Ontario Wheat Classes
There are five different classes of wheat grown in Ontario.

Soft Red Winter Wheat is the largest class of wheat grown in Ontario. The flour from Soft Red Winter Wheat is predominantly used to make cakes and pastries.

Soft White Winter Wheat is also used to make flour for cakes and pastries. For many years it has been the smallest class of wheat in Ontario with the fewest number of acres. But in the past, Soft White Winter Wheat was the only class of wheat grown in all of Ontario.

Hard Red Winter Wheat is the third class of winter wheat grown in Ontario. The flour from this wheat is used to make bread.

Hard Red Spring Wheat is another wheat that is also primarily used for making bread.

The final type of wheat grown in Ontario is Durum Wheat. Farmers just started growing this wheat in Ontario as it is typically grown in Western Canada, in the Prairies. It is currently still in an experimental stage of production. Durum wheat is used to make pasta.

Wheat is used to make different products depending on the amount of protein in the flour. Hard wheat has high protein and is best for making bread. Soft wheat, which has lower protein levels is better used in baking pastries, cakes and cookies.

As Ontario wheat production is increasing, we are typically in an export position with approximately 1 million tonnes available for countries outside of North America. Typically, the domestic industry consumes just over 500,000 tonnes of Ontario wheat.

Ontario Wheat Production
Acreage planted to Ontario wheat varies from year to year, depending on weather conditions at planting time and market value. It can vary from 600,000 acres to 1,500,000 acres with a production range of 800,000 tonnes to over 2,000,000 tonnes of wheat.

And our acreage is increasing. Ontario is the only wheat-growing region in all of North America that is seeing increases in wheat production.

Farmers located in southern and central Ontario usually plant winter wheat while those in eastern and northern Ontario plant spring wheat. Winter wheat does not usually survive the cold winters if it is planted in the eastern and northern parts of the province.

Winter wheat seed is planted in the fall, often after a crop of soybeans and spends the winter as small plants under the snow. Growth begins again in March as soon as the soil warms up a bit. Winter wheat produces high yields because plants are in the ground almost a full year before the grain is harvested

Spring wheat yields less than winter wheat because it grows for only four months before it is harvested. But spring wheat is by no means inferior – it is often high quality hard-textured wheat, which is prized for its milling quality.

For technical baking and quality information please visit the Customers Page.