Interest grows in ‘protein banker’ for milling wheat

• High performing premium sector wheat

• Group 1 variety has excellent agronomics

• Superb combination of yield and protein

A high protein wheat is catching the interest of growers and millers alike, with a yield of 98% of controls on the latest Recommended List.

With a milling specification protein content of 13.2%, KWS Vibe has the most comprehensive agronomic package of all the key Group 1 players, says Olivia Bacon, the breeder’s technical manager for conventional crops.

“KWS Vibe is unusual,” she says. “Many are now believing it is the new ‘protein’ banker for the UK.”

The variety achieved Group 1 performance in its first and second national list trials in 2022 and 2023 – and in the Recommended List stage in 2024 – three contrasting seasons.

Characterised by excellent grain quality, including an Hagberg Falling Number of 283 and a specific weight of 79.1kg/hl, Vibe consistently delivered higher protein at 13.2% than the control in each of the three years.

It exhibits good gluten quality, loaf volumes and overall baking performance. This means is brings genuinely improved performance to a sector that has had few new additions in recent years, says Ms Bacon.

Current Group 1 varieties are relatively old compared with those in some other groups with an urgent need for growers to be able to hit required protein specifications, says Joe Brennan, of UK Flour Millers.

Homegrown milling quality wheat is key to food security, so the UK flour milling industry needs a productive, profitable domestic farming sector which can meet quality requirements year after year, says Mr Brennan.

“Wheat flour is an ingredient in 33% of food products sold in supermarkets and accounts for 20% of the nation’s food energy intake. UK flour milling businesses use five million tonnes of wheat each year to produce four million tonnes of flour.

“Last season was extremely challenging for farmers and followed several difficult years. We are seeing this feed into the UK milling industry and our projected use of homegrown wheat for 2024/25 will be under 70%.

“This represents the lowest proportion of homegrown wheat in the UK milling sector for over 20 years – quite different to a typical year when we use at least 80% homegrown wheat.”

Specification

Another issue with Group 1s is a decline in the ability of farmers to achieve the required specifications. This has been linked to unfavourable weather in recent seasons – and exceptionally high costs for inputs such as nitrogen fertiliser.

Data from the AHDB Cereal Quality Survey shows that just 20% of Group 1 wheat last harvest met  the milling specification of 13% protein, 250HFN and 76kg/hl. This was down from 48% in 2018 although up from just 13% in 2023.

“Group 1 wheats are the backbone of UK bread making flour. These are the varieties that we can rely on season after season to produce sustained, high level of consistent milling and baking performance.

“Strong gluten quality is a trait that millers are looking for increasingly in Group 1s because of the UK’s targets for reducing salt in sliced bread. Salt enhances the strength of the protein and gluten in the flour, so if you reduce salt you need to match it with an increase in gluten strength.

“In trials by millers KWS Vibe exhibited very consistent, high quality, with high protein, high specific weight and consistent breadmaking performance, season after season, which is what defines a Group 1, as opposed to a Group 2, variety.”

Baking quality

In baking tests at the Allied Technical Centre, KWS Vibe has performed exceptionally well with a soft, white crumb, large loaf volume, excellent loaf height and good layering performance in pastries, says Ms Bacon.

“KWS Vibe will appeal to milling wheat growers who want a variety which combines high yield with high protein.

“Across the rotation KWS Vibe delivers excellent performance, both as a first wheat at 98% of control and as a second cereal at 97%, which is important because 60% of milling wheats are sown in the second cereal position.

“In the early and late sown slots, the variety achieved 98% and 99% of control respectively, 98% on both light and heavy soils.”