Quality is important for every crop, but perhaps none more so than mustard.
And that means mustard growers must not do anything that might compromise quality, whether it’s using unregistered chemicals or allowing their crop to be contaminated by foreign material such as genetically modified canola seed.
During a panel discussion about producing quality mustard at last week’s Saskatchewan Mustard Growers Association annual meeting, industry officials said farmers and others in the mustard business have to work together to ensure Canada continues to produce top quality seed.
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With other crops, lower quality product can usually find a home in the feed or industrial market.
But not so with mustard.
“It’s crucial that we have good quality because all the mustard that’s grown is grown for human consumption,” said Walter Dyck, manager of the mustard business at Demeter Agro, a division of Agricore United.
“There’s no margin for error.”
He said customers are becoming more demanding and conducting sophisticated tests that can detect minute levels of residue.
That means the Canadian industry must be prepared to do similar testing to ensure exports meet those exacting standards.
“Canada has a reputation for high quality and we have to be able to back up that perception,” he said.
Genetic modification is one of the biggest issues. Buyers have zero tolerance and Canadian shippers have always been able to assure them that there is no need to be concerned because no GM mustard varieties are in production.
But the industry received a scare in 2002 when a shipment of brown mustard destined for an overseas customer was found to have markers indicating the presence of GM canola.
While that particular incident was dealt with and didn’t affect future sales, Dyck said it raised a red flag.
“It will be a crucial challenge to keep canola out of mustard,” he said.
That involves proper land use, seed quality and purity, proper storage and handling and ensuring all equipment and bins are thoroughly cleaned, especially if canola and mustard are grown in the same year.
Chemical residue is another major issue. Again, there is zero tolerance in some important markets and unregistered chemicals will be detected.
“Using Roundup as a desiccant really can add to the problems we have in that area,” he said.
Some customers also test for such things as bacteria, yeast, mould, salmonella and allergens.
Farmers attending the meeting held Jan. 14 as part of Crop Production Week in Saskatoon also heard about a new voluntary quality control system that the Canadian Grain Commission is introducing this spring.
Under the Canadian identity preserved recognition system, or CIPRS, the grain commission will establish quality control standards for identity preserved systems.
The commission will accredit third party firms to audit IP programs. If a program meets CGC standards, the shipper will get a certificate of recognition from the commission, which will assure the buyer that those quality control standards are being met.
Laura Anderson, the CGC official in charge of the program, said the commission hopes to align CIPRS with international standards and negotiate “mutual recognition agreements” with other countries to facilitate trade.
“Overall, we hope we’ll see increased sales because of this project,” she said.
