LEDUC, Alta. -ÊAlberta producers should be rewarded for having fusarium-free cereal crops instead of having their grain pooled with infected supplies.
That’s the message Pat Durnin of the Alberta Grain Commission brought to a fusarium head blight seminar in Leduc March 25.
“Our system has tended to pool and blend away our problems,” he said.
Durnin worries Alberta producers are getting less money for their grain because it could get mixed with fusarium-infected material.
Dale Abrey of the Canadian Wheat Board said that is not the case.
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The board accepts certain levels of fusarium, he said, but there are standards to give grain an appropriate grade and all farmers are paid according to the grades, said Abrey.
“There’s the perception Alberta is subsidizing those with the problem, but that’s not true.”
According to Canadian Grain Commission standards, the fusarium level for No. 1 CWRS can’t exceed 0.25 percent while No. 2 and No. 3 CWRS can’t exceed two percent without facing dockage charges. Fusarium levels of more than five percent won’t be accepted.
“We’re not taking No. 1 wheat and mixing it with five percent fusarium to get less value,” said Abrey.
Grain is graded and given the codes established for fusarium. Wheat with different fusarium levels is kept separate because it’s suitable for different markets, said Abrey, noting some customers want only lower quality wheat.
He said he is confident no farmers are losing money because of blending fusarium during handling.
Glen Goertzen of the Alberta Grain Commission doesn’t agree.
“I can’t be convinced of that because I know buyers who want high quality wheat will pay more for it.”
Durnin argued it costs farmers more money to treat seed and to use fungicides to deter fusarium infection.
“If you’re a farmer using good agronomic practices, you incur a cost and should extract a return for it.”
