There are many different kinds of grains grown in Canada that are available for export around the globe. Did you know that Canada has “official grains”? These specific grains are regulated and secured under the Canada Grain Act by the Canadian Grain Commission.

Official Canadian grains include:

Cereals: Cereal grains are staple crops and are grown more around the world than any other kind of crop. Cereal grains include barley, oats, rye, triticale and wheat.

Oilseeds: Oilseeds produce oil and have been used globally for thousands of years. They can be used to make cooking oil, soap, and industrial lubricants. Oilseeds grown in Canada include canola, flaxseed, mustard, rapeseed, safflower seed, solin, soybeans and sunflower seed

Pulses: Pulse grains include crops like beans, chick peas, fababeans, lentils and peas. These crops are all members of the legume family and are pod-bearing plants that produce dry edible seeds. Pulse crops are good for feed for animals and food for humans too. They are very nutritious providing protein, fibre, complex carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals.

Mixed grain: Mixed grain on export is graded in accordance with export specifications and consist of any mixtures of wheat, rye, barley, oats triticale, wild oats and domestic of wild oat groats.

Other crops like buckwheat and corn are called pseudocereals and are also official Canadian grains. Pseudocereals are used like cereal but are not part of the grass family.

All of these grains are regulated under the Canada Grain Act by the Canadian Grain Commission. Policies and procedures include the handling of these grains and providing rules under which the entire Canadian grain industry operates. These regulations, policies and procedures guide the grain industry by assessing grain quality and monitoring the weighing of grain that is shipped to Canadian and international markets.

The Canadian Grain Commission provides international buyers of Canadian grain with an unbiased, third party agency. System monitoring is in place and followed closely by hay and grain exporters like Barr-Ag Hay and Grain Exporters to ensure the best quality of grain is produced and the best harvesting, packaging, storing and shipping methods are used when exporting overseas.

Official Canadian grains like oats, barley, wheat, oilseeds and pulse grains are available from Barr-Agg. Barr-Ag either produces the grains at our farm along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta, or it is purchased from a network of local Canadian producers who follow strict growing protocols and quality control standards. All are available for international export.  Learn more.

Learn more about the Canada Grain Act and the Canadian Grain Commission.