From Grain Quality to Grain Value
Exploring when that variation can become actionable and potentially create value through single-kernel sorting.
If a grain batch is a population of individual kernels rather than one uniform quality, a second question follows naturally: does the variation inside that population ever matter enough to be worth separating?
Commercially, the answer is sometimes. Not every batch contains a meaningful split between kernel populations, and variation only creates an opportunity when the resulting fractions have a useful destination and sufficient combined value. But when variation is tied to quality, safety or suitability for a specific use, measuring and separating individual kernels can turn an invisible distribution into something actionable.
Variation alone is not value. Value appears only when different fractions can be used differently.
A demonstrated example
One concrete illustration comes from wheat affected by Fusarium head blight. Research from the University of Saskatchewan examined wheat lots downgraded because of Fusarium damage. At the individual-kernel level, crude protein correlated strongly with both Fusarium-damaged kernels and deoxynivalenol, or DON. Removing a limited share of the lowest-protein kernels significantly reduced Fusarium damage and DON in the grain that remained.
A follow-up study tested BoMill's single-kernel sorting technology using earlier-generation equipment. Starting with wheat containing 6 to 15 mg/kg DON, the researchers recovered 46% to 69% of the grain weight into a fraction with DON reduced to 1.3 to 3.0 mg/kg.
The result is important, but so are its limits. Recovery varied with calibration and starting contamination, and the work was carried out at pilot scale rather than at full commercial throughput. It is evidence of what was demonstrated in those trials, not a typical or guaranteed BoMill performance figure.
From one batch to two useful decisions
The study illustrates a broader principle. A lot treated as one downgraded batch was shown to contain distinguishable kernel populations. Measuring at the individual-kernel level made it possible to separate those populations rather than treating the entire lot according to one average result.
That does not make BoMill primarily a solution for Fusarium or mycotoxins. The example matters because it demonstrates the logic of single-kernel sorting with measured results: variation can sometimes be identified, separated and directed differently.
A wider principle than one example
The same commercial question appears wherever grain value depends on a specification. Protein in milling wheat is a clear example. Market data from AHDB shows that meeting protein specifications can carry a substantial premium, while the share of a crop meeting those specifications can vary considerably between seasons.
That market evidence does not prove that protein sorting will create value in every batch. It shows why the distribution underneath an average can matter. Whether separating a batch by protein produces additional value depends on the grain itself, the specification, the yield and quality of each fraction, and what those fractions are worth in the relevant market.
What this does, and does not, mean
Not every batch hides value waiting to be recovered, and measuring and separating individual kernels will not make economic sense in every case. The opportunity has to be demonstrated for the specific grain and application.
But once variation inside a batch can be measured rather than represented only by an average, a more precise question becomes possible: not just what is the average quality of this grain, but what does it actually contain, and is any of it worth treating differently?
That is the shift from grain quality to grain value.
Sources
Kautzman, M. E., Wickstrom, M. L. & Scott, T. A. (2015). Animal Nutrition, 1(1), 41–46. University of Saskatchewan research using earlier-generation BoMill technology; BoMill supplied equipment and technical support.
Taylor, M. E. & Newkirk, R. W. (2023). World Mycotoxin Journal, 16. University of Saskatchewan pilot-scale study using earlier-generation BoMill single-kernel sorting technology. DOI: 10.3920/WMJ2021.2751.
AHDB. Grain Market Daily reporting on UK milling wheat protein specification compliance and premiums. Used as market context, not as evidence of a protein-sorting outcome.
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