current HGCA-funded research. Dates confirmed so far:
3 June - ADAS - Rosemaund, Herefordshire
5 June - ADAS - Boxworth, Cambridgeshire
19 June - TAG - Morley, Norfolk
26 June - ADAS - High Mowthorpe, N Yorkshire
26 June - TAG - Sutton Scotney, Hampshire
26 June - Contemplating Organics, Shropshire
26 June - SAC - Swinton, Berwickshire
1 July - SAC - Perth, Fife
3 July - SAC - Aberdeenshire
7 July - SAC - Lanarkshire
We will also be holding a number of small farm walks throughout the summer. More details about these and the open days will be available on www.hgca.com/events shortly.
WGIN stakeholder meeting
The next WGIN (Wheat Genetic Improvement Network) stakeholder meeting will be on Friday, 14th November at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden. For further details email elke.anzinger@bbsrc.ac.uk.
Current HGCA funded research projects
Current HGCA funded research projects have now been grouped together on the HGCA website by topic area. The title and key aim of the project is listed under each category. A link is also provided that will take you a short summary of the project and the latest project results that are available in the Annual Project Report (APR). This list has been divided into the same subject areas as the Index of Research Publications for ease of use. If you would like to see the range of projects HGCA is currently supporting please clink on the link below.
http://www.hgca.com/content.output/2918/2918/Crop%20Research/Crop%20Research/Current%20Research%20Projects.mspx
Wheat Disease Management Guide - 2008 Update
This 30-page guide includes details of root and stem base, foliar and ear diseases, and information on estimating disease risk, spray programmes, fungicide performance and resistance development. It has been updated to reflect the heightened profile of brown and yellow rust in the crop's disease profile and provides practical information for control.
This is now available to download from the HGCA website at http://www.hgca.com/publink.aspx?id=4406 or to request a free copy (1 per person), email research@hgca.com with your address details.
New Final Project Report
PR 429 - Investigating wheat functionality through breeding and end use
This project investigated wheat functionality through breeding and end use with the aim of generating new links between wheat genetics and processing performance to give breeders clear targets for development of high value varieties and to give the UK grain chain a significant step forward in overall competitiveness.
Click below to see the whole report on the web, or scroll down to see abstract.
http://www.hgca.com/publink.aspx?id=4413
2008 nabim Wheat Guide
This lists the flour milling industry's views on varieties and gives marketing guidance on their likely relative values in the UK market. It complements other information on wheat varieties from HGCA, CEL, NIAB, SAC and DARD.
http://www.nabim.org.uk/download/Wheat%20guide%202008.pdf
Abstract
PR429 Investigating wheat functionality through breeding and end use (FQS 23)
by S J Millar of CCFRA, J Snape of John Innes Centre, J Ward and P Shewry of Rothamsted Research, P Belton of University of East Anglia, K Boniface of ADM Milling Ltd and R Summers of RAGT Seeds Ltd. HGCA Project Number: 2492 Price: £8.50
The UK wheat supply chain has seen significant changes in the last 40 years with a move from a market dependent on imports to one where the majority of wheat for a range of uses is home-grown. With increasing requirements and competitiveness in the marketplace, ongoing improvements in wheat yield, robustness and quality are fundamental to further improvements in the supply chain.
This project was initiated with the aim of generating new links between wheat genetics and processing performance to give breeders clear targets for development of high value varieties and to give the UK grain chain a significant step forward in overall competitiveness.
Three new wheat recombinant populations were developed and a wide range of genetic markers applied to each to develop a genetic map. Grain was produced from these populations over two growing seasons (2005 and 2006) and fully characterised in terms of milling and baking performance. Four bakery products were produced which represent the main commercial outlets for high quality wheat as well as offering insights to the technical aspects of interactions during processing: Chorleywood Bread Process (CBP) white bread, CBP wholemeal bread, no time dough (Spiral) white bread and puff pastry. New methods to objectively analyse the characteristics of these products were developed and validated by the project consortium allowing ranking of samples to be achieved using common and transferable techniques.
A wide range of new quantitative trait loci (QTL - genetic regions or loci where variation is correlated with an aspect of grain characteristics) were identified for specific aspects of processing quality such as milling yield, loaf volume, crumb colour and softness. These will now be used by plant breeders to generate varieties with better and more consistent processing quality than those currently available.
This project has represented a unique opportunity for representatives from across the supply chain to work together to generate improvements for all. By using end product quality as the target response, the project has provided wheat breeders with clearer targets for specific end uses, will lead to growers and processors having wheat better-adapted for their needs and the cereal science community with a major advance in the understanding of the genetic control of wheat quality.
