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APPEARANCE and REALITY Are U.S. varieties higher yielding?
REGISTRATION Loosening standards may mean less consistency and unhappy customers BY ALLAN DAWSON STAFF
N
ow that they’ve achieved their goal of ending the Canadian Wheat Board monopoly, the Western Canadian Wheat Growers are training their sights on their next target — the Canadian wheat registration system. In a recent advertisement the WCWGA says farmers should have access to higher-yielding varieties to meet the demand for mid-quality or feed/ethanol markets, and calls for more “flexibility” in the system. That will appeal to the farmers hoping to add some of those famously higher-yielding U.S. wheats to their shopping basket on their next trip to North Dakota. But are they, as one
CWB:
farmer at a KAP meeting said a few years ago, famous like a Sasquatch? Everyone has heard of them, but no one has ever seen one. A Canadian Grain Commission scientist says if there’s data showing U.S. varieties outyield Canadian, he hasn’t seen it. Moreover, David Hatcher warns that tinkering with the system could cost farmers. “We need to make informed choices and decisions,” Hatcher told a June 14 webinar organized by the Farm Leadership Council. “The key operative word there is informed.” Hatcher said the current system ensures customers get what they want, giving Canadian farmers an edge in competitive world markets. “We find ourselves in many cases at a freight disadvantage. Our key attribute we bring to the marketplace
is our quality, so we do not want to change that.” American wheats can be grown in Western Canada, but if unregistered receive the lowest grade in the class. However, they can be registered if they successfully go through the three-year testing process, Hatcher noted. Glenn, a milling wheat from North Dakota, is one example eligible for Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) class.
Yield versus protein
Manitoba crop insurance data shows CWRS yields at 44.8 bushels for the past five years, six bushels or 15 per cent higher than hard red spring yields reported by the North Dakota Wheat Commission.
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“We need to make informed choices and decisions. The key operative word there is informed.” — David Hatcher CGC Grain Research Laboratory
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