LETHBRIDGE – Soft wheat growers in southern Alberta fell below forecasts set by their own commodity organization.
Richard Huvenaars, chair of the research and production committee for the Alberta Soft Wheat Producers Commission, said low prices cut back on seeded acreage, yields were down, and fusarium and mildew caused crop downgrading.
He told delegates to the commission’s annual meeting in Lethbridge that millers and maltsters are having a difficult time finding enough quality soft wheat for processing.
Huvenaars said help is on the way.
One proposal, funded by the Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund, would provide information on seeding dates, seeding rates, fertility and water management in various soil zones.
A second project, also funded by the development fund, will enhance the plant breeding program for soft wheat by Lethbridge Research Centre plant breeder Harpinder Randhawa. That project will focus on industrial and domestic soft wheat and triticale.