In early March 2020, AGC convened a group of bakers from across the region to test new varieties of wheat and hulless barley. This event was the culmination of over a year’s work led by Dr. Julie Dawson of UW-Madison’s Seed to Kitchen Collaborative and Dr. Lucia Gutierrez of UW-Madison’s Cereals Breeding and Quantitative Genetics Program.
In early March 2020, AGC convened a group of bakers from across the region to test new varieties of wheat and hulless barley. This event was the culmination of over a year’s work led by Dr. Julie Dawson of UW-Madison’s Seed to Kitchen Collaborative and Dr. Lucia Gutierrez of UW-Madison’s Cereals Breeding and Quantitative Genetics Program.
a modern hard red winter wheat popular with organic farmers in the Northeast and Midwest, crossed to Gua, a historic variety that has done well in organic trials in France.
a historic spring wheat from Ontario, Canada also crossed to Arapahoe.
an older hard white winter wheat crossed to Arapahoe, a modern hard red winter wheat from the University of Nebraska.
a historic winter wheat variety from France with good baking quality crossed to Warthog.
The test showed that the lines researchers chose to advance to on-farm trials all have suitable baking properties compared to the commercial check, and were rated more highly for certain characteristics.
The 2020 event was the first time AGC helped bring together researchers, farmers, bakers, and the public for a joint grain evaluation. Through a USDA-OREI grant in partnership with Cornell University, we have funding to continue hosting these events through 2023. Because of COVID-19 restrictions in 2021, AGC and partners hosted a virtual baking test in May with six bakers to gather more data on the five lines in preparation for their commercial release in the coming years.