RATIN

Prairies excel again in spring wheat exports, quality

Posted on November, 26, 2024 at 03:03 pm


Canada has another top-notch spring wheat crop to sell this year, but the durum did not fare as well.

Canadian farmers grew 34.3 million tonnes of wheat in 2024 and are expected to export 25.4 million tonnes to more than 80 countries.

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“This will make Canada the world’s third largest exporter of wheat, and the top exporter of high quality, high protein wheat for the second year in a row,” said Dean Dias, chief executive officer of Cereals Canada, in a press release.

Cereals Canada recently released its 2024 Crop Summary report, which shows that Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat accounted for 63 percent of total wheat production this year.

It was another good year for quality with 68.5 percent of the 2,150 CWRS samples submitted through Nov. 1 grading No. 1 and 25.4 percent grading No. 2.

“We have 94 percent of this year’s crop grading in the top two grades,” Kris Wonitowy, program manager of national inspection standards with the Canadian Grain Commission, told buyers from Asia and the Middle East who were listening to one of Cereal Canada’s 2024 New Wheat Crop Report Webinars.

“That’s an exceptional crop quality this year.”

The CWRS wheat has high test weight and good milling yield. Average protein content across the Prairie region was 14.1 percent, up from the 10-year average of 13.8 percent.

It produced pan bread with good loaf volume, crumb colour and crumb structure, and noodles with good retention and texture.

AAC Brandon was the top variety grown this year, accounting for 25 percent of the acres. That is down from over 40 percent four years ago. Newer varieties like AAC Wheatland and AAC Starbuck are gaining popularity.

Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) accounted for 15 percent of Canada’s total wheat production. It did not do as well as CWRS with 45.2 percent of the 839 samples grading No. 1 and 27.3 percent grading No. 2.

A substantial 460 of the 839 samples were downgraded, mostly because of poor test weights and shrunken kernels.

“This is mainly due to the drought conditions producers faced in those major Canada Western Amber Durum growing regions of southwest Saskatchewan and southeast Alberta,” said Wonitowy.

The Prairie average protein content was 15.3 percent, a full percentage point higher than the 10-year average.

Semolina milled from the crop has high yellow pigment content, good gluten strength and extensibility and good processing quality.

CWAD has a high percentage of hard vitreous kernels and low speck counts across all grades.

Spaghetti made from the 2024 crops has excellent cooking quality, texture and bright yellow colour, the CGC reported.

Transcend was the most popular CWAD variety, accounting for 22 percent of acres, down from over 40 percent five years ago. CDC Defy took second spot at 17 percent, up 11 percentage points compared to last year. AAC Stronghold was the third choice.

Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat contributed 1.9 million tonnes or six percent of total wheat production. Protein content is comparable to the five-year average. This year’s crop offers good water absorption and gluten strength, said the CGC.

It demonstrated characteristic milling performance and had good test weight.

CPSR flour has good processing quality, resulting in high-quality pan bread with good loaf volume and crumb structure and noodles with good colour and colour retention.

AAC Penhold was the most popular variety followed by Accelerate and AAC Goodwin.

Source: Western Producer