Saskatchewan Wheat Pool is hoping U.S.-developed durum varieties will help Canada make inroads into the lucrative Italian market for high quality durum from American suppliers.
The pool last week announced an agreement with WestBred LLC of Bozeman, Montana, to gain exclusive Canadian rights to the company’s high quality, extra strong desert durum varieties grown in Arizona and California.
The pool wants to adapt those varieties to growing conditions in Western Canada, and then use them to go after the market in Italy.
Each year Italy buys about 250,000 tonnes of durum with high gluten content, mainly desert durum from the U.S.
Read Also
Bird repellent gets emergency approval for sunflowers
Bird repellent gets emergency approval for sunflowers
The Italians blend imported durum with lower quality domestic supplies to achieve the desired protein strength while minimizing import volumes.
“Our objective is for Canada to take over the bulk of it,” said Fran Malecha, vice-president of Sask Pool’s grain group.
Canada has gained a toehold in that market in recent years with AC Navigator, an extra strong durum variety also owned by the pool. But Malecha said that variety will take Canada only so far.
“Navigator may pick up a piece of that Italian business, but it’s not the variety that’s going to capture 200,000 or 250,000 tonnes in the long term,” he said.
“With the desert durums, we’re looking at varieties 10-20 percent higher in gluten strength than Navigator.”
Some of the desert durum varieties marketed by WestBred are Westbred 881, Tacna, Kofa, Mohawk and Cortez. Malecha said it’s too early to say which varieties may be suited to Western Canada.
He added it will be several years before any varieties identified and developed under the agreement are made available to prairie farmers.
“Realistically we’re probably looking at a three to five year time frame,” he said.
Under the agreement, the pool will test seed provided by WestBred in order to identify varieties that might do well in the Canadian Prairies.
The seed company will do the genetic research while the pool will be responsible for test plots and field trials.
WestBred was formed in August 2003 as a joint venture between Western Plant Breeders of Bozeman and Goertzen Seed Research of Haven, Kansas. Western Plant Breeders is owned by Barkley Seed Inc. of Yuma, Arizona, while Goertzen is owned by Cargill Inc.
Under the agreement, Barkley’s wholly owned subsidiary marketing company, International Grain and Services of Bologna, Italy, will market the pool’s proprietary durum varieties, including Navigator, in Italy.
In announcing the agreement, pool chief executive officer Mayo Schmidt said it will enable the pool to capitalize on its ability to ensure traceability and segregation of grains shipped to end users through identity-preserved programs.
And he said it signals a continuation of the company’s efforts to provide direct links between farmers and customers.
“We continue to pursue alliances that enhance our customers’ ability to access top quality seed and, at the other end, open up new and lucrative markets for western Canadian grain and oilseed production.”
