CANADA NORTHERN HARD RED WHEAT CLASS NEW HOME FOR NEARLY 30 VARIETIES

BY TREVOR BACQUE

The Canadian Grain Commission has finalized its controversial decision to reclassify a number of popular wheat varieties.

The “modernization” of the country’s wheat class system was heavily debated, but as of Aug. 1, 2018, 25 Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and four Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) varieties will shift to the Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) class. This new class will have basic milling parameters and require quality data in order to be registered. The class will be established Aug. 1, 2016, but will not take full effect for another two years.

In total, two classes were created, CNHR and Canada Western Special Purpose (CWSP). Included in the CNHR change are well-known CWRS varieties, such as Lillian, Harvest and Unity, while AC Foremost is the biggest name being moved from the CPSR class.

A temporary category, dubbed the Canada Western Interim Wheat class, will host new American varieties Faller, Prosper and Elgin-ND until Aug. 1, 2016. After that date, those varieties will also be absorbed into the CNHR class.

The second, broader CWSP class will have zero quality parameters and will also take effect Aug. 1, 2016. Its makeup will consist of all varieties currently in the Canada Western Feed and Canada Western General Purpose wheat classes.

The initial Aug. 1, 2017, move date for the 29 varieties was changed as a result of strong feedback from industry stakeholders who were concerned the aggressive timeline wouldn’t give farmers and seed distributors enough time to change their plans for the coming growing seasons.

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