Grain Research Laboratory Annual Program Report 2023

Message from the Director General

I am delighted to present the 2023 Annual Program Report from the Canadian Grain Commission’s Grain Research Laboratory. During the past year our dedicated team undertook a diverse range of activities to enhance the understanding of grain science. Grain samples collected through our Harvest Sample Program allowed us to evaluate grain grading standards, investigate quality and safety issues, support the development of new markets for grain and improve our analytical methods. Our teams also collaborated with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, breeders and other sector partners to investigate samples of CDC Copeland barley that contained a relatively high percentage of an undesignated DNA profile and found that the characteristics and malting quality of these samples did not differ from samples with very low levels of the undesignated DNA.

An important achievement in 2023 was ISO17025 reaccreditation for 4 testing methods and new accreditation for 3 malt testing methods from the Standards Council of Canada. Achieving this accreditation promotes confidence in our work nationally and around the world.

We also published our Science Strategy which lays out a vision for the future of science and research at the Canadian Grain Commission and positions us to respond to the latest trends and developments in the grain sector. This strategy was developed in consultation with producer and industry organizations, end users, academia, federal government, provincial governments, and Canadian Grain Commission staff. It identifies 5 drivers that will shape the future of our science and research:

• global trends and emerging market issues
• advances in technology
• evolving end uses
• climate change and extreme weather
• food safety and nutrition

This year’s report highlights research that aligns with these drivers. You will learn about our work on understanding how drought affects the quality of malting barley and how heat stress influences the dough properties of wheat. You will discover how we improved the analysis of cyanogenic glycosides in flaxseed, studied the factors that impact the quality of faba beans and evaluated the accuracy and precision of our sampling methods. The 2023 report also describes how we implemented new methods for high throughput DNA-based identification of Canadian barley varieties and developed predictive models that can help forecast the risk of microbial diseases such as Fusarium head blight, ergot and blackleg.

I extend my gratitude to our exceptional team for their commitment to excellence in research and innovation, which is demonstrated by their hard work, dedication and passion. I also thank our valued stakeholders for their collaboration and support. Together, we will continue to make significant strides in grain science and in our understanding of the factors that affect the quality and safety of Canadian grains. Thank you for your interest in the Grain Research Laboratory’s work. I invite you to share your comments and thoughts with us and look forward to your feedback.

Dr. Esther Salvano
Director General
Grain Research Laboratory
esther.salvano@grainscanada.gc.ca