Quality of western Canadian canola, 2009

• Previous page
• Table of contents
• Next page

Harvest survey samples

Samples for the Canadian Grain Commission canola harvest survey are collected from producers, crushing plants and grain handling offices across western Canada. The samples are cleaned to remove dockage prior to testing. Harvest survey samples are analyzed for oil, protein, chlorophyll and total glucosinolates using a NIRS 6500 scanning near-infrared spectrometer. Industry Services grain inspectors assign grade level based on the Official Grain Grading Guide for Canola and Rapeseed (Chapter 10).

Composite samples are typically used for free fatty acids and fatty acid composition analyses. Composites are prepared by combining Canola, No. 1 Canada samples by provincial crop district; Canola, No. 2 and No. 3 Canada samples by province, and Canola, Sample Canada samples by western Canada.

This year’s harvest survey report included 1,484 canola samples, less than the 1,677 samples analyzed in 2008 and the 2,015 analyzed in 2007. Specialty oil samples such as high oleic acid, low linolenic acid, and high erucic acid, were excluded from this report.

Saskatchewan contributed 592 samples, Alberta and British Columbia 489, and Manitoba 403 samples during the survey period, September 1st to December 1st, 2009. Weighting factors used to calculate provincial and western Canadian means were derived from the previous five years average production for each crop district and the 2009 provincial production estimates in Statistics Canada’s Field Crop Reporting Series No. 8, December 3, 2009. Factors used to calculate grade distributions are taken from crop reports published by grain companies and provincial agriculture departments.

Proportion of samples identified as Brassica napus and Brassica rapa

	2009		2008		1999–2008
	B. rapa	B. napus	B. rapa	B. napus	B. rapa	B. napus
	Percent
1 Includes the part of the Peace River area that is in British Columbia
Manitoba	0.23	99.77	0	100	0.23	99.77
Saskatchewan	0.44	99.56	0.13	99.87	1.33	98.67
Alberta1	1.13	98.87	0.99	99.01	5.05	94.95
Western Canada	0.61	99.39	0.33	99.67	2.05	97.95

• Previous page
• Table of contents
• Next page