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 (CWAD) 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 CWAD wheat from quarters 1, 2 and 3 had very high protein content, high test weight, high hard vitreous kernel content, and large kernel size. The No.1 CWAD aggregates had Falling Number (FN) values above 370 seconds, which indicated that the grain was sound. The No. 2 CWAD aggregates also had high FN values (≥ 322 seconds), while No. 3 CWAD aggregates had lower FN values (≥ 287 seconds) relative to the higher grades. All aggregates demonstrated very strong milling performance, with total milling yields exceeding 74% and semolina yield exceeding 66% 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

data follows — **Figure 1** Tonnage of durum exports for each quarter in the 2025-2026 shipping year.

Exports in million tonnes
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

% of shipments
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

% of shipments
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

% of shipments
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 3: February 1, 2026 to April 30, 2026

Third quarter cargo aggregates were made from loading samples of export shipments in February, March and April of 2026.

Alternate format
No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 CWAD, Third quarter export cargo aggregates by grade in 2025-2026 (PDF, 256 KB)

Wheat, No. 1, 2 and 3 Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD), third quarter export cargo aggregates by grade in 2025-2026^{Footnote 1}

Wheat
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Test weight, kg/hL	82.1	81.8	81.5
Weight per 1000 kernels, g	43.2	43.2	43.1
Vitreous kernels, %	87	86	78
Protein content, %	14.5	14.7	14.9
Ash content, %	1.61	1.63	1.66
Falling Number, seconds	370	322	267
Durum particle size index, %^{Footnote 2}	33	33	33

Milling - Allis-Chalmers mill
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Total milling yield, %	75.3	74.6	74.3
Semolina yield, %	67.0	66.7	66.5

Semolina^{Footnote 3}
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Protein content, %	13.3	13.5	13.7
Protein loss, %	1.2	1.2	1.2
Wet gluten content, %	35.0	35.4	36.7
Gluten index, %	72	76	69
Ash content, %	0.72	0.73	0.73
Yellow pigment content, ppm	9.6	9.3	9.2
Yellowness, b*	31.4	30.7	30.2

Granulation
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
> 425 μm, %	5.6	5.5	5.3
> 250 μm, %	61.2	61.3	60.9
> 180 μm, %	20.5	20.6	21.0
> 150 μm, %	6.4	6.3	6.4
< 150 μm, %	6.3	6.2	6.3

Semolina speck count per 50 cm²
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Total specks	43	69	70
Dark specks	7	17	17
Large specks (≥ 0.06 mm²)	22	35	34

Alveogram^{Footnote 4}
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
P (maximum over pressure), mm H₂O	77	74	78
L (length), mm	105	108	103
P/L	0.74	0.69	0.76
W (deformation energy), 10^-4 joules	214	204	212
le (elasticity Index), %	46.1	45.3	45.4

Spaghetti colour dried at 85°C
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Brightness, L*	70.0	69.3	69.4
Redness, a*	7.7	8.3	7.8
Yellowness, b*	61.8	61.0	60.8

Spaghetti texture dried at 85°C
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Peak cutting force, g	681	683	653
Dry strand diameter, mm	1.71	1.71	1.71
Cooked strand diameter, mm	2.50	2.51	2.53

Quarter 2: November 1, 2025 to January 31, 2026

Second quarter cargo aggregates were made from loading samples of export shipments in November and December of 2025 and January of 2026.

Alternate format
No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 CWAD, Second quarter export cargo aggregates by grade in 2025-2026 (PDF, 451 KB)

Wheat, No. 1, 2 and 3 Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD), second quarter export cargo aggregates by grade in 2025-2026^{Footnote 1}

Wheat
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Test weight, kg/hL	82.3	81.7	81.2
Weight per 1000 kernels, g	44.6	45.2	44.5
Vitreous kernels, %	90	82	78
Protein content, %	14.1	14.7	14.6
Ash content, %	1.59	1.60	1.65
Falling Number, seconds	375	344	287
Durum particle size index, %^{Footnote 2}	34	33	33

Milling - Allis-Chalmers mill
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Total milling yield, %	75.0	74.7	74.1
Semolina yield, %	67.5	67.1	66.6

Semolina^{Footnote 3}
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Protein content, %	13.2	13.7	13.5
Protein loss, %	0.9	0.9	1.1
Wet gluten content, %	34.6	36.2	34.9
Gluten index	74	73	74
Ash content, %	0.72	0.74	0.73
Yellow pigment content, ppm	9.4	9.1	9.2
Yellowness, b*	30.8	30.3	29.6

Granulation
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
> 425 μm, %	5.8	5.6	5.4
> 250 μm, %	61.6	61.5	61.7
> 180 μm, %	20.6	20.6	20.4
> 150 μm, %	6.5	6.4	6.2
< 150 μm, %	5.6	5.9	6.3

Semolina speck count per 50 cm²
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Total specks	51	58	65
Dark specks	11	13	15
Large specks (≥ 0.06 mm²)	25	29	35

Alveogram^{Footnote 4}
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
P (maximum over pressure), mm H₂O	77	78	77
L (length), mm	105	111	106
P/L	0.73	0.71	0.73
W (deformation energy), 10^-4 joules	211	216	209
le (elasticity Index), %	45.4	44.8	44.7

Spaghetti colour dried at 85°C
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Brightness, L*	71.0	70.6	69.5
Redness, a*	6.9	7.5	8.2
Yellowness, b*	62.6	61.8	61.1

Spaghetti texture dried at 85°C
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD	No. 3 CWAD
Peak cutting force, g	658	651	640
Dry strand diameter, mm	1.72	1.73	1.72
Cooked strand diameter, mm	2.53	2.52	2.51

Quarter 1: August 1, 2025 to October 31, 2025

First quarter cargo aggregates were made from loading samples of export shipments in August, September and October of 2025.

Alternate format
No. 1 and No. 2 CWAD, First quarter export cargo aggregates by grade in 2025-2026 (PDF, 156 KB)

Wheat, No. 1 and 2 Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD), first quarter export cargo aggregates by grade in 2025-2026^{Footnote 1}

Wheat
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

Milling - Allis-Chalmers mill
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD
Total milling yield, %	74.2	74.4
Semolina yield, %	65.9	66.2

Semolina^{Footnote 3}
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

Granulation
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

Semolina speck count per 50 cm²
Quality parameter	No. 1 CWAD	No. 2 CWAD
Total specks	38	51
Dark specks	7	11
Large specks (≥ 0.06 mm²)	20	26

Alveogram^{Footnote 4}
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

Spaghetti colour dried at 85°C
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

Spaghetti texture dried at 85°C
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

Page details

2026-07-02

Quality of Canada Western Amber Durum wheat exports in 2025-2026

Canada Western Amber Durum (CWAD) wheat

Reporting methods