GrainsWest Winter 2020

Winter 2020 Grains West 34 Once recommended, varieties then require approval by the CGC, and their registration must be approved by the CFIA. Across the Prairies, wheat trials are conducted at various locations. Under regional environmental conditions, new varieties are compared to previously established ones over a three-year trial period. For CWRS, the most widely planted class, three co-op trials are run in three locations. Independently of each other, three PGDC evaluation teams assess grain for disease resistance, agronomic characteristics and overall quality. These teams are comprised of industry experts. The quality evaluation team, for example, is made up of cereal scientists, grain handlers and marketers as well as baking and milling representatives who understand the needs of wheat customers. “They understand the quality parameters that wheat is being evaluated for,” said Lisa Nemeth, the Canadian International Grains Institute’s director of markets. The objective of the quality evaluation team is to recommend varieties with milling and end-product characteristics that meet or improve upon class specifications. New varieties recommended for registration must meet or improve upon the traits of established varieties. As part of the variety registration process, all three PGDC teams must recommend a variety for registration. When a variety does not receive unanimous approval, the cultivar voting panel subcommittee assesses its combined characteristics. The panel then votes on whether to recommend the variety for registration. End-users such as millers value the consistency of Canadian wheat. “They know when they’re purchasing a shipment based on class and grade that there is a quality expectation they can have, and that it’s based on this system established in Canada,” said Nemeth. “Millers are delivering sometimes to very large customers, sometimes large industrial bakeries that have strict quality requirements. Being able to rely on a supplier to have consistent quality is huge for them.” In terms of quality wheat production, Canada’s biggest competition is the United States. According to Geoff Backman, Alberta Wheat Commission and Alberta Barley business development and markets manager, the U.S. has recently experienced consistency problems. “Something we’ve been hearing out of the U.S. is that the consistency in quality attributes has been decreasing,” said Backman. The issue came to his attention while attending a crop industry meeting in the U.S. at which millers and production co-ops met to discuss options to address quality variability. “When you’re a miller and you’re producing a product like flour, you want to be able to say to your bakers that, ‘every time you use this flour, you’re going to get the same result when you’re making a loaf of bread,’” said Backman. “If you’re looking at varying quality of wheat as a miller, you’re having U.S.-based Shepherd’s Grain purchases durumvarieties from two Alberta farmers, who said Canada’s registration system facilitates such opportunities. Photo:CourtesyofShepherd’sGrain FEATURE