Severely sprouted wheat can present challenges for marketing through normal grain channels, said Anne Kirk, provincial cereal specialist.

“If you have a situation where you have a swathing and these kernels kind of look like maybe something that would have shelled out as it was being swathed, you’d be in a situation where you’re waiting for a frost to kill that, or having to draw your green because you have such sprouting in there.”

WHY IT MATTERS: Manitoba farmers had harvest interrupted in mid-September with a spate of rainy weather.

Large patches of southern Manitoba saw anywhere from 30 to 40 millimetres of rain Sept. 11-12, according to a special precipitation map put out by the province. Small parts of the southwest and southeast saw over 50 mm.

Rain also stretched into the following days. From the evening of Sept. 14 to the morning of Sept. 16, Manitoba Ag weather stations measured up to 25.6 mm in central Manitoba and 57.9 millimetres in the southwest (measured at Waskada). Smaller rain amounts hit the Interlake and east. The northwest, however, saw the bulk of the rain those days. Notable rain amounts included 66.1 mm at Pipe Lake, 64 mm at Grandview, and a string of rain storms that led to flooding dropped a whopping 89.3 mm on Keld and 107.2 mm on Ethelbert over 16 hours.

The heavy rain led to a local state of emergency due to flooding around Ethelbert.

Wheat quality

Local elevator feedback suggested the problem remains manageable, Kirk said during a Manitoba Agriculture Crop Talk webinar Sept. 24.

“There’s quite a bit of wheat in my area that’s still in the field, just because we’ve had a lot of a lot of moisture this harvest season. So, the buyer there had said that they have seen some sprouting, but nothing that they’ve had to reject at this point.”

Crop updates particularly note areas north of Highway 16 in the southwest as experiencing some sprouting.

Spring wheat harvest stands at 93 per cent complete provincially, according to the latest crop report, released Sept. 23, though some regions lag due to recent rainfall. The northwest region is 85 per cent complete.

Following the wet week, provincial harvest completion averaged around 56 per cent across all crops. Many producers are hoping for extended dry weather to complete harvest operations and minimize quality issues, the province noted.

Strict limits on sprouted grain

There are strict grading standards that govern sprouted wheat. For Canada Western Red Spring wheat, only 0.1 per cent sprouting is permitted for No. 1, two per cent for No. 2, and three per cent for No. 3, Kirk said.

“The issue with sprouting is that it’s really hard to blend falling numbers. So, when you have severely sprouted kernels, you’re expecting very low falling numbers.”

Farmers are forced to sell their wheat as feed can expect a price gap of $1.30 a bushel, Kirk noted, with No. 1 wheat currently trading around $7 per bushel, compared to about $5.70 for feed wheat.

Lionel Kaskiw, crop production specialist with Manitoba Ag, also observed the blending challenges during a recent elevator visit.

“The amount that they could blend is very little…you need to bring in a lot of wheat to cover a semi load of sprouted wheat,” he said.

Kirk recommended taking samples to elevators for assessment and getting on feed grain purchasing lists if necessary. Elevator capacity for feed is typically more limited.

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Rather, it’s weather, and your wheat variety, that will make the biggest difference.

WHY IT MATTERS: Knowing the biggest factors that determine yield can help the producer widen their profit margin on wheat.

The research was led by Katherine Dorian, then a master’s student at the University of Manitoba, with support from a multidisciplinary team that included cereal chemist Harry Sapirstein and agrometeorologist Paul Bullock.

Dorian’s work was part of a broader investigation into factors that affect hard red spring wheat (HRSW) quality across the Prairies — but this specific study focused on how glyphosate and fungicide applications stack up against genotype and environment when it comes to grain quality.

“We wanted to know if these common management practices actually influence grain quality, and if so, how much,” says Bullock, who served as Dorian’s thesis advisor. “This study gave us a chance to look at that in a rigorous, replicated way.”

From 2015 to 2017, the team ran trials at four sites: Lethbridge in Alberta, Indian Head in Saskatchewan, and Carberry and St. Adolphe in Manitoba. Six wheat varieties were selected to represent a range of gluten strengths, and at each site, plots were treated with fungicide at flowering, glyphosate at harvest, both, or neither.

These varieties were grown side by side, allowing researchers to directly compare the effects on protein content, test weight, gluten strength and other measures of wheat quality. The study did not look at yield.

Common crop protection applications don’t affect quality

Across the board, neither fungicide nor glyphosate showed a meaningful effect on quality.

“The good news is that when you look at those treatments, for both the fungicide and the glyphosate, it’s really almost a nil result,” Bullock says. “There was nothing where the size of the impact was large enough to be practically significant.”

The results weren’t overly surprising: everyone expected weather and genotype to be the most impactful factors contributing to wheat quality. But the research hadn’t been done before, and Bullock points out that results could have been much worse news.

“If we had, for example, found if you put pre-harvest glyphosate on your wheat and the gluten strength drops — that would’ve been horrific,” he says. “We didn’t find that.”

Instead, for all of those grain properties — the grade, the protein levels, the test weights — either weather or variety had a much larger impact on the variation of the quality than any of those treatments did. In other words, it’s good news that they are not making things worse.

Wheat varieties

Among the varieties tested, there was no clear winner. Some, such as Stanley, produced higher protein, while others, like Glenn, showed stronger gluten strength. But the study wasn’t about assessing varieties — only whether variety selection affected quality. And it did affect quality, but mostly in the way breeders intended.

Bullock also notes the study was started 10 years ago and some of the varieties are no longer being used. One variety, Harvest, was included specifically because it was known to have weaker gluten. Not long after the study, Harvest was delisted from the Canada Western Red Spring class.

Only apply fungicides when high FHB loads likely

The study wasn’t originally designed to assess fungicide effectiveness, but the data offers some insight there also. The researchers found fungicide applications only made a difference when fusarium head blight (FHB) pressure was high — again, this was in terms of kernel quality, not yield.

“It seems obvious, but it hadn’t been definitively documented previously,” Bullock says. “You’re not getting any kind of benefit when conditions don’t favour that disease.”

For instance, in drier regions like Lethbridge, control plots often had no fusarium-damaged kernels (FDK) — so fungicide didn’t change the outcome. But in higher-risk areas such as Manitoba and eastern Saskatchewan, the treatment reduced fusarium damage.

“We had fusarium-damaged kernel levels in every plot at every location, so it gave us a very robust test of the effectiveness of that fungicide to really reduce the amount of fusarium-damaged kernels,” he says. “In control plots, when you have zero FDK, there’s nothing to reduce.”

That sort of nuance matters. While both fungicide and glyphosate remain useful tools for Prairie wheat growers, the study offers some clarity: neither will hurt grain quality, but the benefits of fungicide depend heavily on conditions.

“It’s saying to farmers, those practices are not what is screwing it up,” Bullock says. “It’s either the weather or it’s the varieties that are being grown.”

FHB outbreaks are most likely when warm, humid weather persists during the flowering stage of cereal crops — especially when temperatures hover around 25 C and relative humidity stays above 80 per cent for extended periods.

A risk mapping tool developed at the University of Manitoba helps farmers across the Prairies monitor those conditions in real time.

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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.

“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 per cent of total wheat production this year.

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

“We have 94 per cent 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 per cent, up from the 10-year average of 13.8 per cent.

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

Canada western amber durum (CWAD) accounted for 15 per cent of Canada’s total wheat production. It did not do as well as CWRS with 45.2 per cent of the 839 samples grading No. 1 and 27.3 per cent grading No. 2.

A substantial 460 of the 839 samples were downgraded, mostly because of poor test weights and shrunken kernels. Drought was cited for those quality issues. The Prairie average protein content was 15.3 per cent, 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 had a high percentage of hard vitreous kernels and low speck counts across all grades.

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

Canada prairie spring red (CPSR) wheat contributed 1.9 million tonnes or six per cent 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.

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

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“The Canadian Grain Commission values stakeholder input and is implementing these changes based on feedback from the sector. They will support continued growth and Canada’s reputation as a dependable source of high-quality grain,” said David Hunt, Chief Commissioner of the CGC in the June 12 news release.

Following consultation with sector stakeholders and members of the Western and Eastern Standards Committees, highlights of the changes include new variety designation lists for food barley, updates to the assessment of seed coat discolouration in soybeans and a reformatting of the Official Grain Grading Guide to make it more user friendly.

Backgrounder: Full list of 2024-2025 crop year changes

New variety designation lists for food barley

Food barley varieties are unique and different from malting or feed barley varieties due to the distinct quality features desired for food, such as high beta-glucans, said the CGC on its changes. To ensure Canadian producers and the agriculture sector can realize the benefits of developing and growing these varieties, the CGC will create variety designation lists for Barley, Canada Eastern Food, which will take effect on July 1, 2024, and Barley, Canada Western Food, which will take effect on August 1, 2024.

Updates to the assessment of seed coat discolouration in soybeans

As part of its grain grading modernization project, the Official Grain Grading Guide will be updated to clarify the assessment of seed coat discolouration in soybeans, effective on August 1, 2024. The changes include updates to definitions and grade determination tables for factors related to soybean staining. The CGC will also add new photographs to the web version of the guide to assist in the evaluation of seed coat discolouration.

Table reformatting in the Official Grain Grading Guide

Grade determination tables will be changed to be clearer, more user friendly and accessible. Effective August 1, 2024, grain grades will be moved to column (vertical) format and grain grading factors will be listed in row (horizontal) format. This change will be to the formatting only and won’t change any grading factors or tolerances. The new and previous versions of the tables will both be available in the online version of the Official Grain Grading Guide for a minimum of six months to help with the transition.

Under the Canada Grain Act, the CGC is responsible for establishing and maintaining Canada’s grain grading system.

The Canadian Grain Commission’s Official Grain Grading Guide is a complete reference on the grading factors of grains, oilseeds and pulses. Standardized grading factors ensures that producers are fairly compensated for their grain and helps maintain Canada’s reputation for high-quality and safe grain, which benefits the Canadian agriculture sector and all Canadians.

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On Friday morning, the Canadian Grain Commission repealed upcoming grading changes in response to complaints from producer groups.

In a news release, the CGC simply stated it was repealing the alignment of primary and export tolerances for test weight and total foreign materials for Canada Western Red Spring, Canada Western Hard White Spring, Canada Western Extra Strong, Canada Western Soft White Spring and Canada Northern Hard Red.

It also repealed the alignment of total foreign material tolerances for Canada Western Amber Durum.

The changes were to take effect on August 1.

On Thursday, traditional sparring partners the Wheat Growers Association (WGA) and National Farmers’ Union (NFU) issued a joint statement decrying the announced changes. They joined Sask Wheat and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), who issued a statement on July 17 calling for a halt to the grading changes, calling them “ill-considered and finalized hastily” as well as alleging it was done without proper producer consultation.

Historically there have been primary and export standards for wheat, and the primary standard was applied at country elevators where farmers deliver their grain.

Under current rules, wheat must weigh a minimum of 60.1 pounds a bushel, or it will be downgraded to no. 2 wheat. Under the proposed changes, which were to come into force August 1, they’d need to weigh at least 63.3 pounds per bushel to avoid downgrading.

This would take money from farmers’ pockets, the groups said.

The CGC announced the changes early June following discussions within the Western Standards Committee. In a June 8 letter to wheat industry stakeholders, CGC Chief Commissioner Doug Chorney said committee members were welcome to present additional information and analysis by Feb. 1, 2024. .

However, in the NFU’s July 28 statement, Glenn Tait, NFU member and CGC Western Standards Committee member alleged that the CGC had “acted against the opposition of virtually all of the farmer members on the Standards Committee—seeming to align with grain companies against farmers.”

The Western Grain Elevator Association (WGEA), which  lobbied for standard harmonization according to CGC records, told the Manitoba Co-operator the grading change would mean farmers were fairly compensated for the quality of grain they grew.

–Geralyn Wichers reports for the Glacier Farmmedia network from Steinbach, Man.

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In a news release, Friday, the CGC simply stated it was repealing the alignment of primary and export tolerances for test weight and total foreign materials for Canada Western Red Spring, Canada Western Hard White Spring, Canada Western Extra Strong, Canada Western Soft White Spring and Canada Northern Hard Red.

It also repealed the alignment of total foreign material tolerances for Canada Western Amber Durum.

On July 27, traditional sparring partners the Wheat Growers Association (WGA) and National Farmers’ Union (NFU) issued a joint statement decrying the announced changes that would have seen the export grade standard applied to deliveries to country elevators.

They joined Sask Wheat and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), who issued a statement on July 17 calling for a halt to the grading changes, calling them “ill-considered and finalized hastily” as well as alleging it was done without proper producer consultation.

Historically there have been primary and export standards for wheat, and the primary standard was applied at country elevators where farmers deliver their grain.

“The NFU and WGA disagree on many policy matters but are united in their opposition to the decision to harmonize primary and export standards for wheat,” the statement read.

Under current rules, wheat must weigh a minimum of 60.1 pounds a bushel, or it will be downgraded to no. 2 wheat. Under the proposed changes, which were to come into force August 1, they’d need to weigh at least 63.3 pounds per bushel to avoid downgrading.

“Farmers across the prairies will soon be harvesting wheat that under the current rules would be graded as #1, but as of August 1, 2023 they will be forced to sell it at lower prices as a #2 instead, if the changes by the Canadian Grain Commission come into effect as planned,” Daryl Fransoo, WGA chair, said in the statement.

Terry Boehm, former president of the NFU, said in the statement the current regulations recognize the variability of growing conditions across the region and that justifies the slightly lower bushel weight in the country under the current regulations.

“Loads that grade #1 under current rules often exceed the minimum standards, allowing grain companies to blend country deliveries to ensure the export standard is met when they assemble shipments at their port terminals,” Boehm said.

He added the grade change will “…take money from farmers’ pockets.”

The proposal was brought before the Western Standards Committee, which the WGA and NFU are both members of, and met with “…opposition from virtually all the farmers on CGC’s Western Standards Committee.”

Initially the WGA offered “cautious support.”

“The updated standards are founded on science-based outcomes regarding sprouting, test-weight and foreign material tolerances,” WGA said in a media release in June.

The Western Grain Elevators Association (WGEA) spoke in favour of the grading changes, saying the harmonized standards will make payment to farmers fair as it means farmers will be paid for the quality they grow.

Otherwise, they’re harkening back to the Canadian Wheat Board days, when wheat was pooled, and farmers were paid an averaged-out price, said Wade Sobkowich, WGEA’s executive director in an interview with the Manitoba Co-operator.

WGEA lobbied for standard harmonization, CGC records show.

Blending of high and low-quality wheat can only do so much, Sobkowich added. More stringent standards will allow grain handlers to meet customer specifications, otherwise companies may have to specify test weight or foreign matter standards in their contracts, he said. They don’t want the grading system to become irrelevant.

–Geralyn Wichers reports for the Glacier Farmmedia network from Steinbach, Man.

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The Wheat Growers Association (WGA) and National Farmers’ Union (NFU)have issued a joint statement decrying changes that will take effect August 1 which would see the export grade standard applied to deliveries to country elevators.

Historically there have been primary and export standards for wheat, and the primary standard was applied at country elevators where farmers deliver their grain.

Addressing the elephant in the room, the two groups noted the issue was broad enough that they chose to put aside their many differences.

“The NFU and WGA disagree on many policy matters but are united in their opposition to the decision to harmonize primary and export standards for wheat,” the statement reads.

They’ve also penned a joint letter to Lawrence MacAuley, the new federal agriculture minister, asking him to halt the change.

At the heart of the dispute is bushel weight. Under the current rules, wheat must weigh a minimum of 60.1 pounds a bushel, or it will be downgraded to no. 2 wheat. As of August 1 it must weigh at least 63.3 pounds per bushel to avoid downgrading.

“Farmers across the prairies will soon be harvesting wheat that under the current rules would be graded as #1, but as of August 1, 2023 they will be forced to sell it at lower prices as a #2 instead, if the changes by the Canadian Grain Commission come into effect as planned,” Daryl Fransoo, WGA chair, said in the statement.

Terry Boehm, former president of the NFU, said in the statement the current regulations recognize the variability of growing conditions across the region and that justifies the slightly lower bushel weight in the country under the current regulations.

“Loads that grade #1 under current rules often exceed the minimum standards, allowing grain companies to blend country deliveries to ensure the export standard is met when they assemble shipments at their port terminals,” Boehm said.

He added the grade change will “…take money from farmers’ pockets.”

The proposal was brought before the Western Standards Committee, which the WGA and NFU are both members of, and met with “…opposition from virtually all the farmers on CGC’s Western Standards Committee.”

Initially the WGA offered “cautious support.”

“The updated standards are founded on science-based outcomes regarding sprouting, test-weight and foreign material tolerances,” WGA said in a media release earlier this summer.

In the July 17 statement, Sask Wheat and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), also called for a halt to the grading changes, calling it “ill-considered and finalized hastily” as well as alleging it was done without proper producer consultation.

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“Not only was this decision ill-considered and finalized hastily, but it was also done without proper consultation with producer groups and individual farmers who will bear the costs of the tighter standards,” said Brett Halstead, chair of the Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) in a July 17 release.

Why it matters: Farm groups say the change could push wheat loads to a lower grade.

On June 13, the Canadian Grain Commission announced that tolerances for test weight and foreign material would be harmonized for most classes of western wheat. Formerly, there were separate ‘primary’ and more strict ‘export’ tolerances.

As of Aug. 1, affected tolerances will all be aligned with the export threshold.

In the July 17 statement, Sask Wheat and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan said the tighter standards will mean that wheat otherwise able to be graded No. 1 could be downgraded as low as feed if test weight is the determining factor.

The former separate standards recognized that blending and cleaning throughout the grain handling system would improve quality, the groups added.

“Sask Wheat is calling on the CGC to reverse the decision to harmonize the test weight standards at export standards before it creates additional production and price risk for Saskatchewan’s wheat farmers,” Halstead said.

In support

The Western Grain Elevators Association said harmonized standards will make payment to farmers fair because they will be paid for the quality they grow. Otherwise, the system harkens back to the Canadian Wheat Board days, when wheat was pooled and farmers were paid an averaged-out price, said Wade Sobkowich, WGEA’s executive director.

The association lobbied for standard harmonization, CGC records show.

Not long ago, farmers wanted falling number to become a grading factor so they could be properly compensated for quality, Sobkowich said. Elevators didn’t have the right technology to effectively test that at the driveway, “but the notion was right.”

Test weight, a measure of the grain’s density, should have a similar effect in allowing farmers to be paid for quality, Sobkowich said.

Blending high and low quality wheat can only do so much, he added. In his view, more stringent standards will allow grain handlers to meet customer specifications and protect the value of Canada’s grading system. The alternative is that companies may have to specify test weight or foreign matter standards in their contracts.

Downgrades

Sask Wheat and APAS say farmers will bear the economic brunt of the decision.

In a document posted on the Sask Wheat website, the organization estimated that if about six per cent of wheat in Saskatchewan was downgraded at the elevator from No. 1 CWRS to No. 2 CWRS, the cost to that province’s wheat farmers would be about $880,000, “in the aggregate.”

If the same volume was downgraded from a No. 1 to No. 3, the hit to producers “could be over $5.2 million,” the organization added.

The two Saskatchewan groups said they repeatedly asked the CGC to delay the decision until an economic analysis could be done. They said the decision failed to consider a motion carried at the most recent Western Standards Committee meeting, which also asked for a study.

Reaction

In a June 8 letter to wheat industry stakeholders, CGC chief commissioner Doug Chorney said committee members were welcome to present additional information and analysis by Feb. 1, 2024.

“We realize that changes to standards can have economic implications, and that grain producers want to consider and better understand the impacts for the sector,” Chorney wrote.

Sobkowich said an accurate economic analysis would be difficult. Grain companies often upgrade for reasons other than quality — for instance, the ability to ‘blend up,’ or for customer relations, he said. These would be difficult to analyze.

Few other commodity or producer groups put out public statements on the matter. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers cautiously endorsed the new standards.

“While supportive of many of the changes, using the stringent export tolerances for test weights and total foreign matter at elevator driveways will be an area the Wheat Growers are watching,” president Gunter Jochum said in a June 22 news release.

It’s unclear how aligning the standards will benefit Canadian farmers, the release said, adding that it would be appropriate for the CGC to share any economic impact studies related to the matter.

The wheat growers added that the updated standards are founded on science-based outcomes.

Neither the Keystone Agricultural Producers nor Alberta Federation of Agriculture were available for comment as of press time.

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On June 13, the Canadian Grain Commission announced changes, effective Aug. 1, for how Canadian wheat is graded. It also issued a list of clarifications and new housekeeping rules for the grading of other crops it regulates.

They include a shift in how “severely sprouted” is defined under its Official Grade Guide for western wheat classes.

Why it matters: Research showed that certain seeds now relegated to the “severely sprouted” grade had end-use quality that matched better with “regular sprouted” wheat.

The changes follow a laboratory review on the end-use quality of sprouted wheat.

Starting Aug. 1, kernels of sprouted western wheats with sprouts broken or missing (but without any clear evidence of a sprout’s length or severity) will be redefined as “regular sprouted” rather than “severely sprouted.”

Currently, a kernel of wheat is classified as “regular sprouted” if sprouts are visible but still “within the contours of the germ.”

To be classified as “severely sprouted,” a kernel today must either be “severely degenerated”—clearly sprouted beyond the contour of the germ — or it must show signs of a sprout that’s broken or missing, whether with or without clear evidence of length or severity.

The historic argument has been that a kernel deemed “severely sprouted” contains a higher level of alpha-amylase than a “regular sprouted” kernel. This has negative impacts on the wheat’s falling number, which in turn is an indicator of grain soundness.

But research done last year and this year at the CGC’s Grain Research Laboratory calls that into question.

Researchers found kernels of Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and durum wheats that showed a sprout broken or missing, without clear evidence of the sprout’s length or severity, showed the same range of alpha-amylase activity and impact on falling number as “regular sprouted” wheat.

The impact on end-use functionality, the lab found, was “similar to that of regular sprouted kernels.”

The Manitoba Crop Alliance, which represents wheat growers in the province, declined to comment on the changes.

Tolerances

Among other changes scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, tolerances for test weight and total foreign material are being matched in most classes of western wheat that, until now, had different tolerances for “primary” or “export” use.

Under the new rule, test weight and total foreign material tolerances will be aligned to the “export” tolerances for all grades of:

• Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS),
• Canada Western Hard White Spring (CWHWS),
• Canada Western Extra Strong (CWES),
• Canada Western Soft White Spring (CWSWS), and
• Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) wheats.

Total foreign material “primary” and “export” tolerances for Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) wheat will also be lined up to the “export” tolerances for all grades.

An “export” tolerance is used when grain is destined for an overseas market and is shipped out of the country through a terminal grain elevator. Such a tolerance is set based on research and is used to ensure milling quality expectations are met, the CGC said.

A “primary” tolerance is set lower than an “export” tolerance. It’s used when grain is delivered directly to a primary grain elevator within Canada.

Sieves

Other updates to the Official Grade Guide will appear in the canola chapter, in the process for determining dockage. The change will clarify the process and the different-sized sieves that should be used.

That change, the CGC said, comes in the wake of concerns raised by producers about “inconsistencies in the process used at delivery.”

The guide’s definition of “processed sample” will be updated in all chapters, in the wake of issues where samples were submitted to the CGC for official grades with dockage already removed.

The guide will also adjust the composition of dockage to include insect parts, and the definition for insect parts will be adjusted in the lentil, bean, chickpea and faba bean chapters.

Also, in the canary seed chapter, the composition of dockage will be adjusted to include the percentage of hulled seeds in dockage, and the definition of foreign material and hulled seeds will be adjusted accordingly.

The post Sprouted wheat gets grading revamp appeared first on Manitoba Co-operator.

The Canadian Grain Commission on Tuesday announced changes in store effective Aug. 1 for how Canadian wheat is graded, along with a list of clarifications and new housekeeping rules for the grading of other crops it regulates.

For one, the CGC will update its Official Grain Grading Guide’s definition of “severely sprouted” as a grading factor for western classes of wheat, following research on how far sprouting has to advance to affect end-use quality.

Under the current rule, a kernel of wheat is classified as “regular sprouted” if it has sprouts that are visible but still “within the contours of the germ.”

To be classified instead as “severely sprouted,” a kernel today must either be clearly “severely degenerated,” or clearly sprouted beyond the contour of the germ — or it must show signs of a sprout that’s broken or missing, whether with or without clear evidence of a sprout’s length or severity.

It’s been given that a kernel deemed “severely sprouted” contains a higher level of alpha-amylase than a “regular sprouted” kernel, which has negative impacts on the wheat’s falling number, which in turn is an indicator of the soundness of the grain.

But the research done last year and this year at the CGC’s Grain Research Laboratory found kernels of Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and durum wheats that show a sprout broken or missing, without clear evidence of a sprout’s length or severity, had alpha-amylase activity and impact on falling number in the same range as in “regular sprouted” wheat, rather than the other forms of “severely sprouted” wheat.

Thus, starting Aug. 1, kernels of sprouted western wheats with sprouts broken or missing, but without any clear evidence of a sprout’s length or severity, will be redefined as “regular sprouted” rather than “severely sprouted.” The impact on end-use functionality, the lab found, was “similar to that of regular sprouted kernels.”

Tolerances

Among other changes scheduled to take effect Aug. 1, tolerances for test weight and total foreign material are being matched up in most classes of western wheat that until now had different tolerances for “primary” or “export” use.

Under the new rule, test weight and total foreign material tolerances will be aligned to the “export” tolerances for all grades of:

• Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS);
• Canada Western Hard White Spring (CWHWS);
• Canada Western Extra Strong (CWES);
• Canada Western Soft White Spring (CWSWS); and
• Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) wheats.

On a related note, total foreign material “primary” and “export” tolerances for Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) wheat will also be lined up to the “export” tolerances for all grades.

An “export” tolerance is used when grain is destined for a market overseas and is shipped out of the country through a terminal grain elevator. Such a tolerance is set based on research and is used to ensure milling quality expectations are met for end-use customers, the CGC said Tuesday.

A “primary” tolerance, meanwhile, is set lower than an export tolerance; it’s used when grain is delivered directly to a primary grain elevator within Canada.

Sieves

Among other changes taking effect in the Grain Grading Guide starting Aug. 1, the process for determination of dockage, in the canola chapter, will clarify the process and the different-sized sieves that should be used.

That change, the CGC said, comes in the wake of concerns raised by producers about “inconsistencies in the process used at delivery.”

The guide’s definition of “processed sample” will also be updated in all chapters, in the wake of issues with samples submitted to the CGC for official grades from which dockage was already removed.

The guide will also see adjustment to the composition of dockage to include insect parts, and the definition for insect parts will be adjusted in the lentils, beans, chickpeas and fababeans chapters.

Also, in the canary seed chapter, the composition of dockage will be adjusted to include the percentage of hulled seeds in dockage, and the definition of foreign material and hulled seeds will be adjusted accordingly. — Glacier FarmMedia Network

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