Like some spelt?
I see the University of Saskatchewan is evaluating spelt and, I assure you, that’s the way it is spelled. Triticum spelta is also called German wheat. It has been grown in Europe for centuries and is used primarily as livestock feed, although some people use it for porridge.
Its food value is similar to standard wheat. It is a triangular shaped grain that does not shed its hull readily so it never got to be popular with people in the processing business.
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In earlier years it was grown mostly on poor soils.
While this doesn’t look like the best prospect to come down the pike, it’s encouraging to know our crop development people are still exploring varieties old and new for qualities that will enhance the volume, quality and timeliness of our grain crops.
In recent years there has been so much emphasis on deficit reduction and balanced budgets that we have been in danger of butchering the cash cow that keeps our economy from wasting away. Public and private infusions of research grants help keep the cow fat and sassy.
It was a cross with an ancient emmer wheat that started us on the road to rust resistance so sneer not at spelt.
Who knows? Perhaps we’ll develop a hybrid wheat we can grow in gravel pits and on some of those sand hills south of Sceptre, Sask. Or on some of those alkali flats you can find spotted across Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. Or maybe on the slippery slopes of the Alberta foothills and the Cypress Hills.
That should create a challenge for research teams specializing in seeding, harvesting and tillage equipment.
