PULLMAN, Wash. — In the large team of Northwest researchers seeking solutions for low falling number in wheat, Amber Hauvermale leads efforts to develop a new rapid test.

Hauvermale points to “huge steps forward” made last summer. The goal is to have beta tests of the new equipment in the laboratory and at key locations this summer.

“From the standpoint of the industry, any step forward with improvement in tools that helps them make decisions faster, in a reliable, accurate way, is going to help them in terms of crop performance, delivery and export,” said Hauvermale, an assistant professor at Washington State University.

Wheat with a low falling number has starch damage and is sold at a discount because it reduces the quality of baked goods and noodles.

Farmers were caught off guard in 2016 when 44% of soft white wheat samples and 42% of club wheat samples tested below 300, the industry standard. The starch damage that year cost farmers an estimated $30 million in lower wheat prices.

Causes are pre-harvest sprouting when cool, rainy weather occurs before harvest or late maturity alpha amylase, which occurs because of cold weather during grain filling.

As a seed physiologist, Hauvermale is “really interested” in the falling number problem. She doesn’t see it going away.

She’s “eager and invested” to provide solutions for farmers who grow food.

“I’ve always gravitated toward things that occur at the boundaries between different types of research, that have impact,” she said. “Not just simply doing science for the sake of doing science, but doing science for the sake of something more meaningful and impactful.”

The project received a three-year $835,000 grant from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research.

“I trust Amber to do high-quality research,” said Camille Steber, USDA molecular geneticist. “Amber has done a great job coordinating efforts among multiple researchers and industry partners within the FFAR project. She has kept her sense of humor while keeping many things going at once.”

That involves working closely with industry partner Envirologix while calibrating the new rapid test, Steber said.

“Amber has done a great job of communicating with Envirologix to make sure that they understand the science (and) the needs of elevators and of growers in the Pacific Northwest,” Steber said.

Seed dormancyHauvermale earned her doctorate at WSU, studying seed dormancy and germination at a molecular level.

“It’s really important for understanding the timing of when seeds germinate — when they have issues, they’re germinating at the wrong time,” she said.

She wants to study the history of seed dormancy and germination, tracking interesting traits through time.

In addition to falling numbers, she’s collaborating with breeder Kevin Murphy to identify more dormant lines of quinoa.

Where wheat researchers are trying to reduce seed dormancy, to improve stand establishment and early germination, “we have the opposite problem in quinoa,” she said.

Quinoa has virtually no seed dormancy, making pre-harvest sprouting “a huge, huge, huge, huge problem in that crop,” she said.

Barley breeders also face pre-harvest sprouting. Varieties are bred for low dormancy for increased vigor for brewmaking, but rain and other types of weather cause a problem in the field, Hauvermale said.

“I’m curious to know whether or not some of the downstream methodology for brewing barley can be modified in a way more dormant varieties can be used,” she said.

Grower inputWSU Extension will release a publication this year summarizing falling number, helping farmers better understand when weather fluctuations are problematic.

Hauvermale and USDA research biologist Alison Thompson recently interviewed 18 farmers to fill gaps in their information. They want to hear from more, Hauvermale said.

“We are very interested in understanding their problem from their perspective, and getting that historic grower knowledge,” Hauvermale said. “We really, really, really need input from growers.”

Amber Hauvermale

Title: Associate professor, Washington State University

Age: 49

Hometown: Born in Tuscon, Ariz.; grew up in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Current location: Colfax, Wash.

Education: Bachelor’s degree in biology, University of Denver; master’s degree in biochemistry and molecular biology, University of Colorado; doctorate in molecular plant sciences, Washington State University; post-doctoral work managing weed seed banks at WSU

Family: Father is a retired crop duster pilot and mother is a goldsmith. Partner Don Scheurman is co-founder of Palouse Heritage Farm and partner in the Grain Shed.

Hobbies: “In my spare time, I’m a fiddle player. I played violin classically for decades, and got into old-timey fiddle music about 10 years ago.”

Website: https://smallgrains.wsu.edu/ffar

Amber Hauvermale and Alison Thompson want to hear from growers about their falling number experiences.

Amber Hauvermale: ahauvermale@wsu.edu

Alison Thompson, USDA research geneticist: alison.thompson@usda.gov