Posted on October, 24, 2024 at 02:39 pm
It’s not enough to assure Canada’s soybean customers that the country’s production practices and quality are second to none. It’s essential to prove it.
hat’s where the Soy Quality program comes in, by providing information on quality and performance so international buyers are confident the beans will work for their soy food manufacturing.
To do this, food-grade soybean samples from Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec are submitted every fall at harvest for testing and analysis. The results are fed into the Food-Grade Variety Finder, an interactive database that allows international customers to search and compare varieties based on key quality attributes like protein, sucrose or isoflavone content.
This information enables them to select and buy the ideal soybeans for end-use products like miso, natto, soymilk and tofu.
Starting this fall, Soy Canada will partner with the Canadian Grain Commission in Winnipeg to administer the program. Brian Innes, executive director of Soy Canada Inc., said that Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Harrow Research and Development Centre conducted program testing for more than 30 years, but in late 2023 AAFC discontinued the program at Harrow.
Innes said CGC’s expertise in grain quality makes it well-positioned to manage and advance the program. To maintain consistency and ensure scientific integrity of the data year over year, it will use the same scientific methods employed at Harrow.
Soy Canada coordinates efforts among its members, industry stakeholders, researchers and government agencies. It also oversees testing, data collection and evaluation of soybean varieties.
There are two main testing components of the Soy Quality program. The first is food-grade variety testing, which creates public quality data for existing and new varieties. This information feeds the Food-Grade Variety Finder, the most comprehensive database of food-grade soybeans in Canada.
The second component is soy food performance testing that focuses on early-stage varieties and other varieties of commercial interest.
“The analysis of both quality testing streams helps support exporters, seed developers and growers in maintaining customer confidence that our food grade varieties will perform,” said Ning Wang, a research scientist and program manager for pulses who will lead the CGC’s Soy Quality program technical team.
By helping international buyers and end-users of Canadian food-grade soybeans have confidence in varieties, the program also helps growers by maintaining the country’s reputation for quality.
A scientific approach to performance testing is critical in making soy food manufacturers comfortable with new varieties. Without customer confidence, seed developers cannot provide growers with varieties that offer higher yields and better agronomic performance.
Innes said seed developers also use the program to test varieties in the early stages of development for food performance.
This year, the CGC expects more than 2,000 samples to be submitted for analysis through the Soy Quality program.
Innes said extensive work has been done to facilitate transition of the program’s testing and analysis component, including in-person visits to AAFC Harrow.
“We have been engaged with Soy Canada and AAFC in anticipation of the transition, and we’re confident that we’ll deliver a program that works for the soybean industry,” added Wang.
Esther Salvano, director general of the CGC’s grain research laboratory, said that “as our experience and expertise grows, we expect to become an increasingly important resource for the soybean sector to provide guidance and promote Canadian quality.”
The goal is to provide quality data that expands market demand while elevating the global reputation of Canadian soybeans.
The Soy Quality program is funded in part by Soy Canada, CGC, AAFC, soybean seed developers, soybean export companies, Producteurs de Grains du Quebec, Grain Farmers of Ontario and Manitoba Pulse and Soybean Growers.
Source: Farmtario