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Episode transcription:
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Drew Lyon: Hello, welcome to the WSU Wheat Beat podcast. I’m your host, Drew Lyon, and I want to thank you for joining me as we explore the world of small grains production and research at Washington State University. In each episode, I speak with researchers from WSU and the USDA-ARS to provide you with insights into the latest research on wheat and barley production.
If you enjoy the WSU Wheat Beat podcast, do us a favor and subscribe on iTunes or your favorite podcast app and leave us a review so others can find the show too.
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My guest today is Anna Carroll. Anna is a graduate student in the Crop and Soil Science program at Washington State University. She has a B.S. from Eastern Washington University in environmental science with a biology emphasis. Currently, she is a graduate research assistant working under Dr. Amber Hauvermale on the Foundation for Food and Agricultural Research Project, also known as the FFAR project, which is developing an immunoassay rapid test to assess low falling numbers in wheat grain. Anna is involved in validation of the assay through testing and data analysis, as well as outreach and extension efforts.
Hello, Anna.
Anna Carroll: Hello, Drew.
Drew Lyon: So, what brings you to WSU and Pullman and how long have you been here?
Anna Carroll: I am here to pursue my master’s in crop science. I am working under Dr. Amber Hauvermale and I’m on an assistantship through the FFAR grant. I moved here in early July and I’ve been having a fun whirlwind of a time getting up to speed on everything.
Drew Lyon: Okay. Yes, FFAR is a big federal program that tries to match federal dollars with private industry’s dollars, so it’s a collaboration between universities and public entities and private entities. What’s your role in the FFAR project?
Anna Carroll: I have my hands in a couple different objectives of the project. I have two kind of main roles. The first one is helping with validation and data analysis. We have a lot of samples coming in from our various partners and we are processing them, gathering that data, analyzing to see what’s working, what needs improvement. And my second role is in helping with the extension and outreach portion, so getting information out to stakeholders and to people that we hope will adopt the new method when it’s ready. And that’s something that you and I will be collaborating on as well pretty soon here.
Drew Lyon: Yeah, I look forward to that.
So, these samples coming in are grain samples, I assume, from this year’s harvest across eastern Washington and you or your team is analyzing them for low falling number? Or what are you analyzing the samples for?
Anna Carroll: Yeah. As the samples come in, we are running a falling number on them the traditional way, either in-house or through the WSDA up in Colfax. And then we are also running our new quick scan on them and we’re currently comparing those and pulling samples aside that are coming up with strange results or where one test or the other is showing a higher or lower number to do a little bit more in depth, we’re running some deeper analysis on some of those samples.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, you’re trying to see how—what is it the Hagberg-Perten–what the current falling number tests says with this new immunoassay quick scan, you’re calling it?
Anna Carroll: Correct.
Drew Lyon: And, how far along are you in that process?
Anna Carroll: So, we have the quick scan in our lab. We’ve had a research and development model of it since late July, so we’re in the pilot-testing phase of it, which is a step and a half or so before beta testing. So, we’re testing a lot of samples, like I mentioned before, and comparing those results. So, right now we’re compiling all of that data as it comes in and [we’re] sharing it with the developers at EnviroLogix so that they can continue to improve and hone the results of that.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, EnviroLogix, who else are you collaborating with and where are the samples coming from?
Anna Carroll: So, it is a pretty widespread effort. So, we do have a lot of collaborators, including Highline Grain Growers, the McGregor Company, the Wheat Marketing Center, and most of our samples at the moment are coming in from the McGregor Company and from the variety trials here at WSU.
Drew Lyon: Are you the only ones that have the quick scan device or do other people have it and they’re working on it now? Or is the beta test happening next year and not this year?
Anna Carroll: So, just to bring back, we are in pilot testing right now, which is we’re not quite to beta testing, so we’re still going to be a little while before that. We have an R&D model, I believe that the Wheat Marketing Center also has one, and there is one at Highline Grain Growers as well, I believe–though it has been Dr. Hauvermale who has been the one using that in collaboration with them.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, what’s an element of this project that you find the most challenging or perhaps the most interesting or both?
Anna Carroll: Yeah, something I hadn’t anticipated in learning about the project before coming on board with it is in the outreach and extension element of it, everyone who has been developing and testing this quick scan so far has been pretty deeply involved in science and with a science background. And so, realizing that some of the steps and processes in this new system can be intimidating or can be challenging to someone without a science background.
And so, one thing that we are working on as we are doing this pilot testing is thinking through ways that while this is still in development, the process can be simplified, demystified, and make it much more accessible to people who are coming from a variety of backgrounds and not just someone who has a scientific background. So, that’s something that we are working on brainstorming.
And then we hope to be bringing in multiple people, including laypeople, to test out the reader and to give feedback as to what steps are easy, what steps are difficult, how are the instructions working for you, not working for you, that type of thing–so that when we are finally ready to launch the commercial model, it’s something that people are going to want to use and feel comfortable using.
Drew Lyon: Okay. How do you see that playing out over the next six months or a year, this getting people used to the tool and understanding how it works?
Anna Carroll: We’re still brainstorming that in our lab. I’m not the one in charge of deciding, like, when that happens, but I believe that there was an event in November or December that we were talking about finding a way to start working on that.
Drew Lyon: Okay. So, something for our listeners to look forward to if they have interest in this particular project. And maybe we can put some information on that on the Small Grains website, smallgrains.wsu.edu, or on the FFAR project page. We’ll see if we can get some links put into our show notes.
Are you involved in any other projects and how do they tie in with better understanding what factors impact falling numbers?
Anna Carroll: Yeah, I’m involved in a couple other projects here while I’m working on my thesis. We just began a trial with Dr. Hauvermale, Allison Thompson, and Alecia Kiszonas where we are taking a look at if falling number changes over time and if quality of performance of the wheat changes over time in various–so at room temperature over six months to a year, is that going to change? Is it going to improve or is it going to worsen? And also, in cold storage. So, we’ll be taking a look at that.
And then, I am also as part of my thesis going to be taking a look at a possible connection between falling number and soil health in collaboration with Surendra Singh up at the [Lind] Dryland Research Station. I am going to be taking samples from some of their crop rotation trials, biosolids trials, and be taking a look at any differences between the treatment groups.
Drew Lyon: Okay. Well, it sounds like you have a very interesting program coming forward. This whole falling numbers thing has been a huge issue in the Pacific Northwest, and it sounds like we’re starting to get some handle on it and getting a quicker test–one that could be carried out at elevators, which I think is the plan for this quick scan to get it out in people’s hands where they could quickly decide whether they have to segregate the wheat or not segregate the wheat based on falling numbers. That will be a great tool if it’s able to come about. So, I wish you a great deal of luck in making that effort work because I think the wheat industry in Washington would be well-served by that technology.
Anna Carroll: Thank you very much.
Drew Lyon: Thanks for coming on, Anna.
Anna Carroll: Thanks for having me.
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Thanks for joining us and listening to the WSU Wheat Beat podcast. If you like what you hear don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review on iTunes or your favorite podcast app. If you have questions or topics you’d like to hear on future episodes, please email me at drew.lyon — that’s lyon@wsu.edu — (drew.lyon@wsu.edu). You can find us online at smallgrains.wsu.edu and on Facebook and Twitter [X] @WSUSmallGrains. The WSU Wheat Beat podcast is a production of CAHNRS Communications and the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences at Washington State University.
I’m Drew Lyon, we’ll see you next time.
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The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed by guests of this podcast are their own and does not imply Washington State University’s endorsement.