Jock Binnie has encountered enough crop varieties touted as the 'next big thing' to sense that Arista wheat is worth investing in. Photo: Andy Wilson
A Japanese market hungering for high-fibre flour is driving the introduction of a new wheat variety which has been sown on Victorian farms as part of a second and larger crop being exported to Japan.
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Arista is a wheat which has been bred in Australia by conventional methods and has the potential to ward off bowel cancer and Type 2 diabetes.
Bungeet wheat farmer Jock Binnie spent a quiet late-May twilight inspecting his newly sown crop of Arista, which now stands at 10cm tall in emerald-green rows.
The Binnie farm is one of seven in north-east Victoria that are part of the wheat variety’s second season.
For Jock, sensible scrutiny of the trial was necessary, as it is not the first time the fifth-generation farm has come across something considered revolutionary.
Such thoughtful analysis has given the trial crop its credibility.
“We’ve been through a lot of these sorts of things,” Jock said.
“They are going to be the next big thing and then they fizzle out, but we are pretty confident with this one.
“We are trusting in the positives with this and there’s not a lot of negatives.”
One positive for the scheme is a guaranteed export price.
“We are excited about being able to lock in that higher price and have that bit of control over the market,” Jock said.
“And it allows us to diversify our market as well.
“We have our usual domestic and export crop, but this is just another avenue we can go down.”
The high-amylose grain has been developed by Arista Cereal Technologies, a company formed by CSIRO after 16 years of collaboration with Grains Research and Development Corporation and the French company Limagrain Céréales Ingrédients.
Amylose is one of the two carbohydrates that make up starch which is one type of dietary fibre.
Conventional wheat varieties have an amylose composition of 20 to 30 per cent.
The amylose content of Arista wheat is an unprecedented 85 per cent.
High amylose content allows for more ‘resistant starch’ in the diet.
Such starch ‘resists’ being digested in the small intestine and is retained until reaching the bowel where its fibre properties help resist bowel cancer.
Resistant starch can also help combat Type 2 diabetes.
A Japanese flour mill has been conducting trial work on the grain and has ordered 8000 tonnes to be grown this season.
The Binnie’s farm is one of the producers which has been asked to take up this supply.
Farm Trade Australia director David Matthews said the approach used to develop the new wheat variety meant it was not catering to a niche market.
“This will grow,” David said.
“When you have such a high-fibre wheat which reduces Type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer, then you know that this will grow.”
The first 500 tonnes of Arista wheat being prepared for export to Japan in February. Farm Trade Australia director David Matthews said another 620 tonnes would be shipped in June.
Jock said the decision to grow the wheat came down to David being frank about the yield.
“David has laid out the risks for us; and it’s only if we don’t make spec with really damaged wheat that we will be affected,” he said.
“Potentially we know this variety has a little less yield than our conventional wheat, and if it yields that little bit less and we get weather damage then we’ve effectively copped just bit a of a hit on yield for something we can then sell onto the domestic market.”
Jock points to one of the farm’s six 1350 tonne silos.
“David and the Japanese importers have really emphasised wanting very hygienic people to grow it, so we are dedicating a silo to this.
“We are very clean with our seeders and headers and with segregation from other varieties.
“The effort you need to go to in ensuring this, makes the price justified.”
Jock’s understanding of the dietary science behind Arista underlies a confidence that matches that of the variety’s developers.
“We are really excited to be a part of this project and we think it will even take off in Australia and other parts of the world.”
