Protein content in Western Canada's most-prized milling wheat fell well below long-term averages in 2010, Canadian government data shows, underscoring the global tightness in premium supplies that has ignited wheat prices to 2-1/2-year highs.
Canada, the world's top spring wheat exporter, has struggled to satisfy top buyers like Japan, which recently took the unusual step of lowering its standards for top milling wheat. Protein content is one of the most critical factors in wheat's baking qualities such as dough strength and water -absorbing capacity.
The average protein content of all milling grades of last year's Canada Western Red Spring wheat was 13.4 percent, which is up 0.2 percentage points from 2009 but well off the 10-year average of 13.8 percent, according to data released by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC). The commission is an agency of the Canadian government that certifies grain.
The supply situation has worsened because premium-quality wheat makes up a sharply lower proportion of the 2010 wheat crop than usual, said Nancy Edwards, program manager of bread wheat research at the commission on Wednesday. Less than 40 percent of the Western Canada wheat crop fell in the top two quality grades last year, compared to the norm of up to 70 percent, and flooding caused further devastation to Australia's high-quality grain.
The Wheat Board holds a monopoly on sales of Western Canada's milling wheat. Protein content in the highest-quality grade of Canada Western Red Spring wheat favoured by Japan averaged 13.2 percent in 2010, the same as last year but far off long-term averages.
The protein content percentage doesn't measure the quality of the protein itself, and last year's wheat crop suffered mildew damage in excessively wet conditions and harm from frost. Such conditions can break up protein, affecting how wheat performs during mixing and baking, said Susan Stevenson, a chemist in wheat protein research at the commission. Hot, dry conditions boost protein content in wheat, but last spring, much of Western Canada received record rainfall, which downgraded and downsized crops.
Saturated ground conditions in Saskatchewan and Manitoba make serious flooding a strong possibility again this spring. A third straight year of low supplies of top-quality wheat would draw down the board's high-protein stocks for Japan, said Lawrence Klusa, quality control manager for the Wheat Board. Even in poor-quality years, however, there are pockets of the Prairies with high-protein level wheat, he said. Protein level is the single most important quality factor for durum, the wheat used to make pasta, Edwards said. The protein average for all grades of Canada Western Amber Durum slipped to 12.7 percent from 12.8 a year ago, compared with the 10-year average of 13.1 percent.