THE Team Canada approach to developing and marketing Canada’s wheat varieties appears to have run into serious discord when it comes to winter wheat.
While the crop performs well on some fronts, it isn’t living up to its potential. As usual, the players on the grain team – growers, the wheat board, breeders and others – are pointing the finger of blame in several directions.
That’s counterproductive because winter wheat seems to be a crop whose time has come in Western Canada.
Breeders have developed varieties with successful agronomic packages.
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An increasing number of growers like the crop because fall seeding spreads out the work load, it has exceptional yields and matures ahead of disease and insects.
The growing hog market provides a voracious demand for the wheat as feed.
But as a milling wheat, it is a disappointment. Growers complain that its price is slipping relative to the hard red spring class. Winter wheat in the United States is priced more attractively.
The Canadian Wheat Board replies many of the popular winter wheat varieties produced here compare unfavourably to American varieties. It says it is doing the best it can with a wheat class that finds few eager buyers.
Canadian breeders argue that there is nothing wrong with many of their varieties. In fact, they note some are becoming popular with American farmers in the northern plains.
A new CWB program that pays farmers a small premium to grow certain varieties identified as higher quality has received as much criticism as praise. The selected varieties are generally not the best agronomically and the premium will barely cover the cost of buying the required certified seed.
It is clearly time for a team meeting to share information, identify the real problems and create a plan to overcome them.
One problem is the lack of a direct link between growers and the market.
While single desk selling and price pooling generally provide growers with market power and other benefits, the system also masks market signals.
The board must keep growers and breeders abreast of what buyers say about Canadian varieties and what they want in the future.
When there are criticisms, they should be documented and checked for validity. If confirmed, a representative industry group should examine responses.
New varieties are not the only answer. Breeding is a slow process and must strike a balance between successful agronomics and desirable quality.
Other techniques must also be considered such as segregating quality with the use of protein meters and price premiums for growing high protein.
No matter how talented the players, it’s strategy, preparation and teamwork that win the game.
