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As well as taking information to buyers, Cigi conveys
feedback from buyers to Canadian industry participants. For
example, if gluten strength is inconsistent, staff at the Cigi lab
will try to determine if the cause is varietal or environmental.
If buyers want a different class of wheat, Cigi will request
Canadian grain handlers include those samples in the harvest
assessment program.
For most of its 40-year history as the technical arm of
the Canadian grain industry, Cigi worked on behalf of the
Canadian Wheat Board and was “kind of lost in the mix,”
said Newkirk. As the CWB monopoly ended and new wheat
associations were developing, Cigi recognized a gap in the
international marketing of Canadian wheat and took the lead
on trade missions.
“We had to take a very proactive role to make sure nothing
fell through the cracks as the new organizations were forming,”
said Newkirk.
He sees the provincial wheat commissions and Cereals
Canada taking a larger role in trade missions promoting
Canadian wheat in the future, but explained that marketing
the Canadian crop won’t likely be the sole purview of private
grain handlers.
“When buyers are buying, they look at a number of suppliers.
Grain companies can’t invest a lot of money and time in an area
where their competition might get the sale,” said Newkirk. He
added that trade missions representing the entire Canadian
crop are more efficient, bringing all the major buyers to one
seminar in each region.
Keith Bruch, vice-president of operations at Paterson
GlobalFoods, credits Cigi for building strong relationships with
international grain buyers.
“Cigi, being an impartial entity commercially speaking, can
really play a role in increasing the Canadian brand vis-a-vis
other origins,” explained Bruch. “They’re well known, well
respected, and really the only general source of information on
the Canadian crop.”
As Bruch points out, U.S. Wheat Associates, with 17 global
offices, provides stiff competition for the Canadian crop.
“Canada needs to do at least as good a job or better to make
sure that Canadian varieties have their place in the market.”
The co-ordinated effort to market Canadian grains and
oilseeds is a top priority for JoAnne Buth, Cigi’s new CEO.
“There needs to be really strong collaboration throughout
the industry and that needs to start with the producers
and go all the way to the international buyers,” explained
Buth, who came to Cigi from the Canadian Senate where
she represented Manitoba for two-and-a-half years. Before
serving in the Senate, Buth had a varied career in agriculture,
THIS IS A TEST:
Harvest sample tests run by organizations such
as Cigi and the Canadian Grain Commission can be a valuable tool
for farmers who want to gain the upper hand when they market
their grain.
Fall
2014
Grains
West
24