“We developed a variety of soft white winter wheat some of the Michigan farmers are using as part of their agreement with Mondelēz,” says Eric Olson, assistant professor and wheat breeder in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. “MSU’s wheat variety has an excellent flour yield and produces desirable properties like strong gluten that makes a crispy cracker.”
As part of the agreement between Mondelēz and Michigan farmers, the farmers agree to grow wheat — MSU’s and other varieties — and record their crop data. The data includes everything from the seed variety planted, when and how far apart the seeds were planted from one another, how much water and fertilizer was used during the growing season, when the wheat was harvested and how much the crop yielded. Once this data is collected, it is shared with John Whims and Steven Miller, both assistant professors in MSU’s Department of Agriculture, Food and Resource Economics, who analyze the data and summarize the findings.
After the harvest, all the participating Michigan farmers receive a data sheet that shows how their farm’s crop performed compared to other fields in the program.
“The Michigan growers that we work with have been good stewards of the environment and this is reflected in the data we are collecting,” says Whims.
These data reports are also helpful for Mondelēz International.
"There is increasing interest from companies about environmentally responsible agriculture practices," says Dennis Pennington, wheat Extension specialist in the Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences. "Mondelēz is interested in learning how farming practices impact the carbon footprint of products they manufacture."
