You’ve heard the saying, “Too little, too late.” For America’s wheat farmers, 2014 is a year of “Too much, too late.” A deluge of rain after a prolonged drought has led to a significantly lower crop yield and wheat likely to require recipe adjustments.

According to Huifen He, Director of Product Development, Corbion Caravan, bakeries will have to contend with several issues as they start baking with this year’s winter wheat.

“Lower yields often lead to higher protein content that impacts dough water absorption and mixing time,” says He. “To compound the challenges, the heavy rains during harvest time can also contribute to sprout damage that influences the natural enzymes present in the wheat flour. The sprout damage can result in poor baking quality.”

While farmers can’t control the weather, bakers can control ingredients. He says Corbion Caravan helps bakers manage drought-related wheat crop issues with many products, such as Arco Pro Relaxer, a product that contributes to clean label, and LC-5 ASSIST ? both products reduce dough mixing time and improve dough rheology and machinability.

“Given the variety of baked goods impacted by this crop, Corbion Caravan has a number of different products and a Technical Services team that can help customers adjust their recipes and processes to manage 2014 winter wheat flour quality,” He says. “We’re happy to work with customers to determine which product is best suited to their specific needs.”