Great Plains Analytical Laboratory, Cereal Ingredients Inc. and their CEO Robert Hatch have committed a $100,000 donation to the Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation in support of impactful wheat research.

The gift will be directed toward ongoing research aimed at developing wheat varieties that result in high-quality baked goods. Hatch is the chairman and CEO of Cereal Ingredients Inc., a specialty food ingredients manufacturer he founded in 1990, and CEO of Great Plains Analytical Laboratory, an analytical laboratory founded as a response to a need in the grain, flour, baking and food industries for a high level of service, response time and expertise.

The Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation differs from the wheat checkoff. While the checkoff does fund wheat research, it also is used for marketing, promotion and education. Donations to the Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation will be used only for wheat research.

Through its Fields Forward fundraising campaign, the Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation is raising funds further wheat research efforts led by K-State faculty that increase the profitability of farmers while improving the quality of wheat for millers, bakers and consumers. 

"We greatly appreciate this support of the wheat and baking industries by Great Plains Analytical Laboratory, Cereal Ingredients Inc., and Robert Hatch," says Ron Suppes, chairman of the KWC Research Foundation. "For many years, Mr. Hatch has demonstrated his passion for increasing the quality of wheat as a food ingredient."

Recent technological breakthroughs in wheat genetics research will allow for accelerated delivery of high-value traits to market. In 2017, the reference map of the bread wheat genome was completed by a consortium of international scientists. This new map, in conjunction with emerging technologies like gene editing, will assist in identification and integrations of high-quality end-use traits into new wheat varieties. This gift will be used to help support this research.

"The team conducting this research includes some of the brightest scientists in the wheat research community," says Aaron Harries, vice president of research and operations for the Kansas Wheat Commission. "Depending on the discoveries made, this project has the potential to revolutionize the way farmers grow wheat for added value."

The Kansas Wheat Commission Research Foundation was established in 2011 as the official research fundraising organization for the Kansas Wheat Commission. Chartered by the state of Kansas as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit research corporation, it is an independent entity that is separate from KWC. While the wheat checkoff does fund wheat research, it is also used for marketing, promotion and education. Tax-deductible gifts made to the research foundation are used solely for the purpose of funding wheat research.

Great Plains Analytical Laboratory Inc. is a privately held, employee-owned, analytical laboratory founded in 1993 as a response to a need in the grain, flour, baking and food industries for a high level of service, response time and expertise. In 2012, the lab moved from its original location to a much larger facility with an increased emphasis in food safety, and in 2015, the lab completed a multi-million-dollar expansion of its microbiology lab.

Source: Kansas Wheat, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.