Signs of the Times

“The alliance between ICIA and GeneScan brings together two companies whose skills and expertise complement one another and offers the agro-food industry access to professionals recognized in their respective fields, who also have real-world experience,” McKinney says. “Our combined skills and credentials include molecular biology, plant genetics, process engineering, seed science, agronomy, auditing and expertise in logistics of bulk commodities. Together, we can provide services that neither organization could provide alone.”

The ICIA and GeneScan have cooperated in the development of a comprehensive seed/grain stewardship program called Producer Audited Supply System (PASS), that seed companies can employ to help assure that their products that have received partial regulatory approval (for example, by the United States, but not by the European Union) are channeled to uses in approved markets.

Optical Technology

The future of grain testing focuses on optical technology. This marks the second year that the Kansas State University (KSU) Grain Quality Research Program4 has been using proprietary optical equipment developed by Garst Seed Company to test corn for hardness. Simply stated, a machine takes a snapshot of individual kernels and reports a measure of the percent of hard endosperm in the grain.

“In our studies, this technology has been much better correlated to milling and end-use performance than traditional grinding, abrasion, or NIR tests for hardness,” says Jane Lingenfelser, an associate scientist who tests corn, soybeans, wheat and grain sorghum for the KSU’s Grain Quality Research Program. “Optical technology will replace NIR in the next few years.”

Industry is also moving away from traditional food grain testing to industrial and neutraceutical based evaluations, Lingenfelser continues. “The driving force is the increased importance of value-added identity preserved traits,” she says. “It is no longer enough for farmers to grow the same hybrids they’ve always grown. Small farms can no longer make a profit without considering identity preserved contracts with big companies. Crop production is now all about what the end user wants.”

Fine Tuning Technologies

New innovations for determining grain quality come slowly, while existing testing technologies continue to be fined tuned.

“Near infrared-based technologies have revolutionized grain and flour quality testing over the past two or three decades, providing fast and accurate determination of protein, moisture and other quality factors, as grain is delivered from the farm to country elevators,” says Brian Sorenson, technical director of the Northern Crops Institute,5 based at North Dakota State University. “The development of whole grain NIR analyzers like the Foss Infratec 1241 (Foss North America, Inc.; location) has further improved the accuracy and speed of analysis.”

Recently, Sorenson says, the Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration/Federal Grain Inspection Service (GIPSA/FGIS) formally adopted Foss’ artificial neural network (ANN) NIR calibration for wheat and barley.

“Another new tool is the Single Kernel NIR instrument, recently introduced by Perten Instruments, and is initially targeted for research laboratories,” Sorenson relates. “By looking at individual kernels with diode array NIR, this instrument has great potential for looking at grain quality traits beyond moisture and protein.”

One testing device becoming more common in local U.S. elevators is the Falling Number Tester (Perten Instruments; location). “Although the instrument is not new to the flour milling and baking industry, it is being used to determine the degree of pre-harvest sprouting in cereal grains at the time of delivery from the farm,” Sorenson explains.

Newport Scientific (distributed by Foss North America, Inc.) is evaluating its new RVA-Starch Master for determining pre-harvest sprout damage at local elevators as well as starch pasting properties for smaller quality control labs.

With wheat, it is not just the physical kernel quality that counts, Sorenson emphasizes; “end use performance is extremely important.” There are several stages in the wheat processing industry, so milling, flour, dough and end product quality are all critical quality issues. “We are working toward a test with fast turnaround for gluten functionality in all types of wheat, including soft and hard wheats and durum wheat,” Sorenson says. “We’re not there yet, but many are working toward that goal.”