The grain industry has a plan to prevent unwanted varieties of wheat from entering and contaminating the grain handling and transportation system.
The protocol requires farmers to sign an agreement each year in which they guarantee that the wheat they deliver will match the class of wheat for which they are seeking payment.
A separate agreement must be signed at each elevator where the producer delivers.
Grain companies will keep and test elevator samples to ensure the proper varieties are being delivered.
The agreement, which was first negotiated last year between the Canadian Wheat board and the Western Grain Elevator Association and implemented on a limited basis, will go into effect broadly for the 2006-07 crop year.
Read Also
USDA’s August corn yield estimates are bearish
The yield estimates for wheat and soybeans were neutral to bullish, but these were largely a sideshow when compared with corn.
CWB officials said that while participation by grain companies is voluntary, they expect to eventually achieve 100 percent participation.
Chief operating officer Ward Weisensel said protecting Canada’s quality assurance system is crucial for maintaining a competitive advantage.
“This protocol helps to ensure that ineligible varieties will not negatively affect our reputation and our brand,” he said.
The unregistered wheat variety Alsen was delivered into several grain elevators in east-central Saskatchewan and found its way into export shipments a few years ago.
Such problems are rare, said Wade Sobkowich of the WGEA.
“But from the experience with Alsen, we learned we have to have something like this in place until technology is available to properly identify varieties immediately upon delivery to the elevator.”
Farmers are not prohibited from delivering an ineligible variety to an elevator, as long as they identify it at the time of delivery. Such wheat is automatically designated as Canada Feed.
