If farmers aren’t willing to put the cart before the horse, how can the horse eat off the cart?
That’s the situation farmers face in landing lucrative supply contracts with foreign buyers for hard red winter wheat varieties, according to the Canadian Wheat Board.
Big processors need large guaranteed supplies before they will place large orders, but prairie farmers aren’t growing enough of the varieties to allow the board to make those guarantees.
“A customer might be looking to buy 15,000 tonnes a quarter. We need to get that volume built up so we can get the customer to commit to this,” said CWB winter wheat specialist Mike Grenier.
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“They’re not looking at a single purchase. They want to know there can be continuous purchases from us throughout the year.”
The wheat board has introduced special marketing programs for specific varieties of winter wheat that certain millers prize. These programs usually provide farmers with better prices and more security than bulk winter wheat, which does not guarantee the same specifications to millers.
Grenier said the board hopes to build a critical mass of specific variety winter wheat production so it can land the bigger customers. Now most of the buyers are small, niche market millers.
“Before the (big companies) really lock in, they want to really know we can guarantee the supply they’re looking for throughout the year,” Grenier said.
“What we’re trying to do is segregate those varieties on the Prairies, meet that quality and target those markets.”
The board hopes to land key overseas buyers for hard red winter wheat in Malaysia, Thailand and Venezuela, where hard red winter wheat’s white flour colour, gluten flexibility and lower protein level are ideal for many products.
Farmers need to achieve at least 11.5 percent protein in their hard red winter wheat to qualify for the wheat board programs and Agriculture Canada specialist Cynthia Grant offered tips to farmers on how not to fall short of protein.
“The higher the yield potential, the more diluted any protein that the crop produces will be, because the more carbohydrate there is (in proportion),” she said.
“If you have a higher yield potential, you need a higher nitrogen level for protein.”
