Changes are in store for Canadian wheat designations, with the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) proposing two new wheat classes as of Aug. 1, 2016.

Canada Northern Hard Red (CNHR) and Canada Western Special Purpose (CWSP) would be implemented, while scrapping the existing interim wheat class. The changes would also include the elimination of the Canada Western Feed and Canada Western General Purpose.

"The feedback we received was the industry didn't want to have additional wheat classes and increased segregation," says the CGC's program manager for quality assurance standards, Daryl Beswitherick. "So by really readjusting the wheat classes to better describe and fit the proposed new wheat class system, we wanted to clean up some of the classes that are not being used to their full potential."

Earlier this year, the CGC also announced re-designations to 29 varieties of Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) and Canada Prairie Spring Red (CPSR), originally intended to take effect in 2017. This deadline is now being pushed back to 2018.

Beswitherick says these changes will impact producers, especially those that preferred varieties like Harvest, Lillian, and Unity VB, but the changes also come partly in response to international customers who are concerned about gluten strength.

"The Canadian Grain Commission feels we need to address that issue in order to maintain our market share overseas," he says. "The gluten strength is the main driving force for looking at the CWRS class."

The CGC says it will continue discussions with stakeholders by communicating clear information and procedures to the entire wheat value chains.