Does wheat have a place in the bio fuels market

[craig]

I am posing this question. If we are to develop cereals specifically for the ethanol market does it make sense to use the wheat platform as the logical choice? I ask this because it seems the current regulatory and marketing system which controls the day is totally opposite the direction needed in developing what is needed in the industrial market place. While there have been overtures that the wheat industry is trying to address these issues, in reality they are just window dressing. Maybe it makes more sense to look at other cereals as a logical choice for this market place.

[TOM4CWB]

Craig,

Wheat grows the best, has the best "risk management" package, best yeild potential, and best rotational benefit year after year. Especially Winter Wheat grown for biofuel.

Canola can beat wheat... if we work through some desease issues... I believe they work best TOGETHER in rotation! Add in some pulse to condition the land... and we have a winning combination!

[charliep]

Carman Read, a consultant here in Alberta, has been very optimistic about wheat as a feedstock for ethanol. One thing he noted is there is an inverse relationship between protein content and yield. If breeder target high starch/low protein, there can be relatively rapid advancement in yield. There is also lots of areas of the world that have developed this type of wheat (wheat for flat bread, etc. grown with the objective of high yield/feeding people versus the perfect loaf of bread).

A outcome will be western Canadian farmers will have to target their preferred market right from the day the crop goes in the ground. Lots more contracting opportunities.

Will note the following article on barley (not wheat).

More starch wanted in barley.

Written by AM 1250/ Mix 96 News
Tuesday, 10 July 2007An official with the Canadian International Grains Institute feels we need to continue reducing protein content in barley in favour of increasing starch. Rex Newkirk says there is a huge demand for energy from our cereals which is primarily provided by starch. He adds protein is no longer as valuable because of the by-products being added to many livestock diets. He points to things like canola meal and dried distillers grains as examples. With biofuel production ramping up across North America it will become even more important to increase energy content as more by-products become available.

[charliep]

One issue someone raised over the last couple of days is technology around ethanol production. Their comment was we are taking corn ethanol processes and applying to wheat (which adds complications like adding enzymes/other things which are not necessary with corn). Investment in R&D to develop distilling processes more suited to wheat needs to occur. It may also mean looking at other crops like sugar beets, turnips, etc.

[Lifer]

What about other cereal crops? My undertsanding is that something like triticale may have a better fit for a bio fuels market.

[craig]

No one is addressing the regulatory issues of wheat. Without a resolution of the KVD issue and a movement to some other system wheat will continue to lag behind. High protein hard red spring wheat still carries the day and I see nothing that will change this in the near term. This at the same time as our premium bread markets continue to shrink. Wheat is a logical choice in our climate for bio fuel production. That being said constraints need to be removed to wheat breeders for wheat to have any chance of succeeding. Just to add more fire to the discussion. Industrial use purposes of grains seems to be the logical avenue for GMO's.Even if we can get over the KVD hurdle I don't see the GMO issue in wheat being resolved anytime soon Maybe it is more important to pick a crop where GMO is less of an issue.

[wd9]

Craig, what is the realistic energy balance of wheat today?

[charliep]

Is the issue regulatory today or playing catch up/a culture that doesn't embrace change quickly (starting at plant breeders and moving forward to the farm community and then finally customers who still think cheap input/commodity).

I note the new multi purpose wheat class. I assume this will remove some of the barriers but taking Canada breeding programs to the next stage (designer wheat produced for starch) will take time.

[craig]

Wd9 I don't understand your question. Can you elborate. Charlie I'm not sure we can imply that plant breeders are slow to embrace change. They are only operating within the current regulatory structure. You would not breed material that hasn't a hope to be registered. I appreciate the fact that change doesn't happen quickly but it is also important to point out that for that very reason it is important to have the correct regulatory framework in place to day so that breeding efforts can start now not 3 or 4 years down the road. A recent discussion indicates that spring crops using the latest technology and winter nuseries still takes 7 years from start to registration. For winter crops you can double that. I would suggest that in today's fast moving world you do not have the luxury of taking the slow road. You are either in the game or your not. We do seem to have a mentality in the wheat industry in Canada that what worked in the past will continue to be a successful blueprint into the future. In regards to the new multi purpose wheat class I do think we need to ask the question as to what barriers are removed. It does open a door by removing protein requirements but does it provide anything else. We do know that without the total removal of all KVD requirements it does nothing for the winter wheat industry.

[wd9]

How much energy does a litre of ethanol provide versus to grow grain, create the pesticides and the fertilizer from hydrocarbons and ship it and process wheat into ethanoland potentially drying the DDG's?

Energy balance. That will determine it's success. Soon those questions will be asked of biofuels and probably tax credited accordingly.

[craig]

wd9. While you ask a simple common sense question, I would suggest that there are more things at play that have a bigger influence on the bio fuels market than energy balance. A simple anology would be does it make sense to use high energy inputs to produce a crop, load it on trains and boats ship it half way around the world and then basically give it away in third world countries. There is no doubt that wheat cannot compete with sugarcane and corn on an energy basis however Western Canada is limited in the crop options currently available to service this market. Whether we think it is morally right or not governments have jumped on the band wagon to produce a new market for some of our production. What we need to be able to do is chart a course of research and development to service this market.

[wd9]

If it is a simple common sense question, it should be easy to answer.

[jensend]

and the fact that the simple answer is being avoided is an answer in itself. if the objective is to produce energy in a form to replace fossil energy wheat isn't the answer because it seems nobody wants to address the issue of energy balance. has anybody ever stepped up and said more fuel will go into cars because of this than if we just draw the oil straight out of the ground, refine it and put it in the tank?

[craig]

In reply to the above threads. I do not not know the answer. If I was investing in a ethanol plant I might feel compelled to know the answer. My question back to you is if wheat or any of our other alternatives are not viable then is Canada just prepared to move to the sidelines. By your statements you imply the world is run on common sense. Are farm subsudies, food safety and environmental issues all run on common sense.

[jensend]

so a bunch of stupid decisions justify another supid decision? if the energy balance is negative we're wasting both fossil energy and foodgrain. the crop then is wasting all the solar energy it absorbs and we're throwing that away too. sounding more like it will receive govt. support? seems like the perfect target of govt. money.