Gaining a better understanding of the end user’s grain requirements is the main aim of an ambitious HGCA initiative. Olivia Cooper reports

For most farmers, the last they see of their grain is when it is loaded off the farm, ready for delivery to the processor. But what goes on beyond the farm gate, and how can better knowledge transfer improve supply chain efficiencies?

In a bid to offer an insight into supply chain logistics, HGCA has organised a series of 14 “Meet the Processor” visits, including millers, maltsters and grain exporters. “It is really useful for growers to understand what happens to their grain after it’s left the farm, and to see themselves as part of a whole supply chain, putting food on the shelves,” says Steve Barras, business improvement manager at HGCA.

Growers can see firsthand why the strict grain quality specifications are so important, and how consumer demands impact on processors. “Timeliness is one problem – while on time and in specification deliveries from processor to retailer exceed 98%, from farm to first processor only 68% are on time, 10% don’t show up and 7% are rejected. This represents a substantial waste and cost for both growers and processors.

“One of the challenges is the flow of information across the supply chain, but feedback from these visits has been very positive and there have been some very constructive conversations taking place.”

The miller

Wright’s Flour, based in Enfield, Middlesex, produces a range of bread and cake flour mixes for supermarkets. “We have to turn our products round very quickly – if we miss a customer’s booking time by half an hour we get turned away,” says managing director David Wright. “It’s important that growers understand these demands and why it’s so important that we receive their wheat deliveries on time and in spec.”

The most important aspect to milling wheat is protein content and quality, says production director Alan Cave. “Protein is responsible for gas retention in dough – if the protein is low or of poor quality, the bubbles will burst and you won’t get the bread volume.” Protein quality depends on variety choice, with millers tending to stick to their favourites, such as Hereward, for as long as possible.

Bushelweight and grain size are directly linked to flour yield, while the Hagberg Falling Number indicates the level of the enzyme amylase in the wheat, which turns starch to sugar during germination. “If Hagberg is low you end up with a very sticky dough and dark crust colour from caramelised sugars.”

Upon arrival at the mill, grain is sampled, tested and tipped into store. It is then sieved and screened in four stages to remove stones and impurities, before water is added to raise the moisture content to a uniform 16% in the conditioning silo. “By adding water to condition the grain, we soften the endosperm, making it easier to break down into flour, and toughening the bran so it is easier to remove,” says Mr Cave. “If grain comes in at too high a moisture the conditioning process doesn’t work.”

The grist is then picked and milled, using hard, high protein wheat for bread flour and softer, lower protein wheat for cake flour. The gradual process of grinding and sieving ensures a consistent product, the quality of which is continually monitored online and in baking tests. “Consistency is vital at every stage. There is a huge amount of scrutiny from our customers and the bar is being raised all the time.”

Food safety is also paramount, so in a wet harvest grain is always checked for mould and mycotoxins. “The need for testing will inevitably increase as our customers demand it. Wheat is 99% of what we use, so you can understand why its quality is so important to us.”

The exporter

The UK usually produces an exportable surplus of about 2.5m tonnes of wheat, so export trade underpins the entire domestic market. And while farmers often perceive it as a relatively benign home for their grain, a lot goes on behind the scenes to meet the end user’s needs.

“This is so much easier if farmers understand what goes on beyond the farm gate,” says Mike Adams, export manager at Frontier. “Once they know why a certain specification is in the contract, they are extremely receptive to meeting it.”

Most of the UK’s shipments go to Europe or North Africa, including several grades of milling wheat, feed wheat, malting and feed barley, pulses and oilseed rape. “As exporters, we go overseas to meet our customers and find out what they want. We need to maintain our good reputation to retain these export markets, as that helps to provide our farmers with the widest choice of homes and the best price possible.”

The most important requirement is consistency, so exporters take great care to ensure that grain is blended to produce a uniform shipment. “The last thing our customers want is for one part of the cargo to be completely different to another,” says Mr Adams. This ability to blend grain means ports can often take a wider range of quality than domestic homes, while still meeting end users’ requirements.

Moisture content is also critical, particularly for grain destined for north Africa, which must be a maximum of 14% to prevent spoilage in hot weather. “High moisture contents are our biggest problem, followed by farmers’ availability to load. We have to load a 4,000t boat in one day, so the silo must be filled, blended and ready to go.”

The farmer

Andy Barr from East Lenham Farm, Maidstone, Kent, recently joined a British Cereal Exports trip to the European Commodities Exchange in Rotterdam. “It was a real eye-opener – I learnt more about what goes on in the grain trade in those two days than in 15 years previously.”

Having met some Dutch millers, he was surprised at how stringent their breadmaking requirements were. “Protein, Hagberg and bushelweight are just the basic minimum – they need to test all samples for breadmaking before they will buy a shipment, to see what kind of bread it will make.”

This year’s high protein levels had created some unexpected problems. “I never considered that protein content could be too high, but this year it has affected the bread quality. They have big, automated factories, so if there is a quality problem it shuts down the whole production line.

“They also like varieties which aren’t all that popular on UK farms – there needs to be a lot more communication between the end users, farmers and seed merchants, so we can produce what they want.”

All end users require large volumes of consistent quality grain, which can more easily be filled by big commercial stores and co-operatives than individual farmers, says Mr Barr. “We need to work together much more, and keep being out there and selling our wares. Next year, the Bourse will be held in Edinburgh, so it’s important we put on a good show as a shop front for our grain.”

The maltster

UK maltsters buy an average of 2m tonnes of barley a year, producing 1.6m tonnes of malt for brewing, distilling, and food ingredients. “Germination is vitally important, as in order to make malt the grain must grow,” says Melissa Abbott, grain value chain specialist at Muntons. Most maltsters require at least 98% germination, which means farmers must be careful when drying and storing malting barley.

“If the grain is harvested wet, dry it as soon as you can, but do it gradually so as not to damage the germination. If you’re storing it at 15% moisture, ideally you should load it out before November to avoid germination losses. After November, mycotoxins can become an issue, so grain must be maximum 14.5% moisture on delivery – anything over that must be tested for mycotoxins, which is quite costly.”

Upon arrival at the maltster, the barley is dried down to 12% before storage, to prevent spoilage and ensure even germination in the malting process. When ready, it is steeped in water for 48 hours, transferred to a germination vessel for four to five days, then kiln dried for 20-28 hours to produce a dry malt ready to send to customers.

“We need a bold, uniform grain, as small grains are lost in the screenings,” says Ms Abbott. Nitrogen content and variety choice are also important, with lager, ale and whisky markets demanding different malt characteristics. “If you’re planning to grow malting barley, talk to some local maltsters and ask what varieties they want.”

Although nitrogen contents can be blended within narrow parameters, germination cannot be mixed to achieve an average. “If you put a poor load with a good load, you are just downgrading the good load and it won’t perform the way it should. But it is a real pain for us to have to reject anything, because we have to go out and replace it.”