As the harvest rolls in across the prairies, grain inspectors for the Canadian Grain Commission are busy evaluating crop samples.
Chief Grain Inspector Derek Bunkowsky says it's a little premature to make a blanket statement on the quality of this year's crop based on the number of samples they've seen because it's still early in the harvest sample program.
"From what we've seen, the Canada Western Red Spring crop is looking very good. The vast majority of those samples are still grading a #1. The durum wheat, we're seeing some challenges there. Durum, we're seeing some mildew, some sprouted, some severe midge, and some darkened kernels that are degrading quite a large chunk of the durum crop this year. "
Through the CGC's Harvest Sample Program producers send in grain samples for free and receive an unofficial grade and quality rating.
According to the CGC's website, there are a number of evaluations that can be done:
- Falling Number for wheat and rye
- Vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol or DON) levels for wheat, corn, barley and oats
- Dockage assessment on canola and mustard seed
- Protein content on barley, beans, chickpeas, lentils, oats, peas and wheat
- Oil, protein and chlorophyll content for canola
- Oil and protein content and iodine value for flaxseed
- Oil and protein for mustard seed and soybeans
Farmers who did not receive a kit in the mail can reach out to the CGC to request one here. Farmers have until November 30 to mail in crop samples, with December 31 being the last day for sample inspection and analysis.
The information gathered through the process is key in helping farmers market their grain and helps provide information to our customers on the quality of this years crop.
With the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence in various areas, is there potential for its application in grain grading?
That's something the Canadian Grain Commission is studying for some of its services.
Bunkowsky says a key part of this is going to be assessing its accuracy and validating it.
The first piece of equipment is in place, with the CGC looking at doing a project on certain grading factors in wheat in the next several months. They'll be looking at things like foreign material, ergot, sprouted kernels, and fusarium damage.
He says one of the most exciting thing about this kind of technology is the ability of some of this new image analysis equipment to really accurately identify things that are difficult to see with the human eye.
"So for example, there's been some recent work done with artificial intelligence imagery equipment that can accurately identify malt barley varieties with up to 98% accuracy in comparison to the DNA method. It's been proven to be that accurate and it is. I think it's quite an advancement and that for sure has the ability to really speed up the process in terms of verifying varietal purity."
Bunkowsky notes that before any new technology would be adopted into the industry and accepted by the CGC as being official in nature, there would have to be consultation with the industry.
"That would happen through the Grain Standards Committees, working with stakeholders right across the sector, and make sure that everyone's on board with that and accepting of it before it would be officially implemented as a method for grain inspection."