Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 7658 IREC Farmers' Newsletter No. 195 ­ – Rice R&D 2016 Mark Talbot, Laura Pallas and Peter Snell NSW Department of Primary Industries, Yanco Agricultural Institute G RAIN cracking (also known as ‘suncracking’ or ‘fissuring’) is thought to be related to changes in grain moisture content, particularly cycles of grain drying and wetting. For example, hot sunny days followed by humid or dewy nights, or rain falling on dry grain, can lead to cracks. Downed or lodged crops are also prone to moisture fluctuation as they generate their own micro-environment due to the proximity of the grain to the ground. Cracks can also form after harvest, during storage, milling and transportation, dependent on grain moisture content, rate of grain drying and fluctuations in temperature, and humidity levels at the various stages. The susceptibility of grains to cracking increases as the grain is processed from paddy to brown to white. Why look at grain cracking? Cracking can be a significant problem as most cracked grains break up during milling, reducing payments to the grower and processor. A high content of broken grain also results in mushy cooked rice due to the leaching of starch from the exposed crack surfaces during cooking. Such grain breakage can be exacerbated by storage time leading to some clientele opting out of Australian grown rice (generally older than six months in storage) and sourcing northern hemisphere markets for ‘fresher’ raw product between rice seasons. In some growing seasons, rice grain is susceptible to forming fine cracks, mostly after the grains have matured in the field. QUICK TAKE l  Grain cracking is a hidden risk to the acceptability of Australian-grown short-grain rice in current markets. l  ‘Hanasaki' is a historical method of assessing the potential of rice grain cracking during cooking. l  The work reported in this article shows that nitrogen, variety and sowing date can influence the extent of cracking, within a season, in stored grain. l  An automated method of quantifying fissures will help future research to target areas of agronomy, variety selection and post-harvest handling to maximise grower returns. CRACK FORMATION IN RICE GRAINS l Grain cracking is thought to be related to changes in grain moisture content. It can be a significant problem as most cracked grains break during milling, reducing payments to the grower and processor. Photo: SUNRICE