Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40 Page 41 Page 42 Page 43 Page 44 Page 45 Page 46 Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50 Page 51 Page 52 Page 53 Page 54 Page 55 Page 56 Page 57 Page 58 Page 59 Page 60 Page 61 Page 62 Page 63 Page 64 Page 65 Page 66 Page 67 Page 68 Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72 Page 73 Page 74 Page 75 Page 76 Page 77 Page 78 Page 79 Page 80 Page 81 Page 82 Page 83 Page 84 Page 85 Page 86 Page 87 Page 88 Page 89 Page 90 Page 91 Page 92 Page 93 Page 94 Page 95 Page 96 Page 97 Page 98 Page 99 Page 100 Page 101 Page 102 Page 103 Page 104 Page 105 Page 106 Page 107 Page 108 Page 109 Page 110 Page 111 Page 112Profile Industry Profile 24 www.seed.ab.ca | Advancing Seed in Alberta 303 MAIN STREET might be the only building in downtown Winnipeg – or in Western Canada – that contains a pilot bakery and flour mill on the eleventh floor. Three floors of this building serve as headquarters for the Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi), a not-for-profit organization working to drive improvement and international utilization of Canadian grain and field crops. No part of the Canadian agricultural industry is untouched by Cigi, which contributes to the improvement of new seed varieties, provides customized training for customers and farmers, con- ducts an annual harvest assessment of Western Canada’s new wheat crop and transfers that technical intelligence to Canadian customers around the world on yearly new crop missions. “We work all the way through from variety registration to com- mercialization, maintaining quality and ensuring the customer gets what they need – and providing that information to the customer and back to the value chain,” says JoAnne Buth, Cigi’s chief executive officer. “We work on behalf of growers and grain exporters to make sure that the quality of our varieties will take the highest dollar out there that’s possible.” In other words, Cigi is building the brand for Canadian grains – and providing a crucial link between Canadian producers and end-use customers. New Variety Development Over the past three years, Cigi has divided its work into several focus areas including new variety development. One key project is examining quality attributes of new varieties being grown extensively across Western Canada. Cigi has five staff members on the Prairie Grain Development Committee’s Wheat, Rye and Triticale Quality Evaluation Team BUILDING A BETTER BRAND IN CANADA Cigi is working with the value chain from the ground up to deliver better grain products to international customers. Heather Hill, project manager for Cigi’s Pulse Flour Milling and Food Applications, is focused on introducing pulse flours to a wide variety of food products. Photos by Julienne Isaacs