Bread Wheat & Animal Feed Wheat

[skint]

I am trying to find out the difference between bread wheat and the far cheaper animal feed wheat. I have some of both and they look the same to me. The animal feed is for chickens before you ask.

Is it that if I milled and made bread out of the animal feed it would

a) Kill me.

b) Not kill me but be somewhat unhealthy. Vermin crap, chemicals or something?

c) Just taste crap.

Paul

 

[Mike Ameling]

Well ... no, it won't kill you.

One of the big differences is in the level of quality control in the growing/harvesting/shipping/processing. Better care is taken with human food (in theory) as to contamination and infestations of bugs and rodents. Plus precautions against mold and rot. Altho, sometimes it seems that they take better care of food for animals.

The other big difference is the nutritional content. Wheat for human food tends to have more glutten content (the stuff that makes bread stick together), and often the wheat germ (nucleous of the wheat seed) is removed from the rest of the grain before being used for flour. Ditto removing the outside hull which people cannot digest. Whole wheat flour has both the wheat germ and the hull ground up into it. The wheat germ also contains various fats/oils. But those fats/oils shorten the shelf-live of flour because they can turn rancid.

So there are some differences in the types of wheat grown for human consumption and for animals. But either will work for you - just some of the nutritional components are different, and how well each works when cooking can vary.

These are just a few simple differences. More knowlegable people can comment further.

Just a few humble thoughts to share. Take them as such.

Mikey - yee ol' grumpy blacksmith out in the Hinterlands

 

[Toddy]

The only differences I am aware of are the size of grain, how much processing it has had and the inclusion of tares (other wild seeds) in the sack.
Sometimes it can be interesting to sow the tares and see just what grows I've had everything from poppies to mustard, lentils to buckwheat and some rather peculiar looking grasses.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Eric_Methven]

I've spoken to farmers who have grown wheat in the past. On a good year, with a good crop, the wheat goes for human consumption. On a poor year with a poorer quality crop, it is sold for animal feed. So it's basically the same, it just depends on how well it grows in any given year. Animal wheat seems to not be cleaned as well as wheat for humans, but if you are milling it yourself, and making your own bread, I'd go ahead. It won't kill you. It hasn't been treated with animal drugs or anything your system cannot ingest. It won't taste crap any more than your normal bread does. Any extraneous seeds milled in with it won't harm you either.

Eric

 

[skint]

Well I have just tried a bit of my first animal feed loaf and can say that neither my wife or me could taste any difference from the other bread we have made. I did check the wheat before grinding for any obvious contaminents. I even forgot to wash it but will make sure that I do in future. LOL.

 

[Toddy]

Under a fiver for a hundredweight of barley at our local (real) Farmer's mart. That's a lotof bere meal for bannocks or beer

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Tengu]

Would it make more traditional flour?

 

[Eric_Methven]

If you are making traditional flour, say, with a quern stone, you're going to get contaminants in it anyway. Stone ground flour had bits of powdered stone in it as a matter of course. The evidence for this can be seen on the teeth of skulls found in ancient graves. The reason many of the teeth were ground down was due to the abrasive content of their staple bread.

Eric

 

[Toddy]

I don't think so, simce grain grown nowadays is all pretty much new varieties whether grown for human or animal consumption.
That said, bere meal, barley flour, is still grown on some of the Scottish islands supposedly from self grown seed and spelt wheat has become incredibly popular recently.

I suppose the answer really depends on what you mean by traditional. In the past a mix of grains was grown in the field so that if one fell to disease or pests then there would still be a crop, and flour would have to be made from the mix of grains.

cheers,
Toddy

 

[Red Kite]

Just being doing some light reading on shroom ID and came across some info which may be relevant.

First up I am no expert and if there is anyone out there who has any info on this please feel free to correct me.

The Ergot fungus is more common on grasses / cereals during poorer (wet) years - the times when poor yields lead to more grain being sold on the animal feed market. Though its favoured host is Rye it will grow on most cereal crops.

This fungus can cause Ergotism (St Anthonys Fire) see link below for details of symptoms etc

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ergotism

Cereals grown for human consumption are screened for this fungus - don't know about animal feeds, but it may be worth checking the grains for any signs of the fruiting bodies, or any sign of reddish powder in the ground flour.

ATB

Stewart