34 GERMINATION.CA JULY 2018 THE CANADIAN GRAIN Commission’s decision to shift five varieties from the Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) class to the new Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) class as of Aug. 1, 2018 isn’t a surprise to producers. It’s a continuation of the CGC’s evaluation of all varieties within the CWRS class for gluten strength and protein content that started back in 2015. The changes (billed “wheat class modernization” by the CGC) were expected, if not exactly welcome to some in the industry. But what exactly is changing and why, and how will the changes impact producers? What’s Changing, and When? In 2015, 25 varieties were shifted out of the CWRS class, including popular varieties Lillian, Unity and Harvest. Producers were given a three-year grace period before changes were scheduled to take effect so they could offload seed. At the same time, the CGC said a further, unspeci- fied number of varieties needed more testing. Cue this spring, and five more CWRS varieties (AAC Redwater, AC Domain, Muchmore, Vesper and 5605 HR CL) have been shifted to the CNHR class. “Back when the [wheat class modernization] project came out, there were 25 critical CWRS varieties that were moved to the CNHR class,” explains Daryl Beswitherick, program manager for National Inspection Standards and Industry Services at the Canadian Grain Commission. But at that time, the CGC also identified what Beswitherick calls “suspect” varieties, for which there wasn’t enough information to make an informed decision on classification. “We talked to the owners of those varieties about what needed to be done, but we didn’t make a public announcement to avoid causing market harm. They had to [gather] two years of trial data, and then the CGC did WHEATCLASS MODERNIZATION: WHAT,WHEN, WHYANDHOW The CGC’s decision to downgrade several CWRS varieties has met with backlash from industry — but it might be good news for producers in the long run. Julienne Isaacs Daryl Beswitherick is program manager for National Inspection Standards and Industry Services at the Canadian Grain Commission.