Hot News

2.20.2007

By SHANNON ALLEN
AFP Correspondent

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — The lifeblood of the seed business in Virginia, the Virginia Crop Improvement Association, held its annual meeting and Virginia Seed Conference on Feb. 15.
Producers, researchers, millers and interested parties joined together to improve the value of crop production in Virginia.
The VCIA has been able to support plant research with $5.5 million since its inception.
More than 27,000 acres of small grains, soybeans, peanuts and turf grass sod were inspected this year. Due to that, more than 438,000 certified tags were issued.
A new commitment was made to providing scholarships for college students pursuing careers in agronomic related fields.
Scholarships increased this year to provide $2,000 each for three Virginia Tech students.
Speakers for the Virginia Seed Conference were challenged to respond to where the direction of high value crop production is headed in the Mid-Atlantic region.
Don Mennel, president of the Mennel Milling Company spoke of “the new mill rising in Roanoke”.
Mennel’s family has been in the wheat milling business since 1886 and is dramatically increasing its Roanoke mill’s capacity.
Construction began in early 2006 and is scheduled to be completed by May. Although challenges of the weather, labor issues and varying costs of steel, concrete and copper have affected the construction, it is only two weeks behind schedule.
The new mill, which stands 140 feet tall and is composed of 6,500 yards of concrete, will have the capacity to grind 23,000 bushels of wheat a day.
Forty percent of this will be soft red winter wheat used for cakes, cookies and batters.
Sixty percent will be hard red winter wheat, and hard red spring wheat used in breads and dough, respectively.
With an operating goal of 300 days per year, the mill will need 6.9 million bushels of wheat a year.
Of this, 4.1 million bushels will be soft red winter wheat. “We’re having a lot of success with Virginia wheat,”,Minnell said.
Currently, 90 percent of the wheat milled in Roanoke is Virginia grown. Minnell’s goal is to purchase only Virginia grown soft red winter wheat.
Minnell says that the mill is “capital intensive, not labor intensive” and will be “highly automated.”
There are plans for one shift to be completely automated.
The Minnell’s goal is to produce a myriad of flour products in the mill to serve “different and niche markets with extraordinary service.”
Another opportunity for Virginia wheat producers is with Miller Milling Company, which has a wheat mill in Winchester, Va. “We want to buy Virginia grown wheat,” says Randy Marten, partner and vice president of Miller Milling Company.
Marten encouraged the continued collaboration of producers, millers, bakers and breeders.
He said that there must be collaboration between these groups to meet the needs of all.
Marten also promoted production of wheat varieties that meet the unique characteristics and needs of Virginia.
The Winchester mill is one of three operated by Miller Milling Company, with the others being located in Fresno, California and Mexico. Durum wheat, used for pasta, hard red winter wheat and hard red spring wheat, used in bread, rolls and English muffins, will be ground at the Virginia facility.
Marten said 40,000 to 45,000 bushels of wheat can be milled a day due to expansions to the original mill structure.
Currently none of the wheat ground at the mill is grown in Virginia.
“There is a market for Virginia wheat at our mill,” Marten said.
Miller’s has a target market for milled flour in a 200-mile radius of the Winchester facility, which stretches from Richmond, Va. to Philadelphia.
Finished products include English muffins and hoagie buns.
After hearing about the possibility of using hulless barley for ethanol production in Virginia, participants were eager to hear about current barley research.
Wynse Brooks, a Virginia Tech research associate reported that hulless barley does produce well in Virginia. There will be a need to release more varieties of hulless barley in order to meet market demand.
There are several experimental lines that are being researched for potential release.
2005 and 2006 tests revealed that the Eve variety is promising with a yield of 83 bushels per acre and a test weight of 58.5 pounds per bushel.
Brooks said that the available market opportunities for hulless barley include food for human consumption and food ingredients for poultry and swine as well as the potential use in ethanol production.
Barley can lower cholesterol and blood pressure, so “let’s make barley part of our diet”, said Brooks.
Dr. Carl Griffey, a Virginia Tech professor involved with small grains breeding said, “Virginia is no Kansas or Nebraska. Let’s do what we do best. Let’s produce high quality grain.”
Griffey said he hopes that barley will find a market in Virginia that will benefit everyone.
It can be mutually beneficial for producers and millers located in the region.
Two new wheat lines have been released, Jamestown and VA02W-555.
Both are adaptable to Virginia and have high test weights.
Jamestown is a very early wheat variety, has early heading characteristics and possesses scab and Hessian fly resistance.
VA02W-555 displays the most resistance to striped rust and has a large kernel.
Griffey also reported that additional research has been initiated on growing bread wheat varieties in Virginia.
This is due to the price differential between soft and hard wheat and shipping costs.
Griffey is also taking a new look at winter Durum wheat production in Virginia.
The price differential between it and soft red winter wheat is $2.37.
“We have the capability to have Virginia wheat to be used in blends to make desirable end products,” said Griffey.
Virginia Tech’s Dr. Katy Martin Rainey shared research on specialty soybeans.
“The most promising project impacting Virginia farmers is the low linoleic soybean research,” Rainey said.
The linoleic fatty acid contributes to trans fats, which are a detriment to human health.
Rainey has continued research started by Dr. Glen Buss to reduce the 8 percent of linoleic fatty acid level of conventional soybeans to below 3 percent.
There are several lines under research that may be released soon. V98-9005 has been high yielding, has a maturity similar to the Hutcheson variety and is purple seed stain resistant.
Although it is not Round-Up Ready, it has a larger seed size on average and has a four-percent linoleic acid content.
Rainey hopes for a 2007 or 2008 release date.
Low phytate soybean research also continues to develop lines that are agronomically valuable.
Phytate is a carbohydrate in soybeans that is indigestible by non-ruminants.
If this is reduced, it increases the available phosphorus to the animal, thus reducing the need for supplemental phosphorus in feed.
In turn, the phosphorus would be reduced in manure and ultimately, reduces nutrient pollution in water. Rainey says that it will require several more years to develop these lines.
Research also continues in food grade soybeans.
This centers on small-seeded natto and the large-seeded tofu types.
Dr. Fred Shokes, the director of the Tidewater Ag Research Center said that the goal of current peanut research is to develop varieties that are acceptable to producers, shellers, processors and consumers.
South Carolina has joined Virginia and North Carolina in 2007 for the Peanut Variety Quality Evaluation.
There will be five test locations, a three year test period and fifteen tests performed to better equip the peanut producers.
Virginia Tech Extension grains specialist Dr. Wade Thomason likes to “try and squeeze every bushel that we can out of wheat” in Virginia.
His research has focused on seeding rates of wheat.
Thomason’s research has shown that increasing the number of plants in hulled barley does increase heading, but does not make a difference in kernels per head or individual kernel weight.
While this change is not dramatic, it can increase the yield by several bushels per acre.
Thomason reports that a relatively high seeding rate in hulless barley does increase yield somewhat and increases vigor to get good stands.
Another practice that can impact yield would be the timing and rates of nitrogen fertilizer.
Nitrogen can increase the grain protein content.
If a soil is low in sulphur, applying nitrogen with sulphur will provide a synergistic response.
Certain varieties will benefit more than others from nitrogen application.
Thomason also said that his research has shown that there is a three bushel/acre advantage to using fungicide.
Disease management strategies and benefits will vary by variety.
“The next five to 10 years are going to be really exciting in Virginia to see where all of this opportunity goes” Mennel said.