GrainsWest Spring 2021

Spring 2021 Grains West 36 Under the 2005/06 program, farmers received a contract premium of $2.50 over CWRS, including protein premiums. The program offered guaranteed acceptance and delivery and escalating storage payments. Farmers were also eligible for CWB pricing options. N. M. Paterson & Sons and Cargill handled 90 per cent of CWHWS grain at that time. Six additional partners handled the remaining 10 per cent. Under the 2006/07 program, farmers were offered a contract premium of $2.50 over CWRS (including protein levels). That season, however, guaranteed acceptance and delivery was limited to 300,000 tonnes. In the previous two seasons, acceptance and delivery had been guaranteed. Snowbird yielded five per cent more that Kanata, but Kanata matured slightly quicker than Snowbird, making it more suitable to northern wheat farmers. CWHWS target markets included Asia, North America and South America. End-users were impressed by its quality, particularly in 2003, recalled Lisa Nemeth, director of markets, Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi), the technical division of Cereals Canada. “There was excellent feedback from customers about the quality of it, and a lot of excitement,” she said. Weather challenged farmers in the following years, and the class acreage declined significantly and never really recovered, she added. Still, customers in the Asian market were fans of the class, but they required consistent volume to justify shipping costs. Canadian farmers, at that time, were in competition with their Australian counterparts who won the shipping battle by sheer proximity. Price was also an issue, as Canada couldn’t match the market price, which was driven by Australia. “The single variety just couldn’t sustain the need for consistent volumes,” said Nemeth. “Producers moved away from growing it because of these challenges.” Western Canadian farmers produced a little more than 7,000 insured commercial acres of CWHWS in 2020. Smaller Canadian mills purchase it for sale in niche markets. AACWHITEHEAD SEES CONSIDERABLE YIELD BOOST Over the years, CWRS varieties continued to show improvement while CWHWS was left behind. Nonetheless, AAFC’s Randhawa set out to create an improved CWHWS variety. His quest proved successful. AACWhitehead produces 21 per cent greater yield than previously established varieties and comes with an excellent disease package that includes leaf rust, stem rust, stripe rust, Fusarium head blight and common bunt. It is semi-dwarf in height with very strong straw. “It’s agronomically flawless and very competitive to CWRS varieties,” said Randhawa. It also has the Sm1 midge tolerance gene, but must be blended with a midge-tolerant variety to protect the genetics from being overcome in the future, said Randhawa. Before being accepted for registration, AACWhitehead passed stringent quality committee tests. Nemeth was on that committee. Quality-wise, CWHWS is very similar to CWRS but has a white seed coat. Certain end-users prefer such a white seed coat because it visibly reduces the appearance of specks of bran in the flour. “The bran has a lighter colour and, therefore, it is less noticeable,” said Nemeth. Certain consumers, she said, find whole wheat bread made from white wheat more visually appealing due to its lighter colour. Others find the sweeter, nuttier taste of its white bran appealing. Those sensitive to the taste of bran find red bran more bitter. Lighter bran is also desirable for end products such as noodles. When used in noodles, the redder bran particles become more visible over time due to oxidation, said Nemeth. This is much less noticeable when white wheat bran is used. MULTIPLE LICENSED VARIETIES Herman Wehrle is director of market development for FP Genetics, a farmer- owned, Western Canadian certified seed company with an interest in hard white wheat. FP Genetics first acquired the licence for AAC Cirrus produced by AAFC breeder Richard Cuthbert’s Swift Current breeding program, said Wehrle. The variety, which will come to market Certain end users prefer CWHWS varieties for the light-coloured bread they produce as well as their sweet, nutty taste. FEATURE Photo:Courtesyof theCanadian InternationalGrains Institute