SASKATOON – Farmers looking for ways to increase the protein content of their wheat are about to get a helping hand from the Canadian Grain Commission.
Beginning next crop year, the commission will switch to a new method of measuring protein levels that will have the net effect of boosting protein content by about 0.2 percentage points.
In other words, a bushel of wheat that grades 13.4 percent protein on July 31 will grade 13.6 percent protein on Aug. 1.
“We’ll be finding a bit more protein, but only because of the increased accuracy of the measurement,” said Milt Wakefield, the CGC’s chief commissioner.
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Buyers of Canadian grain have been told about the upcoming change and the Canadian Wheat Board says it doesn’t expect it will create any problems.
But industry officials said it remains unclear whether the change will necessitate any other change in the way grain is bought and priced at country elevators.
“My suspicion is that the protein banding may be changed because the grain doesn’t perform any differently, even though it will have a higher protein rating,” said Wakefield.
For decades, the commission has used the Kjedahl process to calibrate and monitor protein analyzers used throughout the Canadian grain industry.
The new method, known as combustion nitrogen analysis, is more accurate, faster and cheaper and does not involve the use of hazardous chemicals
It is also the method used in the U.S., although Wakefield said the switch was not a direct response to the report of Canada-U.S. Joint Commission on Grains, which recommended the two countries standardize the scientific methods used in their grain grading systems.
“The whole world is changing,” he said. “We are doing a lot of things with our U.S. counterparts to standardize some of the measurements and this is, I guess, some of the technology that is evolving.”
