Prairie wheat growers with fusarium-infected No. 2, 3 or 4 Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat on their hands can now sign up for the Canadian Wheat Board’s 2008-09 fusarium program.
A separate CWB fusarium program was put in place last month for No. 2 Canada Western Red Winter (CWRW), for which sign-up began Sept. 19 and for which the sign-up deadline has now been extended from Sept. 30 to Oct. 10.
Sign-up began Wednesday (Oct. 8) for the new No. 2, 3 or 4 CWRS delivery contract program, which offers 100 per cent acceptance and a delivery guarantee over three delivery periods during the crop year.
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Sign-up is on a first-come, first-served basis until the beginning of November or until the program is filled, the CWB said in a notice to wheat growers Wednesday on its website.
Growers who take part in the program will be eligible to receive payment for No. 2 CWRS, minus a discount based on fusarium levels over the one per cent tolerance allowed under the Canadian Grain Commission (up to a maximum of two per cent).
For grain that grades No. 3 or 4, a participating grower’s payment would reflect a discount based on fusarium levels between two and five per cent. The discount would be applied on the difference between the actual and allowable fusarium levels.
The maximum allowable fusarium level for No. 2 CWRS is one per cent; for Nos. 3 and 4 CWRS, it’s two per cent.
Thus, for example, a producer delivering No. 2 CWRS with 1.5 per cent fusarium would see an additional 0.5 per cent dockage (1.5 per cent minus one per cent) off his net tonnes delivered.
The discount applied to the 2008-09 CWRS fusarium program reflects the lower ratio of DON-to-fusarium that’s been observed in CWRS compared to CWRW. “It also reflects the availability of greater blending opportunities,” the CWB said.
The board emphasized that the CWRS program is available only to farmers with high-fusarium CWRS, and that it reserves the right to request a sample of any grain grown outside of previously identified fusarium-affected regions.
The CWB said it will offer higher fusarium delivery opportunities for No. 2 CWRS later in the crop year “as market opportunities arise.”
As with the CWRW program, the CWB said it reserves the right to withdraw the CWRS offer or extend the deadline date.
