Canada’s reputation for high-quality bread-making hard red
spring wheat is under threat, according to a report by Allan Dawson of the
Manitoba Cooperator.
He interviewed Dave Hatcher, a research scientist
with the Canadian Grain commission’s Grain research Laboratory, and learned
that customers complained about poor-quality wheats from the 2012 harvest.
Hatcher said there were fewer complaints about 2013
wheat.
He said weather may have been a factor, but another
worrisome factor is widespread planting of some new varieties that have only
marginal bread-making quality.
Hatcher said consistency is a huge factor in wheat
marketing.
The Canadian Grain Commission is responsible for
ensuring that every export shipment is up to snuff.
Hatcher said a quality test that was dropped for budget
reasons has been brought back. It’s run on strains put forward for
registration.
He told Dawson that “2012, from a customer point of
view, they were very unhappy. It came as a bit of a shock them too.”
