As harvest winds down, activity at the Canadian Wheat Board’s new quality testing laboratory is ramping up.
“Right now harvest is done, we’re at crunch time,” said Michael Lackmanec, the board’s director of marketing strategy.
“There’s a lot of analysis and interpretation to do.”
Technicians at the recently opened facility in Saskatoon are busy testing wheat and barley from across the Prairies and preparing hundreds of samples and reports to be sent to prospective customers around the world.
Read Also
August rain welcome, but offered limited relief
Increased precipitation in August aids farmers prior to harvest in southern prairies of Canada.
Speaking during a media tour of the lab last week, Lackmanec said the new facility is a response to increased demand from customers for quality testing.
“Customers are more and more interested in food safety and quality assurance, and we need to be able to provide that kind of information,” he said.
By setting up its own lab, the board will have control over what tests are done and how quickly they get done and can tailor its analysis to specific customer requirements.
Lackmanec said the board will be able to prioritize its testing to reflect customers’ demands, adding the quicker the information can be provided, the better.
“Some customers can ask for results in 24 or 48 hours,” he said. “We have to be able to respond quickly in a concise, technical manner.”
Savings for farmers
The new facility will also provide significant cost savings for farmers.
While start-up costs were about $150,000, the board has previously spent $500,000 a year on third-party testing of grain for marketing purposes.
Savings in the first 18 months of operation are projected to be $50,000 to $100,000 and are expected to increase as the volume of testing required by customers increases.
Samples will undergo a wide variety of tests, including grade, dockage, protein content, falling number, moisture levels and test weight. All told, the lab is capable of performing 160 different quality-related tests.
Lackmanec said the work done at the CWB lab won’t interfere with the activities of the Canadian Grain Commission, which conducts official grain inspections and provides guarantees of grade and quality for export shipments.
The lab has three full-time employees.
