THE Canadian Grain Commission’s plan to restructure Western Canada’s wheat classes and eliminate differences in visual characteristics as a means of identification for minor wheat classes is a sound idea.
As customers demand more specialty wheats suited for specific purposes, and farmers move to fill this demand, an increasing number of new wheat types are being presented as cropping options.
Farmers need a wheat classification system that can respond to changing market conditions and acknowledge agronomic considerations.
But before the grain commission’s proposal can be put into practical use, questions must be addressed.
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The grain commission proposal would fold six existing classes of wheat into two broader categories: Canadian Western Red Multipurpose and Canadian Western White Multipurpose. Wheats within these classes would no longer be required to meet kernel visual distinguishability regulations.
They would, however, still have to be visually distinguishable from Western Canada’s two major wheat types: Canadian Western Red Spring wheat and Canadian Western Amber Durum.
KVD was set up to enable inspectors to quickly identify wheat varieties and reject unregistered ones. But wheat is not strictly for bread and noodles anymore. New varieties could potentially be targeted at ethanol production or have pharmaceutical characteristics, for example. Or they may address key agronomic issues such as plant disease and yield.
As markets become more segmented, researchers who develop new varieties must have reasonable confidence that the system will be flexible enough to accommodate their work. If it does not, Canadian agriculture risks falling behind its international competitors.
The Canadian Wheat Board has several concerns about the proposal’s practical workability, but they should be viewed as issues to address, not show stoppers.
A means must be found to ensure farmers maintain premium prices for high quality wheats that could become lost in the class reorganization, such as a recently developed hard white wheat.
As well, questions have been raised about how the minor wheat classes would be handled after farmers deliver to elevators.
The commission has said farmers delivering these minor class wheats would make varietal declarations, similar to the way private grain companies handle delivery for crops grown under identity preserved contracts.
While variety declarations work for the most part, they leave the system vulnerable to a small percentage of people who may give false declarations. While such instances are rare, a long-term solution must be sought through research into DNA identification technology.
In the end, any new system must strike a fine balance between providing farmers the flexibility to meet today’s changing market demands and ensuring added costs to the grain handling system for increased testing and segregation do not outweigh the benefits.
