UK agriculture set a new time record from field to plate
A new unofficial world record of just 15 minutes and 27 seconds to produce 13 loaves from field to plate was set in Essex on Friday August, 7.
The record attempt saw freshly combined Skyfall wheat turned into a baker’s dozen of 1lb loaves over a minute quicker than the official world record of 16 minutes 30.83 seconds set in New South Wales, Australia, in January 2013.
Organized by agronomy company ProCam and seed breeders RAGT at RAGT’s wheat breeding station at Ickeleton, near Saffron Waldron, the attempt will now be submitted to Guinness World Records for consideration.
“It’s a bit of fun really, but there is a serious message behind it in reminding people of the closeness of the link between our countryside and the food they eat,” says ProCam technical director and chief baker for the day Dr. Tudor Dawkins.
“At another level, it focuses the mind on the considerable effort now going into crop production thinking and technology to help growers produce crops that meet the precise needs of consumers in the most cost-effective and sustainable manner possible for the future.”
The new group one wheat variety Skyfall was chosen because of its yield, quality and milling properties with ProCam agronomist Drummond Scrase involved in the key agronomy decisions to ensure optimum crop specification and maturity for the attempt.
On the day, standing crop was combined and the resulting grain milled, made into a soda-based dough and then oven baked. The process was officially observed by Dr. Sarah Cook from ADAS.
Skyfall originates from RAGT’s northern European wheat breeding program and is considered to be a breakthrough milling wheat variety by many in the sector, thanks to its very high yields of high quality grain.
Early indications in its first commercial harvest showed Skyfall was living up to its billing.
Arrangements are now been made to submit video footage of the process with timings so the attempt can be formally considered for a new world record.