Western Canadian Wheat 2003

Quality data and highlights of the crop year

Quality data

Highlights

Summary
Agronomic conditions and production information
Number of samples gathered
Farinograms
- CPSR
- CWRS
- CWRW
- CWSWS
Mean protein content of milling grades, compared to 2002 and 2001
Protein content - Statistical summary by grade and province
- CPSR (PDF)
- CWAD (PDF)
- CWRS (PDF)
- CWRW (PDF)

Summary

Seeding was delayed in the western prairie region due to cool wet weather. After planting, germination and emergence was very good due, in part, to good soil moisture from fall and winter precipitation. Hot dry weather from mid-June to August caused drought stress reducing yield potential in most regions. Low rainfall across the southern Prairies in August and September resulted in ideal harvest conditions. Harvest was delayed in northern regions until mid-September due to cool rainy conditions. A very high proportion of the crop graded into the top milling grades.

Spring wheat production rebounded to near normal production levels and is estimated at 16 million tonnes by Statistics Canada, an increase of 6 million tonnes over last year. Durum wheat production is estimated at 4.2 million tonnes, slightly higher than the 3.9 million tonnes reported in 2002.

Overall protein content of Canada Western Red Spring wheat, at 14.1 %, is lower than last year. High grade Canada Western Red Spring wheat shows higher test weight, higher wheat falling number, superior flour colour, lower absorption and slightly stronger dough properties compared to last year. Overall protein content of Canada Western Amber Durum wheat is 13.6%, 0.3 % higher than last year. High grade Canada Western Amber Durum wheat shows much higher falling number, improved overall milling quality, increased semolina and spaghetti brightness and much improved semolina and spaghetti yellowness compared to last year.

Agronomic conditions and production information

Seeding conditions

A combination of rain during the 2002 harvest season and normal to above normal winter precipitation greatly improved the soil moisture situation in Western Canada for the spring seeding season. Cool, moist conditions throughout the month of April and into early May delayed seeding in Saskatchewan and Alberta. Temperatures recovered by May 15th and seeding advanced rapidly in the western Prairies. Manitoba and parts of eastern Saskatchewan did not experience the planting delays due to drier and warmer weather in the first half of May. This allowed farmers to plant most cereal and oilseed crops before the 15th of May. Germination and emergence of crops were very good, but some patches of severe frost in northern Saskatchewan and Alberta resulted in a need for reseeding of early planted crops.

Growing conditions

Hot dry conditions dominated the weather on the Prairies from mid-June to late August, resulting in wide spread crop stress, which reduced yield potential. The southern Prairies received less than 50 per cent of normal precipitation in July and August, while the northern areas received less than 75 per cent of normal precipitation. Timely rains in northern Alberta and northwestern Saskatchewan over the summer months helped maintain crop potential in this region.

The warm, dry weather during the summer months was ideal for grasshoppers and significant damage to the crop occurred throughout the prairie region. The environmental conditions did keep plant diseases in check, with leaf and head diseases reported at the lowest levels in a decade.

Crop development was boosted by the warmer than normal temperatures, with cereal crops reaching maturity by the end of July in the eastern Prairies. Cereal crops in western areas were not mature until the middle of August, while northern Alberta and the Peace River region were delayed until the end of the month.

Harvest conditions

The harvest began in the eastern Prairies during the first week of August and was underway in all areas except northern Alberta by the middle of the month. Rainfall during August and September was well below normal, which resulted in a rapid harvest pace. Over 80 per cent of the crop was harvested by the first week in September, with most of the unfinished harvest located in northern Alberta and Saskatchewan. Cool, rainy conditions in the northern areas slowed harvest in the middle of September, but the return of warm, dry conditions by the end of the month allowed harvest to proceed rapidly. The harvest was essentially complete by the first week of October, which is a dramatic improvement over the previous year when only two-thirds of the crop had been harvested by that time.

Production and grade information

Western Canada's wheat production rebounded back to near average levels in 2003 despite the severe growing conditions during the summer. Total wheat production for Western Canada is estimated at 21.1 million tonnes by Statistics Canada¹, with spring wheat production constituting 16 million tonnes of the total. Durum production increased slightly to 4.2 million tonnes, while red winter wheat increased to over 750,000 tonnes.

A very high proportion (over 90%) of the spring and durum wheat crop graded into the top milling grades due to the lack of disease and ideal harvesting conditions in almost all regions.

The small proportion of lower grade CWRS resulted from a range of degrading factors including mildew, hard vitreous kernel content, green kernels, fusarium, ergot and frosted and/or heat stress. The small proportion of lower grade CWAD resulted primarily from wheat of other classes, hard vitreous kernel content and green and immature kernels. Tight grading tolerances for these factors ensure that the high inherent quality of the top milling grades of Canada Western Red Spring and Canada Western Amber Durum wheat are protected.

¹Statistics Canada Field Crop Reporting Series Vol. 82, No. 8, Dec. 2003.

Number of samples gathered

Data were generated from quality tests carried out on composites representing over 5000 individual samples submitted by producers and primary elevator managers from the three prairie provinces. Map shows major wheat producing areas in the Prairies. These data are not quality specifications for Canadian wheat. Rather, they represent our best estimate of quality. How closely they represent the exact quality characteristics of wheat of any given grade exported during the coming year depends on

The degree to which the harvest survey composites are representative of 2003 production.

Mean protein content of milling grades

This following table compares available mean protein values for each of the seven classes of western Canadian wheat surveyed in 2003 with corresponding values obtained in the 2002 and 2001 harvest surveys as of November 4, 2003. This year's value is also shown for Canada Western Experimental Hard White wheat (CWXHW).

Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat shows a lower protein value compared to last year while Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) shows an increase of 0.3% relative to 2002. A large decrease in protein content relative to 2002, to a more normal level, is evident for the Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR) wheat class. Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW) wheat shows a small decrease in protein content over last year, while a slight increase is evident for Canada Western Soft White Spring (CWSWS) wheat. The protein content of CWXHW wheat is 13.6%, 0.5% lower than this year's value for CWRS wheat.

Insufficient sample was available to assess the protein content of Canada Western Extra Strong (CWES) and Canada Prairie Spring White (CPSW) wheat accurately.

All wheat classes, compared to 2002 and 2001
	Protein content, %¹
Class	2003	2002	2001
CWRS	14.1	14.6	14.7
CWAD	13.6	13.3	14.1
CWES	N/A	N/A	13.4
CPSR	12.4	14.5	13.1
CWRW	11.2	11.5	11.1
CPSW	N/A	N/A	13.0
CWSWS	11.4	11.2	11.0
CWXHW	13.6	N/A	N/A
¹ Mean value, N x 5.7; 13.5% moisture basis Abbreviations used in this table: CPSR - Canada Prairie Spring Red CPSW - Canada Prairie Soft Winter CWAD - Canada Western Amber Durum CWES - Canada Western Extra Strong CWRS - Canada Western Red Spring CWRW - Canada Western Red Winter CWSWS - Canada Western Soft White Spring CWXHW - Canada Western Experimental Hard White N - Nitrogen N/A - Not available No. - Number

Last updated: 2005-01-04

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