Kansas Market Wheat Shows

Scoring Explanation

Meeting the needs of customers is important to any business, and wheat farming is no exception. U.S. wheat is the world’s most reliable choice. U.S. wheat producers offer the highest‐quality wheat in the world. The Kansas Market Wheat Show exists to educate Kansas wheat producers of all ages of the factors that they can control to some extent to grow high‐quality wheat.

Judging Factors

Variety/Mill Bake

For the purposes of this contest, popularly grown varieties of either Hard Red or Hard White winter wheat have been assigned a variety/mill‐bake score. Varieties fall into one of the following point ranges: Less Desirable = 150‐ 180; Acceptable = 185‐215; Excellent = 220‐250. The terms “less desirable”, “acceptable” and “excellent” refer to the tendency of the variety to produce good results when used to make pan breads. The score for a variety has been determined by several years of laboratory testing that reflect the variety’s milling and baking quality. Wheat and flour specifications are communications between buyers and sellers. These specifications are requirements for particular wheat and flour characteristics. Wheat and flour specifications often require specialized testing to determine how flour will perform during processing. “Excellent” varieties tend to perform better in milling and baking tests than “less desirable” varieties.

Protein

Protein content is a key specification for wheat and flour purchasers since it is related to many processing properties, such as water absorption and gluten strength. Protein content can also be related to finished product attributes, such as texture and appearance. Low protein content is desired for crisp or tender products, such as snacks or cakes. High protein content is desired for products with chewy texture, such as pan bread and hearth bread.

Test Weight

Test weight is a measure of the density of the sample and may be an indicator of milling yield and the general condition of the sample, as problems that occur during the growing season or at harvest often reduce test weight.

Dockage

Dockage is the percentage by weight of any material easily removed from a wheat sample using the Carter Dockage Tester. Dockage, because it can be easily removed, should not have any effect on milling quality buy may have other economic effects for buyers.

Shrunken and Broken

Shrunken and broken kernels are kernels which either were insufficiently filled during growing and have a shrunken or shriveled appearance or have been broken in handling. Such kernels may reduce milling yield.