GrainsWest Winter 2021

winter 2021 Grains West 40 he production volume of Canada Western Soft White Spring wheat (CWSWS) grown for food purposes in Western Canada is low. However, the handful of Alberta farmers who grow this limited acreage crop consistently praise it. They report it yields well and faces few agronomic challenges. It exhibits a very strong straw stand, which means it doesn’t lodge even under high-fertility conditions. As well, it enjoys consistent demand when marketed in the right location. In 2019, Canadian farmers produced 549,100 tonnes of CWSWS, which accounted for just two per cent of the total volume of spring wheat grown that year. Lisa Nemeth, Canadian International Grains Institute markets director, said the small volume produced makes it difficult to promote as it is simply not available in sufficient quantity to meet customer BY MELANIE EPP CWSWS presents unique opportunities T FEATURE SOFT, WHITEAND LUCRATIVE needs in a consistent way. As well, when compared to CWRS and CWAD, CWSWS is less well-differentiated in food markets. As a result, it competes more directly with many other low- and mid- protein wheat options, said Nemeth. While CWSWS does have applications in food production, marketing opportunities remain focused on niche segments, but primarily as an ethanol feedstock. Despite the crop’s limited role in the Prairie farm economy, CWSWS varieties present opportunities for certain farmers. AGRONOMIC ADVANTAGES AND BREEDING TARGETS Harpinder Randhawa has a great deal of expertise in the area of CWSWS. A wheat breeder who works at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lethbridge Research and Development Centre, his main focus areas are spring wheat and triticale. The federal CWSWS breeding program has been carried out at the Lethbridge facility since the early 1980s. The varieties it has produced have typically been grown in southern Alberta under irrigation. When breeding CWSWS, Randhawa said, for food purposes, buyers look for weaker gluten, lower protein and a soft kernel. “It’s not going to be used for bread and noodles and pasta,” he said. “It has special purposes. It’s used for baking biscuits, confectionary, cookies and crackers.” Canadian millers that purchase CWSWS include P&HMilling Group in Lethbridge. Yield and protein content have an inverse relationship, said Randhawa. While CWRS contains 13 to 14 per cent protein, CWSWS contains about Wheat test plot harvest takes place at the AAFC Lethbridge Research and Development Centre.