Quality of Canada Western Amber Durum wheat exports in 2025-2026
The Canadian Grain Commission monitors the quality of wheat export cargoes to ensure that they meet customer expectations. Cargo monitoring gives us an indication of how effective our quality assurance system and grade standards are in ensuring consistent quality from year to year for each class and grade of wheat that is shipped. We also use cargo monitoring to determine how well our Harvest Sample Program analyses predict the quality of subsequent cargo shipments.
Canada Western Amber Durum wheat
CWAD is the second most widely grown class of wheat in Western Canada. It is used in a wide variety of products, including long and short dried pasta, fresh pasta, sheeted pasta, couscous and baked bread. CWAD wheat has superior milling quality, producing high semolina yield with low ash content and speck count. It also has the high yellow pigment content necessary to produce end-products with a bright-yellow colour. The high protein content and strong gluten properties of CWAD wheat ensure superior cooking quality of pasta and good performance in durum bread.
Reporting methods
Aggregate samples of wheat export shipments, weighted by volume, are prepared each quarter from loading samples, based on class and grade, and are analyzed according to our standard procedures and methods. Our quarterly reports present the average quality of export cargoes of Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) wheat from the 2025-2026 shipping year, which began on August 1, 2025, and ends on July 31, 2026.
Quarterly cargo summary for 2025-2026
Export cargo aggregates of quarter 1 CWAD wheat showed very high protein content, high test weight, high hard vitreous kernel content, and large kernel size. Falling Number values above 375 seconds indicated sound grain quality. All aggregates demonstrated very strong milling performance, with total milling yields exceeding 74% on a clean wheat basis. Semolina from all grades had large granulation and low ash content, although speck counts were slightly elevated, particularly in the lower grades. CWAD aggregates also exhibited strong, well-balanced gluten properties based on gluten index and Alveogram measurements. Across all grades, pasta showed bright yellow color, firm texture and superior cooking quality.
No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 CWAD exports in Quarter 1 through Quarter 3 (August 2025 to April 2026)
Exported
Million tonnes:
3.9
Vessels
Cargo vessels deployed:
181
Countries
Shipped to:
38
For detailed export tonnage data, please refer to Exports of Canadian grain from licensed facilities.
Graph data
| Quarter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD | No. 3 CWAD | Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quarter 1 Aug-Oct 2025 |
0.25 | 0.47 | 0.06 | 0.77 |
| Quarter 2 Nov 2025-Jan 2026 |
0.48 | 0.59 | 0.56 | 1.63 |
| Quarter 3 Feb-April 2026 |
0.55 | 0.34 | 0.58 | 1.47 |
| Quarter 4 May-July 2026 |
- | - | - | - |
| Cumulative | 1.27 | 1.41 | 1.19 | 3.87 |
Graph data
| Protein content, % (13.5% mb) |
Quarter 1 Aug-Oct 2025 |
Quarter 2 Nov 2025-Jan 2026 |
Quarter 3 Feb-April 2026 |
Quarter 4 May-July 2026 |
Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ≤ 13.9 | 0 | 12 | 7 | - | 7 |
| 14.0-14.4 | 29 | 33 | 22 | - | 28 |
| 14.5-14.9 | 24 | 26 | 47 | - | 32 |
| 15.0-15.4 | 33 | 21 | 18 | - | 23 |
| 15.5-15.9 | 10 | 8 | 5 | - | 8 |
| >16.0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | - | 1 |
Graph data
| Test weight, kg/hL | Quarter 1 Aug-Oct 2025 |
Quarter 2 Nov 2025-Jan 2026 |
Quarter 3 Feb-April 2026 |
Quarter 4 May-July 2026 |
Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 79 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| 79.0-79.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| 80.0-80.9 | 18 | 12 | 9 | - | 13 |
| 81.0-81.9 | 29 | 36 | 33 | - | 33 |
| > 82 | 53 | 53 | 58 | - | 54 |
Graph data
| Hard vitreous kernel content, % | Quarter 1 Aug-Oct 2025 |
Quarter 2 Nov 2025-Jan 2026 |
Quarter 3 Feb-April 2026 |
Quarter 4 May-July 2026 |
Cumulative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| < 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
| 60-69 | 0 | 15 | 2 | - | 7 |
| 70-79 | 6 | 26 | 22 | - | 19 |
| 80-84 | 41 | 45 | 39 | - | 42 |
| 85-89 | 45 | 27 | 39 | - | 36 |
| 90-94 | 8 | 2 | 0 | * | 3 |
| > 95 | 0 | 0 | 0 | - | 0 |
Quarter 1: August 1, 2025 to October 31, 2025
First quarter cargo aggregates were made from loading samples of export shipments in the months of August, September and October of 2025.
Wheat, No. 1 and 2 Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD), first quarter export cargo aggregates by grade in 2025-2026Footnote 1
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| Test weight, kg/hL | 82.3 | 82.3 |
| Weight per 1000 kernels, g | 38.4 | 38.8 |
| Vitreous kernels, % | 87 | 85 |
| Protein content, % | 14.8 | 14.9 |
| Ash content, % | 1.60 | 1.61 |
| Falling Number, seconds | 432 | 375 |
| Durum particle size index, %Footnote 2 | 31 | 33 |
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| Total milling yield, % | 74.2 | 74.4 |
| Semolina yield, % | 65.9 | 66.2 |
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| Protein content, % | 13.7 | 13.8 |
| Protein loss, % | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Wet gluten content, % | 34.9 | 35.8 |
| Gluten index | 82 | 82 |
| Ash content, % | 0.77 | 0.77 |
| Yellow pigment content, ppm | 9.3 | 9.4 |
| Yellowness, b* | 31.0 | 30.8 |
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| > 425 μm, % | 9.1 | 9.5 |
| > 250 μm, % | 55.5 | 55.8 |
| > 180 μm, % | 21.0 | 20.9 |
| > 150 μm, % | 6.9 | 6.6 |
| < 150 μm, % | 7.5 | 7.1 |
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| Total specks | 38 | 51 |
| Dark specks | 7 | 11 |
| Large specks (≥ 0.06 mm2) | 20 | 26 |
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| P (maximum over pressure), mm H2O | 97 | 97 |
| L (length), mm | 94 | 97 |
| P/L | 1.03 | 1.00 |
| W (deformation energy), 10-4 joules | 274 | 275 |
| le (elasticity Index), % | 50.8 | 50.6 |
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| Brightness, L* | 69.9 | 69.2 |
| Redness, a* | 7.4 | 7.7 |
| Yellowness, b* | 60.6 | 60.3 |
| Quality parameter | No. 1 CWAD | No. 2 CWAD |
|---|---|---|
| Peak cutting force, g | 612 | 604 |
| Dry strand diameter, mm | 1.71 | 1.71 |
| Cooked strand diameter, mm | 2.56 | 2.53 |