It’s too early to say whether it’s a good or bad year for falling numbers, a Northwest researcher says.

So far, any problems have appeared to be isolated to variety trial plots in the Walla Walla area, said Camille Steber, a molecular geneticist at the USDA Agricultural Research Service in Pullman, Wash.

She is running tests on susceptible wheat varieties in trials to determine which locations she should completely check. Steber doesn’t have a complete picture yet for any location.

Falling number is a test that measures starch damage in wheat that reduces the quality of baked goods and noodles. In the test, grain inspectors measure the time it takes two pins on a falling number machine to fall through a ground wheat-water slurry, measuring viscosity.

A test result of 300 means it took that many seconds to reach the bottom. The industry standard is 300. The lower the falling number, that more starch damage there is.

One check of a susceptible variety in Walla Walla came in under 200, and “quite a few” were in the 200s. This is likely due to late-maturity alpha amylase, or LMA, an enzyme required for wheat germination.

“We had quite a lot of fluctuation in temperature this year, and that can always cause problems,” Steber said.

Steber also reported “mild” problems in susceptible variety checks near Connell and Moses Lake, with readings just below 300. This is a range that can be blended away, she said.

No problems were detected in the Horse Heaven Hills or Dusty, Wash., she said.

She expects data soon on samples from St. John, Lamont and Dayton.

Results will depend on the wheat variety, she said.

It all depends on whether wheat was at the “soft dough” stage of grain-filling when temperatures dropped, and thus susceptible to LMA.

“The farmer capable of judging when his crop is at the soft dough stage will have a pretty good feeling whether or not he has to worry about a cold snap,” she said.

“The quality we’ve seen this year is the best we’ve seen in years,” said Paul Katovich, CEO of HighLine Grain Growers. “Doesn’t mean we don’t have pockets that have some problems, but we’ve managed through that most years.”

Wheat with a low falling number can be used as feed for livestock or blended with wheat with a higher falling number, he said.

Elevators work to make sure wheat meets the quality specifications of overseas customers, Katovich said.

Katovich is unaware of any growers receiving a discounted price for their wheat because of falling number.

Harvest is in its final quarter and could last for a few more weeks, Katovich said.

Because of the need for social distancing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Steber’s lab can only have two people working at a time, down from a maximum of eight.

Some workers are taking morning or evening shifts, and some are working weekends.

Testing will happen more slowly than it normally would, she said.