ARCHIVED - Western Standards Committee recommendations from April 21, 2009
This Web page has been archived on the Web.
Archived Content
Information identified as archived on the Web is for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It has not been altered or updated after the date of archiving. Web pages that are archived on the Web are not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards. As per the Communications Policy of the Government of Canada, you can request alternate formats on the "Contact Us" page.
Standard samples
The Western Standards Committee recommended repealing the 2004 Wheat, No. 2 Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS), Green Guide effective August 1, 2009. The decision was made based on the degradation of quality of the current samples in service and insufficient surplus material to replace the samples.
Standard samples provide a visual definition of “degree of soundness” in the Standard of Quality for each grain. Standard samples previously adopted for other grades and grains will continue to be used.
Did you know?
Standard samples for a grade of grain provide a visual definition of “degree of soundness” in the Standard of Quality for each grain.
Grading changes
The Western Standards Committee recommended the following grading changes that will take effect on August 1, 2009:
Oats, Canada Western (CW)
Recommendation: Revise the current definition of “Hulled and hulless.”
The revised definition will include this paragraph: “Oats are graded without reference to variety. However, for samples containing 75% or more of hulless oats, Hulless forms part of the grade name, and tolerances for Hulled and hulless are disregarded.”
This recommendation reflects current industry practices. Most contracts for hulless oats are for 75% or more hulless rather than 95% or more. As well, the word “variety” was removed and replaced with “oat” because it was felt that “variety” was too confusing.
Triticale and Hulless Barley
Recommendation: Replace K values with percentage tolerances for ergot and sclerotinia in triticale and ergot and stones in hulless barley.
K refers to kernel count. The kernel count is the number of kernel-sized pieces in a 500 gram sample. The recommended tolerances are percentages of the net weight of a sample.
Triticale, Canada
| Grade name | Ergot | |
|---|---|---|
| Current tolerances | Recommended tolerances | |
| No. 1 Canada | 4K | 0.025% |
| No. 2 Canada | 8K | 0.05% |
| Grade name | Sclerotinia | |
|---|---|---|
| Current tolerances | Recommended tolerances | |
| No. 1 Canada | 4K | 0.025% |
| No. 2 Canada | 8K | 0.05% |
Barley, Canada Western Hulless (CW)
| Grade name | Ergot | |
|---|---|---|
| Current tolerances | Recommended tolerances | |
| Select CW 2 Row | 3K | 0.02% |
| Select CW 6 Row | 3K | 0.02% |
| Grade name | Stones | |
|---|---|---|
| Current tolerances | Recommended tolerances | |
| Select CW 2 Row | 2K | 0.06% |
| Select CW 6 Row | 2K | 0.06% |
| Standard CW Hulless | 5K | 0.15% |
Grading studies and projects
The Western Standards Committee recommended that the Canadian Grain Commission continue work on the following projects:
- Use near-infrared reflectance (NIR) technology to assess chlorophyll in canola
- Study the relationship between fusarium-damaged kernels and levels of deoxynivalenol (DON) for all classes of Western wheat
- Study the impact of hard vitreous kernels (HVK) on the end-use quality of Wheat, No. 1 Canada Western Red Spring
- Study the impact of merging primary and export specifications for wheat
- Use Rapid Visco Analysis (RVA) technology to rapidly assess damage caused by sprouting in wheat
Moisture conversion tables
A new moisture conversion table will be released July 1, 2009 for Hulless oats.
A revised moisture conversion table will be released July 1, 2009 for Soft White Spring wheat. The new chart has values that are approximately 0.2% lower than those on the existing chart.