The Pacific Northwest Waterways Association (PNWA) is a non-partisan trade association and advocates for federal policies in support of economic development. Join us for From the Field: Farm Chat with Idaho Wheat as we sit down with Heather Stebbings, Executive Director of PNWA to talk about her work with Congress, federal agencies and other decision-makers on transportation, trade, energy, and environmental policies that affect the export process and what PNWA is doing to preserve the dams on the Snake River.

Take seat at the table with us as we sit down with Dustin and Jennifer Young from Idaho Grain Inspection Service (IGIS). IGIS works closely with Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) to facilitate the marketing of U.S. grain and related products by establishing standards for quality assessments, regulating handling practices, and provides impartial official inspection and weighing services for Idaho grain products.

Take a seat at the table as we sit down with National Association of Wheat Growers’ Mariah Wollweber, Director of Communications and Partnerships, and Jake Westlin, Vice President of Policy and Communications, for a chat about how IWC leverages your assessment dollars to expand political reach. We will be digging into the Farm Bill, the wheat lifecycle assessment study, trade, and the policies and efforts in D.C. that affect your bottom line.

We sit down with Idaho Wheat Commissioner Bill Flory, who joins us from Seoul, South Korea, to talk about market development strategies and opportunities for U.S. wheat in the Pacific Rim.

About half of Idaho's wheat and the wheat grown in the United States is exported.  How are our trade relationships with countries around the world and what do you need to know on your farm to make sure the wheat gets to the buyer, miller, and the baker?  We sat down with Dalton Henry and Peter Laudeman, U.S. Wheat Trade Policy experts, for a Q & A about getting wheat from Idaho's fields to family dinner tables around the world.

Wheat digestibility issues may not be solely related to gluten sensitivity.  FODMAPs are fermentable sugars, such as oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides and polyols, which are short-chain carbohydrates.  ATIs are proteins called amylase-trypsin inhibitors.  These ‘anti-nutrients’, tolerated by most people, are poorly absorbed in the small intestine and have been identified as triggers of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).    Dr. George Annor, Dr. Jim Anderson, and others at the University of Minnesota have been investigating FODMAP and ATI concentrations related to bread processing techniques and wheat varieties.  Although concentrations are small, Anderson has found variations in FODMAP and ATI levels among wheat varieties.  Under complex genetic control, it may be possible to reduce concentrations through screening and selection.  Annor has found long fermentation periods (12 hours) can dramatically reduce FODMAP’s and ATIs in sourdough breads.  Increasing fermentation time may be key to making more wheat products available to people that have experienced digestibility issues in the past. Research to reduce anti-nutritional components of wheat is essential to increase demand and consumption of wheat products.

Nitrogen management in semi-arid dryland winter wheat production systems in Southeast Idaho is particularly complicated due to year-to-year variability in precipitation. High precipitation in the spring and preceding fall increase wheat production but insufficient nitrogen, coupled with partial loss of nitrogen from abundant precipitation, can cause low protein levels in wheat, resulting in considerable loss in value at market. In low precipitation years, excess nitrogen fertilization represents an unnecessary expense in a year when yields are down. Join us to talk with the team of USU researchers whose work on this topic is funded by Idaho wheat grower dollars.