CGC enhances wheat damage assessment

Jun 12, 2018

The commission will more precisely examine for frost/heat stress and mildew damage

By Kate Ayers
Staff Writer
Farms.com

The Canadian Grain Commission is revamping its guidelines for the assessment of frost/heat stress and mildew damage in wheat.

Beginning this crop year, individual samples for frost/heat stress and mildew will replace combined standard samples for grading of Western Canadian wheat, a Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) release said last week.

Using a combined sample, the previous system jointly assessed these factors if both temperature stress and mildew damage were present in a delivery.

However, new research conducted by the CGC revealed that these grading factors do not have a compounding negative effect on the end-use functionality of the wheat, the release said.

“With the research we’ve had so far, we have made this change so that we can allow more grain to be (categorized) into a higher grade,” Daryl Beswitherick, the program manager of quality assurance standards and reinspection for the CGC, said to Farms.com yesterday.

“Producers should receive a higher dollar for (their grain) and more grain should fit into the higher grade, going into the premium markets.”

These upgraded guidelines and individual assessments will help to prevent unnecessary downgrading of wheat while maintaining Canada’s high-quality wheat standards.

The Western Standards Committee recommended these updated grading procedures. This committee represents stakeholders across the grain value chain, the release said.

The new standards for frost and heat stress and mildew in Western wheat classes will come into effect Aug. 1. These changes will not apply to Eastern wheat classes but the guides for mildew in Eastern wheat will be renamed as standards on July 1, the release said.

The modernization of the wheat grading system has the CGC “reviewing (grain damage) tolerances, ensuring they are accurate so that the grain industry can benefit from the most accurate information possible,” Beswitherick said.

CGC is the federal agency responsible for establishing and maintaining Canada’s grain quality standards. The commission regulates the grain industry to protect the producers’ rights and ensure the integrity of grain transactions, the release said.

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