Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 19
Overview of Wheat Classifi cation
and Trade
Kendall L. McFall and Mark E. Fowler
SUMMARY
(4)
The link from farmer to buyer can seem
complex or distant, but in reality, buyers
speak directly to suppliers through pur-
chase choices. Buyers inform wheat pro-
ducers and sellers which items are of most
value, in the form of functional quality
parameters or physical characteristics
quoted in a tender, by revealing their will-
ingness to pay.
(1)
Wheat generally is classifi ed by its physical
characteristics such as kernel color and
texture. Physical evaluation is used to
determine basic milling performance, and
to some degree, storability.
(2)
Wheat is purchased by millers based upon
its value as determined by the baked or end
products it can produce. Functional end-
use quality attributes are more valuable
than milling quality attributes.
(5)
With nearly 600 million tonnes of wheat
consumed globally each year and about 100
million tonnes of wheat traded annually by
more than 30 countries, individual buyers
do not impact supply or demand forces
that control the market price of wheat.
(3)
United States commodity exchanges cur-
rently function as the world's wheat price
discovery instruments.
INTRODUCTION
unique capability to hold gas bubbles, which help
support the loaf until the heat of baking sets the
structure fi rm. Just say the word bread, and
people worldwide picture a product that is both
sustaining and pleasurable. Consequently, people
across the globe rise each morning to negotiate
and trade information on this simple grain to
determine its value and secure a constant supply
for the world they help feed.
Bread, symbol of life itself; in abundance the
guarantee of well-being, in times of want
the dream and the cry of the famine-ridden.
“Flour for Man's Bread”;
Stork and Teague
Wheat, like rice (
Oryza sativa
L.) and maize or
corn (
Zea mays
L.), is one of the world's most
important staple grains. The economic and social
signifi cance of wheat is derived from its magni-
tude of production and matchless ability to gener-
ate diverse foods. Although also used to feed
animals, wheat is the world's best grain for deliv-
ering gluten-containing fl our that can be worked
into bread. The gluten, made by mixing wheat
protein and water, gives wheat fl our dough the
WORLD PRODUCTION
Worldwide, wheat producers annually harvest
wheat crops totaling more than 600 million tonnes,
a staggering quantity. Recently, however, average
wheat consumption slightly exceeded production,
leaving the world with less wheat to begin the
