Organic producers have formed a co-operative to ensure a good supply of heritage wheat.
The Prairie Red Fife Wheat Organic Growers Co-operative Ltd. chose Marc Loiselle of Vonda, Sask., as interim president during its inaugural meeting last month.
The group, which discussed pricing and base costs for bulk milling wheat and seed wheat, will also work on quality assurance, best practices, education and promotion.
In 2005, 294 tonnes of Red Fife were harvested on the Prairies.
Loiselle expects 15 to 20 new Red Fife growers this year.
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Co-op member Jack Klassen of Victoire, Sask., will increase his Red Fife acreage to 20 acres from the six he grew for the first time last year. He found it grows best in his sandy loam soils and on well-drained land not subject to flooding.
“It doesn’t like it wet,” he said.
Klassen was impressed with Red Fife, which was easy to harvest, produced good yields and held its colour well.
He sold the wheat to health stores, specialty markets and American and Canadian farmers for about $1 a pound, or up to $85 per bushel.
Some customers will sprout the seeds for use in salads and sandwiches or eat them as a breakfast cereal.
Klassen joined the co-operative to help maintain the purity of the seed and to increase public awareness of the advantages of the heritage wheat variety.
“Red Fife is a very healthy, wholesome, organic food,” he said, noting it offers an alternative to the high gluten content of many wheat varieties.
At his Carlton Trail Guest Ranch, he and his wife Gwen have incorporated the wheat into a variety of recipes, from pancakes to cake, with positive feedback from guests.
He credits organic plant breeder Sharon Rempel of Nanaimo, B.C., with helping save the last of the Red Fife seeds from extinction. She has grown and worked with heritage varieties since 1987.
Her research in protein banding has shown Red Fife is a landrace, with a uniform appearance and diverse genetics.
“This means there is built-in adaptability to changes in the growing environment, making it rather a good idea for climate change,” she said.
Red Fife, once considered a good milling and baking variety, was grown in Canada from 1860-1900. It was replaced by Marquis, likely due to the need for an early maturing variety in northern growing zones.
Rempel said Red Fife plantings are booming on Vancouver Island, where growers are planting it as a winter wheat.
