Growing season weather impacts on breadmaking quality of Canada western red spring wheat grown in producer fields across western Canada

Abstract

A study was conducted to quantify the relationships between growing season weather conditions and end-use quality of Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat (Triticum aestivum) grown in producer fields across western Canada (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). Grain samples received an official grade at the Canadian Grain Commission and were milled into flour using a Buhler flour. Flour samples underwent an extensive analysis of flour, dough, and breadmaking quality. Daily precipitation amounts and maximum/minimum temperatures were accumulated for each field and then compared to quality data. In this study we also investigated the effectiveness of the Canadian grain grading system’s ability to segregate wheat samples into levels of increasing quality performance and uniformity. We found that for several flour and dough quality analysis, this was often achieved for either quality performance or uniformity, but there was not an improvement in both with an improvement in grade except in bread quality.