Global Efforts Secure Future of Canadian Wheat

Apr 23, 2026
By Farms.com

Targeted market outreach and science-based support strengthen export demand

Canadian wheat reaches more than eighty international markets annually. Large shipment volumes and a strong reputation make stable global demand essential. The country holds top positions in durum wheat and oats exports and continues to rank among the world’s leading wheat exporters. Diversified markets reduce risk and support farm income.

A new industry report explains how active global engagement is helping protect the future of Canadian wheat in a changing trade environment.

The report describes how market development programs, technical training, and science-based policies support steady demand. These efforts connect farmers, researchers, breeders, and buyers. By sharing knowledge and practical data, Canada builds confidence in the quality and performance of its wheat.

"From breeders to farmers, Canadian wheat is globally recognized as a symbol of quality," said Lisa Nemeth, director of market support and training at Cereals Canada. "Our technical expertise and hands‑on customer support help buyers understand the performance and value of Canadian wheat, which strengthens relationships and supports long‑term market growth."

The study highlights activities carried out in several global regions. These include trade missions, buyer webinars, technical exchanges, and virtual meetings. Such programs address local milling and baking needs, solve technical challenges, and encourage long-term relationships with customers.

Strong engagement has supported growth in regions like Central America, Southeast Asia, and the Indo Pacific. Countries including Guatemala, Ecuador, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and China show rising interest in Canadian wheat. Buyers gain confidence through targeted training and regular technical support.

Different wheat classes meet different customer needs. Varieties such as hard spring, soft red winter, and amber durum are promoted based on use and performance. Clear quality information helps buyers choose the right wheat for their products.

"Market diversification is essential to the resilience and profitability of Canada's cereals sector," said Leif Carlson, vice president of markets and trade at Cereals Canada. "By understanding local market needs and providing science‑based technical support, we can strengthen Canada's competitive position—even in smaller or emerging markets—and ensure Canadian wheat continues to reach customers around the world."

During recent years, engagement programs reached buyers in more than sixty countries. Many of these customers purchase Canadian cereals worth billions of dollars each year. Support includes quality reports, one on one guidance, and customized market programs.

Photo Credit: gettyimages-ianchrisgraham

Video: The 15-Year Bet Behind Every New Variety!

Canada is trying to decide how much agricultural research capacity it can afford to lose. Brian Rossnagel believes the better question is whether the country can afford to rebuild it.

The longtime barley and oat breeder makes the case with a simple fact about his profession: the consequences of today’s decisions may not become visible for 10 or 15 years.

“Pick the right parents. That’s the biggest thing,” Rossnagel says. “If you pick the wrong parents, you’re not going to get anywhere—and you don’t know that until 10 years, 15 years later.”

That warning carries particular weight as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada moves to reduce spending and streamline parts of its science operations. The department’s 2026–27 plan anticipates the loss of approximately 665 positions by 2028–29 and says some research will be reduced where capacity exists in academia or industry. AAFC says the changes will make its science operations more cost-effective over the long term.

For Canada’s seed industry, Rossnagel’s career illustrates what is at stake.

This fall, the retired University of Saskatchewan breeder will be inducted into the Canadian Agricultural Hall of Fame. During his 35-year career at the Crop Development Centre, he helped develop more than 100 barley and oat varieties, including CDC Austenson—one of Western Canada’s most widely grown feed barleys. His induction recognizes not only those varieties, but the collaboration and research system that made them possible.

Rossnagel is quick to emphasize that none of it was the work of one person.

“The first thing I thought about was all the other people who contributed to whatever success I and my program had over the years,” he says. “We know that it’s not an individual who does this. It’s a group—a team.”

That team extends well beyond the breeder whose name appears beside a variety. It includes technicians, pathologists, quality specialists, statisticians, regional testing sites, seed growers and industry partners. It also includes the breeders who came before and those who will carry the germplasm forward.

CDC Fraser barley, for example, moved through three breeding careers. Its parents came from Brian Harvey’s program. Rossnagel advanced the material after Harvey retired, and Aaron Beattie later guided it through registration and release.

That kind of handoff is normal in plant breeding. The person who makes the original cross may never see the resulting variety reach farmers.

It also explains why lost research capacity cannot simply be switched back on when budgets improve.

“If you shut it off, it’s very, very difficult—and particularly costly—to start it up again,” Rossnagel says. “If you have to start from scratch, it’s going to be at least 10 years before anybody notices whether you’re getting anything done or not.”

The concern is not simply how many experimental lines Canada can process. Modern equipment, statistical tools and genetic technologies allow today’s breeding programs to evaluate tens of thousands of lines—far more than Rossnagel could handle when he entered the field in the early 1970s.

But efficiency and automation do not generate every idea.

“If you pare back down, and instead of having six or seven individual scientists concentrating on wheat breeding, you go down and say three people could handle all this, well, that’s half the ideas gone,” he says. “Particularly if you happen to lose the three people who had the really neat and innovative ideas, boy, that’s a problem.”

It is a timely distinction for Canadian agriculture. Consolidating programs may preserve the volume of material moving through a system, at least initially. It may not preserve the diversity of thinking, regional knowledge or willingness to pursue unconventional crosses.

That regional knowledge matters because Canadian agriculture is not one uniform production environment. A variety suited to southern Alberta may face different disease, moisture and maturity pressures than one grown in Manitoba, Ontario or Atlantic Canada.

“Agriculture is applied biology,” Rossnagel says. “Biology, all around the Earth, moves from the poles to the equator. It does not move from Newfoundland to B.C. like politics do.”