Prairie winter wheat growers have joined forces to fund a new market development position at the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi).
Winter Cereals Manitoba, Saskatchewan Winter Cereals Development Commission, and the Alberta Wheat Commission are investing $225,000 over three years ($75,000 each) which will enable Cigi to hire a technical specialist in winter wheat responsible for planning and conducting research and technical projects to increase customer familiarity and comfort with processing winter wheat.
Cigi vice-president Rex Newkirk said this marks the first time Cigi will have a position focused solely on identifying the advantages and opportunities of winter wheat.
Research at Cigi has demonstrated the applicability of winter wheat in certain types of bread such as hearth bread and flatbreads as well as Asian products. CWRW is particularly well suited for the production of noodles and steamed bread, a high-value product widely consumed in Asia, due to its ability to produce very white flour with low ash content.
