SASKATOON — Canada is a top supplier of mustard globally, but significant fluctuations in production in the last decade have impacted the country’s global market share.
Rick Mitzel told the Sask Mustard annual general meeting that market development opportunities could help stabilize the situation, and there have been some exciting developments in this area in recent years.
“We’re looking at trying to get mustard into dog food. It’s a huge market. If we could, it would be a big win.”
Mustard 21 Canada Inc. is working with researchers at the University of Saskatchewan’s Western College of Veterinary Medicine to determine the benefits of including mustard in dog food in terms of gut and overall health, said Mitzel, who is also chief executive officer of Mustard 21 Canada Inc.
“So far, things are looking good.”
Mustard 21 Canada Inc. is also funding research through the U of S’s chemical and biological engineering department to study the benefits of using mustard meal as a bio-additive in wood pellets.
He says so far they’ve learned that the mustard meal helps keeps consistency in the pellet shape.
“The other thing he has found is that the pellets actually burn hotter with the mustard meal in. They’ve tried all different types of crop meal — canola, barley, flax, everything — and mustard seems to be the winner.”
The project was approved for funding through the Saskatchewan government’s Agriculture Development Fund last year and is moving ahead, with pellet production taking place at a factory in North Battleford, Mitzel said.
“They’re starting to make pellets on a higher scale now, and I think if it’s successful, they’ll go even further.”
Mitzel says another exciting recent development came from Saskatchewan-based bio-tech company MustGrow, which developed a soil biocontrol technology using food grade mustard seed.
“They’re using the mustard meal to incorporate in the soil to control club root and aphanomyces and some of those other issues, so they’re going to have a nice ramp-up here.”
He says Mustard 21 Canada Inc. is also undertaking an environmental scan to see if there are other promising market development opportunities it could be supporting.
“We’re going to be talking to some of the growers, processors, buyers to see if there’s something missing that we should be working on as well.”
In the 2023-24 fiscal year, Sask Mustard spent $59,000 on market development activities.
The organization has also been supporting breeding projects to develop new mustard varieties with increased herbicide tolerance, clubroot resistance and other agronomic and end-use objectives.
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