Saskatchewan producers sweep Master Grower Awards

Source: Saskatchewan Agriculture and Food

It was an all-Saskatchewan show as the Canadian Wheat Board (CWB) presented its Master Grower Awards for the 2006/2007 crop year during the recent Grain World conference in Winnipeg.

“The Master Grower program is our way of recognizing the achievements of Canada’s prairie grain farmers,” said CWB agronomist Mike Grenier. “It rewards top producers and allows their knowledge to be shared with the rest of the Western Canadian grain industry.”

Farmers are asked to submit a grain sample from the year’s harvest to the CWB. Samples are inspected by both the CWB and quality experts, and judged on visual quality, end-use market suitability and crop management practices.

There are various classes of cereal grains under which producers can enter, including malting barley, selected red winter wheat, hard white spring wheat and durum. Awards are not necessarily made in all classes every year.

Annual award winners are invited to the CWB’s Grain World outlook conference in Winnipeg, where they are presented with a commemorative plaque and a jacket bearing the Master Growers’ logo, and officially inducted into the Master Growers’ club. They are also invited to sit in on the various Grain World sessions.

When the CWB announced the Master Grower award winners for 2006/2007, it was a clean sweep for Saskatchewan: Paul Cherkas of Kamsack for six-row malting barley; Doug and Brenda Martin of Lumsden for two-row malting barley; Dale and Tracey Richter of Broadview for two-row malting barley; and Blain and Linda Haubrich of Glenbain for Canadian Western Amber Durum.

Brenda Martin says it was a tremendous experience. “They treated us very well, and it was really educational, a very good experience,” she noted.

Martin and her husband, Doug, have a 3,500-acre farm on which they grow wheat, barley, lentils, canola, canary seed and durum. They also run about 100 head of cattle.

“We seed malting barley every year. If it doesn’t go malting, we have feed for cattle, although we generally keep some back for feed either way,” she said. “Our barley has always been accepted as malt. In our area, conditions are usually just right for it.”

Regarding all of the Master Growers coming from Saskatchewan, Martin remarked, “It was kind of cool. We must be doing something right!”

She feels the excellent weather this past crop year made a big difference, especially when comparing Saskatchewan crops with those from Manitoba. However, Martin can’t help exuding a little pride in noting that the two-row barley she and Doug grew was chosen from among 85 samples submitted.

“I wish every farmer could go through the experience to see what the Canadian Grain Commission, Grain Institute and Wheat Board are doing,” she stated. “We listened to representatives from Brazil and China, and they can’t say enough about the quality of grain they get from Canada.”

Martin says that award recipients were also able to discuss different farming practices with producers from across the west, and to learn from their experiences.

Producers looking to enter the next round of Master Grower awards will need to have their samples to the Board by late September. Annual results and deadlines are posted on the CWB website at www.cwb.ca.

For more information, contact:

Brenda Martin
Lumsden SK
Phone: (306) 731-2892

Maureen Fitzhenry, Media Relations Manager
Canadian Wheat Board
Phone: (204) 983-3101
E-mail: maureen_fitzhenry@cwb.ca