FARMER grower groups have acknowledged grain grower frustration at seemingly inconsistent falling number test results but say it remains the best way to test for grain quality following rain.
One of the reasons grain cannot be used in milling following sprouting is that the sprouted grain produces more alpha amylase which is bad for flour quality.
Grain Growers said in an information sheet on the test that it was designed to mimic the way the flour processed from the grain would behave in a bakery.
It does not directly measure alpha amylase, but the changes in the property of the starch, which means it can seem variable.
One of farmers' chief irks with the test is that it can perform markedly differently in the same load, leading to scepticism in the results.
Grain Growers chairman Brett Hosking acknowledged farmers' frustrations but said it at least gave them a chance to get slightly weather impacted grain into a superior classification.
"The standards are nil tolerance on visibly shot grain unless there is a falling numbers test," Mr Hosking said.
"Farmers may feel the test pushes them over the edge and into lower paying categories, but in reality the opposite is true, it gives some that manage to pass the test a chance to extract more value for their grain," he said.
"In that sense it is a good thing for the industry, although, like others, I would love to see a test that is easier to decipher in place while still providing all that critical information the millers and bakers need to be confident they've got a good product."
He said part of the problem was the large margin for error.
"Even in perfect laboratory conditions the variability can be up to 30 seconds, which when you have to have the grain in the test stay up for 300 seconds to make milling grade is a fair difference," he said.
"At a sample stand level that figure could fluctuate even more and it can also vary according to what comes up in the sample probe, so there is no doubt it is a source of frustration."
Growers have also said the test does not take into account superior milling and baking techniques, which allow the industry to extract a workable product from grain with a lower falling numbers reading than was previously possible.
Andrew Weidemann, Grain Producers Australia board member, said there was work going on to develop new tests.
"It's important that we get a test that gives not only end users confidence but growers, the falling numbers test has served us well but there is good progress in other technology which hopefully will soon be able to be developed at a commercial scale," Mr Weidemann said.
"At present there is proof of concept out there but it is still too expensive but costs will come down so that is one to look out for," he said.
Start the day with all the big news in agriculture! Sign up below to receive our daily Farmonline newsletter.