May 19, 2003

A new, rapid, Australian-developed test for wheat quality ­ expected to be welcomed by growers here for in-paddock crop assessment ­ will have its commercial launch in the United States and Canada over the next few months.

A range of industry partners linked through Value Added Wheat Cooperative Research Centre Ltd have been developing and refining the WheatRite test for the sprouting indicator alpha-amylase for a number of years.

A prototype ­ said to work "in much the same way as home pregnancy tests" ­ performed successfully in on-farm, pre-harvest trials in north-west New South Wales three years ago, allowing one grower to make an extra $40,000 by selectively harvesting 700 tonnes of sound grain from a partially weather damaged, organic wheat crop.

Since then WheatRite has been re-formatted ­ from a lateral flow device to a flow-through immuno-assay ­ but it remains a simple process of crushing a few wheat grains in something like a coffee grinder, adding the reagent that comes with the test kit and comparing the colour formed on a test membrane against a test card.

The new format cleared quality assurance assessment earlier this year, becoming market-ready in time for the sales campaign in North America, where the focus will be on sales to grain handlers and receival points.

The Australian grains industry can expect a WheatRite marketing campaign before the 2003 wheat harvest begins, but here it will also be focused on growers who ­ like their Canadian counterparts ­ appreciate that quality assessment has a big bearing on the price they get for wheat.

For around $17 a test, growers will be able to test a few wheat grains for sprouting, either pre-harvest or pre-delivery, allowing them to make appropriate heading, marketing and/or delivery decisions.

Growers have made significant investments in the development of WheatRite ­ and the associated electronic reader ReadRite expected to be used at fixed receival points ­ through the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), a partner in the Value Added Wheat CRC.

While the early research work on the system was carried out by CSIRO scientists within the CRC, the latest format was developed in collaboration with Proteome Systems Ltd.

Sydney company C-Qentec Diagnostics is responsible for marketing the technology and that company¹s general manager, Bruce Howie, says the challenge is finding openings for a totally new product, in a market segment that currently doesn¹t exist.

"C-Qentec Diagnostics has negotiated a distribution agreement with the Chicago based Seedburo Equipment Company, a major supplier to the grain handling industry across North America," Mr Howie said.

"In parallel with the commercial drive through Seedburo, we are also looking for support from the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) and the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) in the US.

"Our research and development manager, Felice Driver, is holding training sessions in Canada and the US right now. Both the CGC and the FGIS are undertaking their own evaluation programs to compare WheatRite to other methodologies such as the falling number test, which is the industry standard.

"We expect significant sales in North America and here in Australia. Using WheatRite is not a technical process and it does not require a trained operator with special skills. It only needs a bit of care and attention to the instructions provided with the kits."