New noodle ideas needed to lift price

Graham Crosbie, who retired from the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA) in 2009 and is now a grain quality consultant, was responding to the Grains Industry Association of WA's (GIWA) call for industry comment.

GIWA's call for comment was in response to concerns Australian Noodle Wheat (ANW) production is on the decline due to price volatility and increased production risk and this decline is a serious threat to the future of WA supplying the valuable udon and instant noodle wheat demand from Japan and South Korea.

Dr Crosbie said the Noodle wheat industry experienced similar issues in the late 1980s when he called for the introduction of segregation and separate pooling of Noodle wheat in March 1989, which injected life into Noodle wheat prices, making it attractive to growers.

He said a similar injection is needed to ensure growers are adequately rewarded and encouraged to grow a wheat that is unique in quality but notoriously high maintenance in terms of growing and meeting specific protein requirements.

"Udon noodle wheat has failed to realise its full potential in WA and this is clearly due to the inadequacy of the marketing system," Dr Crosbie said.

"The system is a carry-over from that which operated for many years under the single desk but is no longer appropriate."

He said the existence of many marketers trying to sell Noodle wheat into Japan was creating competition that meant the lowest price wins, effectively removing a premium growers should be rewarded with.

Apart from Japanese domestic wheat, WA is the only other producer of udon noodle wheat in the world.

The Australian Export Grain Innovation Centre (AEGIC) estimates the total annual requirement of Noodle wheat blend by Japan and South Korea is 1.7 million tonnes, made up of 765,000t of ANW and 935,000t of Australian Premium White.

These figures are based on a 60:40 blend of ANW to APW for Japan and a 30:70 blend for South Korea.

InterGrain has a specific breeding program to develop varieties of premium udon noodle quality.

AEGIC works collaboratively with InterGrain and regularly hosts Japanese udon noodle experts to test the quality of promising noodle varieties.

Japan's wheat consumption of 32.5 kilograms per person annually among its 130 million people is significantly higher than other Asian countries and WA is the target origin for sourcing udon noodle wheat.

WA grown Noodle wheat is known to produce noodles with a clean, creamy and bright appearance and soft, smooth and elastic textural qualities that are held in high regard.

Highest quality wheat for udon is received as ANW1, which has a very strict protein window of 9.5-11.5 per cent, with the ideal grain protein at about 10.5pc.

The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) oversees a tender system for wheat and sets the price paid by flour mills.

"MAFF will have to be fully convinced of the need for a change," Dr Crosbie said.

He said the Federal Government needed to take on this role, which has been lacking, particularly in trade negotiations last year with Japan.

"What it could bring to the negotiating table is a well-reasoned case for a fairer system that would yield benefits for WA growers, wheat breeders and Japanese flour mills and noodle manufacturers," he said.

"Although the trade agreement indicated potential opportunities for A. Hard and APW wheat, no reference was made to the main wheat type we export to Japan - Noodle wheat.

"This raises the question as to whether or not the parties to the negotiations had been adequately briefed and were aware that the Noodle wheat sector of the industry was in crisis.

"Despite the lack of attention to Noodle wheat last year, government-to-government agreement appears essential to bring about the required changes.

"A fair marketing system would involve direct negotiations between buyers and sellers and minimal input from governments."

A premium price reward needs to be transferred to WA growers to keep them interested in growing ANW and to offset the higher yield of the latest hard wheat varieties.

"In 1994, I suggested that the price for segregated Noodle wheat from WA should be closer to that for Australian Prime Hard (APH) than Australian Standard White - and it did match APH on a number of occasions," he said.

"APH is the other main wheat type exported to Japan from Australia where it is highly regarded for the manufacture of ramen-style noodles.

"There is still a strong case today, on quality grounds, for ANW wheat to be closer in price to APH than APW. Although the quality requirements for udon-style noodles are different from ramen-style, they are no less exacting."

Dr Crosbie said he believed Noodle wheat had a future in WA and the reputation the State has for producing such a culturally important ingredient should be protected.

Further improvement in quality and identification of other potential markets for Noodle wheat were worthwhile aims for strengthening the Noodle wheat situation, Dr Crosbie said.

GIWA is receiving comment on the future of the Noodle wheat industry and a report examining issues and potential solutions is available online.