About variety designation lists, grain varieties and classes

What are the Canadian Grain Commission's variety designation lists?

Under the Canada Grain Act, the Canadian Grain Commission has the authority to designate the class of grain for which new grain varieties are eligible. The variety designation lists, maintained by the Canadian Grain Commission, for Canadian wheat, barley and flaxseed include all varieties eligible for each class.

What is the purpose of the Canadian Grain Commission's variety designation lists?

The purpose of the Canadian Grain Commission's variety designation lists is to help producers and grain handlers identify which varieties are eligible for the top grades of each class. The Canadian grain industry uses the lists to keep ineligible varieties from undermining the quality of grain shipments and possibly causing problems for end users.

Ineligible varieties are one of the following:

• Varieties that have not been registered in Canada
  Example:
  The American wheat varieties, Alsen, Amidon, Briggs, and Forge, are recent examples of non-registered varieties entering the Canadian handling system.
• Registered varieties of another class
  Example:
  A registered variety of Canada Prairie Spring Red wheat is ineligible for delivery as Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat.
• Registered varieties of the same class, but that don't possess quality attributes for the class
  Example:
  CWRS variety, Laval-19 is registered for production in Canada, but is only eligible for the grade of feed wheat because of its milling and baking characteristics.

Some varieties on the designation lists carry conditions relating to eligibility or registration restrictions.

Why are varieties added to and removed from the variety designation lists?

New grain varieties are added to the Canadian Grain Commission's variety designation lists when they are registered in Canada. The Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Variety Registration Office (VRO) officially registers new varieties that have been supported by various varietal recommending committees across Canada.

Grain varieties are removed from the variety designation lists when they are deregistered by the VRO.

Why do the lists for some wheat classes, such as Canada Prairie Spring White (CPSW), just include a few varieties?

The number of varieties in each wheat class reflects the interests of public and private plant breeders in developing new varieties within a class. This, in turn, is based on producer and customer demands. For example, there are many Canada Western Red Spring wheat varieties listed because it is the largest wheat class in Canada in terms of production area and customer demand.

Can I deliver any wheat variety?

Yes, but if it's not on the Canadian Grain Commission's variety designation lists, it will be graded according to the lowest grade available for that class of wheat.

If you are growing a variety not currently on the variety designation lists - whether registered or non-registered - through an Identity Preserved (IP) program, your wheat must be handled in a manner consistent with the IP program and shouldn't be mixed with other varieties on the designation lists for delivery.

What role do the Canadian Grain Commission's Western and Eastern Grains Standards committees perform relating to the variety designation lists?

The Western and Eastern Standards Committees recommend specifications for grades of grain, select and recommend standard samples to the Canadian Grain Commission. Their members don't approve grain varieties; the Canadian Food Inspection Agency's Variety Registration Office approves them for registration.

Decisions on malting barley varieties

If a variety is registered and supported by the Evaluation Team on Barley Quality of the Prairie Recommending Committee for Oats and Barley, it is included on the variety designation list for malting barley.

The Canadian Grain Commission, Canadian Wheat Board, Brewing and Malting Barley Research Institute, Canadian Malting Barley Technical Centre, grain companies or marketers can request the following:

• Adding varieties that are registered, but not supported by the evaluation team
• Removing varieties that were supported by the evaluation team

An industry committee will consider each request. If there are objections to a request, the industry committee and the party making the request will present information to the Canadian Grain Commission for a final decision.