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Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an analytical technique that uses no chemicals, gives accurate and precise results in minutes or even continuously, is capable of simultaneous analysis for several constituents, simple to install, and 100 % safe to use. Its introduction to the cereal industry came in 1976, when the Canadian Grain Commission switched from Kjeldahl to NIRS for testing the protein content of carloads of CWRS wheat for the segregation of wheat on the basis of guaranteed protein content for marketing their multi-billion dollar wheat inventory. Applications to the flour-milling industry happened soon after. The NIRS ash test takes about one minute, and protein and moisture contents can be determined at the same time, whereas even the “rapid” ash reference test (AACCI Approved Method 8-02.01) takes at least 2.5 hours, and is less precise than the NIRS method. The NIRS system can be set up for continuous monitoring of these three constituents. A network of 2 or more instruments can be used to monitor flour production in the mill, all controlled from a single desk-top or lap-top computer. Excellent NIRS predictions of quality factors in flour are presented, with r2 values ranging from 0.88 (ash) to 0.98+ (protein and moisture). The paper describes results of application of several chemometric approaches to the prediction of wheat quality in whole grain. Quality factors were protein content, test weight, kernel texture (particle size index, or PSI), and Farinograph water absorption, dough development time (DDT) and mixing tolerance index (MTI). But dependable predictions of gluten strength in whole grains by NIRS, in terms of physico-chemical dough properties, have so far proved to be elusive.