Certified Wheat Seed Ensures Quality of the Loaf

Requiring More of Farmers

“We do require that our farmers do things above and beyond compared to when they are growing generic wheat for the Canadian Wheat Board,” Dyck said. “We’re asking them to do additional cleaning of their equipment, provide separate storage, and complete additional documentation.” Warburtons also requires growers to complete an on-farm food safety program.

Without certified seed, Dyck said, the Warburtons program would be very difficult to rationalize and maintain. “We have selected these varieties for specific reasons; if we didn’t have certified seed, we wouldn’t know what we were getting. Those excellent bake characteristics that are in our selected varieties would be lost.

“We understand the importance of wheat and how it can directly relate to our end product,” he said. “It makes a big contribution to Warburtons’ commitment to excellence from the seed to the crumb.”

Certified seed and the required steps for identity preservation also ensure traceability. “If there are any problems, we can trace all the way back through the value chain, if needed,” Dyck said.

Warburtons’ commitment to sourcing wheat comes at a premium, but the company believes the benefits outweigh the costs. One of the strengths of the program, Dyck believes, is the strong relationships the company has forged with plant breeders.

“We’re trying to give them as much information as possible to let them know what Warburtons is looking for in new varieties. That dialogue with the breeder is helping us pinpoint some wheat varieties and crosses that are working better for us. In the last two years, the breeders here in Canada have come across more lines than ever before that are near fits to our program.”

Bernard Tobin is a writer and consultant for the Synthesis Agri-Food Network.