Grainswest - Winter 2026

Winter 2026 Grains West 6 Theworld loveswhitebread IN A STORY ENTITLED, “VEGGIE BURGER NATION,” THE Globe and Mail recently examined plant-based burger trends. It noted the fast food industry has experimented with meat-free patties that taste and smell like meat, but carnivore customers, though willing to have a taste, generally prefer actual meat. The industry has turned away from development of perfectly meat- like non-meat substitutes. Though these faux meats remain part of the picture, the industry has turned its food engineering attention to the betterment of the veggie burger. No surprise, Canadian vegetarians don’t crave a meat-like burger experience. Another truth about burgers, veggie or otherwise, is that they are served the world over on a white bun. The deliciousness and wholesomeness of whole grains have powered their return to the North American diet in recent years. Nonetheless, white bread endures on its own charms. As with burgers, white bread is a preferred component of many restaurant dishes. The Vietnamese sub ( banh mi ) is a sta- ple of Alberta’s many Vietnamese restaurants. Filled with beef, chicken, cold cuts or tofu, they are best on a freshly toasted, white baguette. Southern barbecue, popularized in Texas and savoured across the continent, is often served with plain, white bread slices. An edible tool, they sop up sauce, grip the meat and deliver a hit of nicely textured carb that supports the savoury beef brisket or pulled pork that are the stars of the show. Our winter cover story, “It’s a white bread world” (pg. 26) is a love letter to a worldwide staple. Wherever white or whole grain bread are baked, Canadian CWRS flour is often used as the sole flour in the recipe or employed as an improver of a lower quality variety. It may be a term for boring, but much of the wheat Ca- nadian farmers grow is destined to become white bread. ALSO IN THIS ISSUE From the preferences of food consumers, we move to on-farm topics. This includes farm finances. Inspired by a recent BRM report, “Risk management reinterpreted” (pg. 30) examines the call for modernization of farm risk management. A nuts-and- bolts agronomics piece, “The curveball approach,” (pg. 38) picks up where our fall 2025 weed management story left off. Where the earlier story addressed the need for holistic weed con- trol practices, here, we talk with farmers who actively utilize integrated weed management strategies. Similarly, we talk to southern Alberta farmers who operate under irrigation, about the critical part cereals play in their rotations (pg. 34). Finally, we hit the road for a farm visit in the first of a multi-part series of cereal farm portraits (pg. 24) and meet the Semeniuks whose land is in the Smoky Lake area. EDITOR’S MESSAGE A slice is nice. Many dishes simply call for the unique qualities of white bread.