The creation of a Canada Northern Hard Red class will ensure importers get high protein and gluten in the Canadian Western Red Spring class
Another crop year is underway and with it comes a pair of new classifications for wheat grown in Western Canada.
Daryl Beswitherick, program manager for quality assurance standards with the Canadian Grain Commission, says classification changes that took effect Aug. 1 are aimed at solidifying existing markets for western Canadian wheat and developing new markets.
“The changes are really just to provide that flexibility to producers and the grain industry,” said Beswitherick. “For producers, it allows them to grow different types of wheat for different markets and for (grain) companies, it allows them to take advantage of different opportunities that may be out there.”
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The classification changes eliminate three existing wheat classes, create two new classes and move several wheat varieties from the old classes to the new.
As of Aug. 1:
- The Canada Western General Purpose (CWGP), Canada Western Interim Wheat (CWIW) and Canada Western Feed (CWF) classes no longer exist.
- Two western Canadian wheat classes — Canada Western Special Purpose (CWSP) and Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) — have been established.
- Registered wheat varieties that were previously designated in the CWGP and CWF classes have been moved to the new CWSP class.
- Registered wheat varieties that were previously designated in the CWIW class have been moved to the new CNHR class.
As well, 29 wheat varieties now in the Canada Western Red Spring and Canada Prairie Spring Red classes will be moved to the new CNHR category in two years.
Beswitherick said the classification changes will have limited impact on marketing this year’s harvest.
Only four varieties will be marketed under the new CNHR banner: Elgin, Prosper, Faller and AAC Concord. They will probably be grown under contract for grain companies that have pre-established markets.
Uncontracted production of CNHR is expected to be small but could grow over time as grain-handling companies get a better sense of its marketability and provide clearer price signals to growers.
Elgin, Prosper and Faller are U.S. varieties developed in North Dakota and produced widely by spring wheat growers in the northern states.
Contract production began in Canada in the last few years with production focused mainly in southern Manitoba and southeastern Saskatchewan.
Beswitherick said 250,000 acres were grown in Western Canada last year.
The varieties have attracted interest in Canada. They have established markets in the United States and offer a significant yield advantage over CWRS varieties.
“Once they (Canadian grain companies) come out with some pricing, I think producers will grow it just like any other variety,” said Beswitherick.
“Definitely some CNHR will be grown under contract, but there will be producers that are going to grow it on spec, just like any other class.”
The reclassification of 29 CWRS and four CPSR varieties to the new CNHR class on Aug. 1, 2018, will likely have a bigger impact on marketing.
The creation of the CNHR class was aimed at narrowing the quality parameters of the premium CWRS wheat class while supplying im-porters with a second class of Canadian milling wheat that offers reliable supplies but slightly lower protein and gluten strength.
However, many of the varieties that are scheduled to move to the new CNHR class in 2018 will be visually indistinguishable from higher value CWRS varieties.
This has prompted concerns that the industry may be placing too much reliance on producer declarations to ensure that the proper class and variety of wheat are being delivered.
The commission will be communicating with growers before Aug. 1, 2018, in hopes that the transition will be completed smoothly and that growers don’t receive unexpected marketing surprises.
“The message that we’re really trying to get out to all producers is that they should know what class their wheat will be as of Aug. 1, 2018,” Beswitherick said.
“So in the spring of 2018, you will need to know what you’re putting in the ground.”
