Wheat variety returns rate grows by 65% in recent study

Apr 21, 2022

Farmers are seeing some of their investments pay off big time as a new study is suggesting they're getting a huge return on what they're paying for wheat varieties.

As part of their grain levy, farmers pay into funds that go towards public research of wheat varieties which attempt to increase yield along with pest and disease resistance.

In the last study of data that concerns how much farmers are getting back from the program in 2012, it was determined that there was a return of $20 for every $1 sent to the levy.

Jake Leguee, the vice-chair of the board of directors for Sask Wheat, one of the organizations that helped with the study, said their recent analysis shows farmers are doing even better.

"They were actually able to determine that the return investment was even better this time. It's actually a 33 to 1 rate of return. Another way to think about that might be if you took a dollar and put it into a savings account, you'd be getting a 33% rate of return on that investment. If that's what I could get in my savings account I'd be putting every dollar I could into it."

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Video: Evolution of Beef Cattle Farming

The Clear Conversations podcast took to the road for a special episode recorded in Nashville during CattleCon, bringing listeners straight into the heart of the cattle industry. Host Tracy Sellers welcomed rancher Steve Wooten of Beatty Canyon Ranch in Colorado for a wide-ranging discussion that blended family history and sustainability, particularly as it relates to the future of beef production.

Sustainability emerged as a central theme of the conversation, a word that Wooten acknowledges can mean very different things depending on who you ask. For him, sustainability starts with the soil. Healthy soil produces healthy grass, which supports efficient cattle capable of producing year after year with minimal external inputs. It’s an approach that equally considers vegetation, animal efficiency, and long-term profitability.

That philosophy aligned naturally with Wooten’s involvement in the U.S. Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, where he served as a representative for the Colorado Cattlemen’s Association. The roundtable brings together the entire beef supply chain—from producers to retailers—along with universities, NGOs, and allied industries. Its goal is not regulation, Wooten emphasized, but collaboration, shared learning, and continuous improvement.