a newsletter from Bayer CropScience
Volume 18 • Issue 4
ReadRite
makes accurate on-farm grain diagnostics easy and affordable As part of its ongoing commitment to support agricultural technology, Bayer CropScience, in partnership with Australian-based Tyrian Diagnostics, recently introduced the ReadRite® Grain Diagnostics tool which gives growers an accurate, inexpensive way to test wheat and other grains without having to wait for conventional test results. Pre-mature sprouting reduces quality Given the right combination of moisture and temperature, wheat can sprout prematurely. This increases the production of alpha-amylase enzymes, which can break down starch, changing the structure of flour and reducing the quality of products made from the flour. It can reduce mixing strength, cause sticky dough and affect loaf volume and shelf life. For pasta, sprouting can increase cooking loss, produce softer cooked pasta and reduce shelf life. Once present, alpha-amylase is impossible to remove from wheat. Just a small concentration – 0.1 to 0.5 percent severe sprout – reduces wheat quality by several grades and nearly C$60/metric tonne.
Up to now, predicting alpha-amylase content for grain trade and the milling and baking industry has relied on a combination of visual inspection and laboratory testing using a conventional falling number test. However, this complicated test requires costly laboratory equipment to estimate alpha-amylase activity in wheat, not to mention the long waits to get results. Get accurate results in less than five minutes That’s all changed. The ReadRite system measures the degree of weather damage from pre-harvest sprouting wheat. It quickly measures the concentration of alpha-amylase in a wheat sample and estimates the falling number. Best of all, there are no special technical skills or complex equipment required. Results are ready in minutes, instead of days! With test results in hand, growers will have the information to: • Accurately measure the quality of wheat • Assess crop damage • Determine harvesting priority – the highest quality get done first, leaving the poorest quality until last • Determine which grain should be stored together or separately. So now with one easy-to-use tool, growers can manage risk by making the most efficient use of storage, responding to a major weather event or simply assessing the quality of wheat throughout the growing season. That’s innovation, right on the farm. Want to know more? Contact your local Bayer CropScience representative.