10/05/06 Soft white wheat & loaf bread

Farm and Ranch October 5, 2006 Traditionally the only bread made with soft white wheat is unleavened type breads like Mid East flatbread not western style loaf bread. But Tom Mick, CEO of the Washington Wheat Commission says that's been changing in the current price environment. Mick: "One of the major uses we are discovering for soft white wheat right now is to blend with hard red spring or hard red winter wheat to lower the cost. Right now soft white wheat is the cheapest wheat in the United States however high protein wheats are very expensive around the world. So many bakers and millers are experimenting with blending soft white." Mick says that blend is usually 80 percent high protein wheat and 20 percent soft white to lower the overall cost. Mick: "I visited a flour mill in Chile that was using 50% soft white and 50% high protein wheat and it was working.. I thought this phenomenon was only in South America but I was at a recent world staff conference of U.S. Wheat Associates and we are finding it in Southeast Asia. We are finding it in the Middle East. Virtually all over the world." Mick says what's needed now is some technical expertise to help these millers maximize the usage of soft white and obtain the best profit. Mick: "And we know looking back a past history of prices there are always a couple years out of ten that our price is cheaper. So create more of a demand maybe this is a new end use for our wheats." I'm Bob Hoff and that's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.