Quality of western Canadian canola, 2009

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Chlorophyll content

Producer samples of Canola, No. 1 Canada averaged 15.4 mg/kg chlorophyll in the 2009 survey, significantly higher than the 11.1 mg/kg in the 2008 harvest. The mean chlorophyll level for Alberta samples (16.3 mg/kg) is higher than for Manitoba (13.8 mg/kg) and Saskatchewan (15.4 mg/kg). Chlorophyll levels for Canola, No. 2 Canada samples averaged 27.9 mg/kg, similar to the 24.4 mg/kg for Canola, No. 2 Canada seed in 2008.

The average chlorophyll content for canola samples graded Canola Sample Canada is lower than the chlorophyll content of Canola, No. 2 Canada; only one producer sample was graded the Canola Sample Canada because of its distinctly green seed count (DGR), all the other samples were down graded because of their high contents of total conspicuous admixture (> 2.0%) and/or inconspicuous admixture (> 5.0%).

Distinctly green seed (DGR) levels seemed to be higher or similar at best than last year’s results; they ranged from 0 to 29 in 2009 whereas in 2008 they ranged from 0 to 15. Results showed higher DGR in Alberta than in Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

The October 2009 shipments of canola leaving both Vancouver and Thunderbay had average chlorophyll levels of 14.9 mg/kg. The chlorophyll value in October from Vancouver was equal to the average chlorophyll levels in the 2008–09 exports. The levels of chlorophyll in Vancouver export shipments are likely to change and increase since overall chlorophyll levels were higher in 2009 when compared to 2008.

Chlorophyll content of 2009 harvest survey samples, by grade and province

	Number of samples	Chlorophyll content (mg/kg)
		mean	minimum	maximum
1 Includes part of the Peace River area that is in British Columbia
2 Values are weighted averages based on production by province as estimated by Statistics Canada
Canola, No. 1 Canada
MB	378	13.8	2.6	38.4
SK	569	15.4	2.9	57.1
AB1	408	16.3	0.3	46.9
Western Canada2	1355	15.4	0.3	57.1
Canola, No. 2 Canada
MB	13	27.1	9.1	51.3
SK	11	20.4	8.3	48.7
AB1	69	36.1	4.5	74.6
Western Canada2	93	26.4	4.5	74.6
Canola, No. 3 Canada
Western Canada2	18	44.5	12.7	81.3
Canola, Sample Canada
Western Canada2	18	14	0	148

Chlorophyll content of harvest survey samples, 1990–2009 - Canola, No. 1 Canada

Crop year	Chlorophyll content g/kg
1990	9.0
1991	10.0
1992	14.0
1993	16.0
1994	11.0
1995	14.0
1996	15.0
1997	11.0
1998	13.0
1999	15.0
2000	14.4
2001	16.7
2002	13.4
2003	15.0
2004	16.5
2005	13.9
2006	13.7
2007	14.6
2008	11.0
2009	15.4

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