History of Red Wheat
Red Wheat is the end product of Wheat breeding and development for over 100 years.
Canadian settler farmers bought European Spring Wheat seed to the prairies late
in the nineteenth century and by farmer selection in the harsh prairies
conditions Canadian Red Wheats were developed.
The Red Wheat Canada produced had a quality far superior to Northern European
Wheats and brought a bread making functionality to bread baking that was, and
still is, highly prized by UK bakers. Imports of Red Wheat to the UK have
increased steadily, first of all as 'Manitoba' Wheat. This supply of Canadian
Red Wheat was key to sustaining the UK during World War 2 when the umbilical
connection to North America was all that kept us from starvation.
Since the Second World War, Canadian Wheat breeding has been more formalised in
Government research programmes. The aim has remained the same – to maintain the
quality of Canadian Red Wheat and its market value above all else. This quest
for quality has allowed Canadian Red Wheat, now described as Canadian Western
Red Spring (CWRS) to maintain its position as the premier quality milling Wheat
in the UK.