Rethinking the Wheat Value Chain
The wheat value chain is facing significant challenges: requirements regarding sustainability and quality must be met simultaneously – across all stages from field to baked goods. Isolated solutions are no longer sufficient. Instead, integrated approaches are required that take into account the diversity of the actors involved and their different challenges, thereby enabling a forward‑looking and sustainable development. This is where the DLG Feldtage 2026 trade fair come in: with the DLG Spotlight “Wheat Value Chain”, visitors can experience the entire value chain – practical, interactive and in direct exchange with experts. These visiting crop professionals will gain a compact overview of current issues and receive valuable impulses for the future of quality wheat.
In Germany, the wheat value chain is undergoing a structural transformation driven by two central – and partly interrelated – objectives: sustainability and quality. However, these requirements do not act in isolation; rather, they interact across the entire chain from field to baked product, creating increasingly tangible trade‑offs at almost every stage.
The debate on sustainability is to a large extent shaped by the European Union’s climate policy objectives, in particular within the framework of the European Green Deal and the Farm‑to‑Fork strategy. At the same time, quality requirements continue to be defined by market standards, food law regulations, and the expectations of retailers and consumers. The wheat sector therefore operates within a field of tension between climate change, regulatory restrictions, market requirements and technological adjustment processes, making an integrated view of the entire value chain essential.
Arable Farming
At the agricultural production stage, farmers are increasingly confronted with extreme climate events, including heat waves, drought stress in spring and early summer, and heavy rainfall during the grain filling and harvest phases. For wheat cultivation, this results in greater variability in yields and quality parameters such as crude protein content, falling numbers and sedimentation values.
Fertiliser regulation is the central instrument for limiting nutrient losses from nitrogen and phosphate use, but continues to remain controversial in practice. Nitrogen is, however, a key factor influencing the protein content of wheat grain, which in turn is decisive for baking quality. While reduced nitrogen application can contribute to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, under current quality wheat requirements it carries the risk of declining protein levels and thus adversely affecting baking performance. Site‑specific management measures and digital solutions for nitrogen supply, enabling more targeted and efficient fertilization of wheat crops, help to mitigate this conflict. Nevertheless, balancing environmental relief with stable quality remains a major challenge.
Additional restrictions arise in crop protection as a result of European plant protection legislation and the goal of reducing chemical‑synthetic inputs. Diseases such as fusarium head blight affect not only yields but also mycotoxin contamination of the harvested crop. A reduced fungicide strategy may be justified from a sustainability perspective, but under certain weather conditions it increases the risk of elevated DON levels, potentially leading to food‑law consequences. Quality assurance therefore begins in the field and requires integrated crop protection management combining resistant varieties, crop rotation design and precise application technologies.
Harvest and Agricultural Trade
During the harvest phase, challenges are intensified by increasingly extreme weather conditions. Heavy rainfall during the harvest period leads to delayed maturity and increased grain moisture. Excessive moisture requires energy‑intensive drying processes that increase both costs and CO₂ emissions. A study by the RKL (Rationalisation Board for Agriculture) and Kiel University of Applied Sciences, for example, shows that grain drying systems on arable farms in Schleswig‑Holstein are highly inefficient in terms of specific energy consumption and CO₂ emissions. The systems could save around 30% of energy, yet investment is required for almost all grain drying facilities.
At the same time, varietal purity must be maintained, as mixed batches can impair downstream milling and baking quality. Precise batch separation, however, requires additional logistical effort that is often difficult to implement under the time pressure of harvest.
Milling Industry
The milling industry, together with agricultural trade, acts as a key link between primary production and the baking industry and is tasked with compensating for climate‑induced quality fluctuations. The technological challenge lies in producing a standardised end product with defined baking properties from heterogeneous raw material qualities. To this end, different batches are blended, analysed and adjusted through targeted milling strategies. Variations in protein content, protein composition or gluten quality must be offset through coordinated blending, which is only possible if a sufficient diversity of qualities is available. In years with uniformly low protein levels, the scope for action is limited.
At the same time, the milling industry is under considerable pressure to reduce energy consumption and emissions. Milling is an energy‑intensive process, and against the backdrop of rising energy prices and climate policy targets, many companies are investing in energy‑efficient drive technologies, heat recovery systems and process optimisation.
Baking Industry
In the baking industry, requirements for reproducible product quality, energy efficiency and resource conservation converge. Large industrial bakeries operate highly automated lines where dough processing, fermentation times and baking processes are precisely controlled. Fluctuations in flour quality can lead to altered dough properties, requiring adjustments to processing parameters. Baking itself is also energy‑intensive, and according to the German Bakers’ Confederation, energy‑intensive production companies currently lack reliable planning and investment security.
Food Retail
Food retailing increasingly demands transparency across the entire value chain. Carbon footprints, sustainability reports and proof of origin are becoming competitive factors. Reporting standards under the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) mean that upstream stages must also provide robust data. At the same time, price pressure remains high, as consumers may support sustainability in principle but show limited willingness to accept significant price premiums
DLG Spotlight “Wheat Value Chain”
The challenges surrounding the wheat value chain are becoming increasingly complex. Between sustainability, quality, climate change and rising market requirements, individual measures are no longer sufficient. What is needed are holistic, systemic approaches that integrate all stages from field to finished product. This results in a structural challenge across the entire value chain: sustainability requirements, market mechanisms and willingness to pay do not always develop in parallel and therefore require active coordination and engagement by all actors involved.
This is precisely where DLG Feldtage 2026 come in. The DLG Spotlight “Wheat Value Chain” makes the entire value chain tangible – clearly illustrated, interactive and practice‑oriented. The spotlight invites participants to rethink value creation together and to better understand interdependencies. Expert discussions, practical formats and interactive elements demonstrate how agriculture, processing and trade can jointly develop solutions. From seed to bread, visitors gain insights into shared challenges and solution approaches across the chain. Anyone who wants to actively help shape the future of quality wheat will find inspiration, dialogue and concrete practical approaches here.