Nutrition overdirve

In September 2025, a team led by Kevin Murphy of the Washington State University (WSU) Breadlab was notified of a successful application for nontraditional research and Extension support from the Washington Research Foundation (WRF), a Seattle-based private foundation founded in 1981 that “envisions Washington state research institutions delivering innovations that transform our lives.”

We are currently several months into a new five-year, $19 million project to lay the groundwork for new product and market opportunities. This effort is a collaboration between WSU-based wheat and barley scientists; soil scientists; wheat quality and food science product development faculty; human digestive-system biologists and food epidemiologists; and University of Washington food science, nutrition, and policy scientists, with both financial support and collaboration from the Washington Grain Commission, the Washington Pulse Crop Commission, USA Dry Pea & Lentil Council, The Land Institute, Port of Skagit, MGP Ingredients Inc., Brabender/Anton Paar, American Heart Association,
Rockefeller Foundation, and the Meter Group.

Of the $19 million, $10 million comes from WRF, with the additional $9 million in matching funds coming from a combination of in-kind and cash contributions from the institutions mentioned above, WSU, and the University of Washington.

We aim to develop new and novel nutritionally enhanced varieties while improving agronomic and nutrient management information and eventually increasing the availability and accessibility of these grains and grain-based food products. For Eastern Washington grain growers, this means systematic measurement and tracking of the flow of nutrients from our test plot fields to initial quality selections and eventually, large-scale production to human consumption.

The Washington Grain Commission’s long-term support of WSU’s variety testing program (VTP), U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Western Wheat Quality Lab (WWQL), and wheat breeding programs features heavily in these plans, and we have now started systematic measurement of both beneficial mineral nutrients and other nutritionally relevant aspects of grain from a plant and human nutrition perspective and undesirable heavy metal levels in both soil samples and harvested grain samples from VTP and breeding plot work across the region.

A 2025 field tour of winter wheat variety trials by Pacific Northwest wheat researchers and industry in Pullman, Wash. The research team holds regular meetings to coordinate research and Extension activities and communicate among state and regional efforts.

WSU’s Variety Testing Program, WWQL Cultivar Development Manager Alecia Kiszonas, and soil scientist Shikha Singh at the Lind Dryland Research Station, are leading the charge to better understand our soil and grain mineral dynamics. Because some of the most important changes in grain composition, including mineral contents, oils, fiber, and antioxidants, are variable among varieties and selectable by plant breeders, WSU grains breeders, Bob Brueggeman, Arron Carter, Kim Garland-Campbell, and Mike Pumphrey, are working in concert with soil and cereal scientists like Girish Ganjyal, Emily Klarquist, and Amber Hauvermale to characterize and improve the grain nutritional composition in new varieties. Royalty income generated from current WSU commercial varieties was reinvested in this effort to provide some of the matching funds for this expanded breeding effort.

Although certainly only for specialty food uses, new, improved genetic material for blue wheat is available, which elevates antioxidant concentrations. This image shows what no blue allele, versus up to three copies of the blue allele looks like.

The expanded research team will collectively evaluate nutrient-dense crop varieties for key indicators of human health and consumer acceptability, followed by epidemiologic and economic research that focuses on community and population-level impacts of the foods produced. Promising existing and newly developed crop varieties with enhanced health and nutritional traits will be developed into nutritious, flavorful, and affordable food products.

Washington grain growers are uniquely positioned with sophisticated seed production and grain handling systems, the ability to grow winter and spring versions of cereal crops, diverse production areas, well established research teams, and close relationships with research, Extension, and private sector supporters. As we have in the past 130 years, we will continue to work with our industry partners and, broadly, with our stakeholders to develop food products to add value to a more resilient grain system in the future. Perhaps the greatest limitation to many value-added specialty grain products has been their lack of inclusion in high-octane research programs.

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