Ontario wheat reaches new heights
In the field, through the mill, at the bakery and beyond
A maple cream cookie carried aboard Artemis II tells a bigger story about Ontario wheat farmers, food manufacturing, and innovation.
While promoting Ontario wheat in export markets around the world, Grain Farmers of Ontario’s constant refrain has been that Ontario soft red winter wheat is “reaching new heights” – of production, quality, sustainability, and global demand.
But in April 2026, Ontario soft red winter wheat reached a height that no other wheat had before. As spring sunlight broke Ontario’s wheat crop out of winter dormancy, a small parcel of Ontario wheat travelled to a place the sun’s rays never touch – the far side of the moon. It had been brought on this voyage by someone who had also been raised on an Ontario farm – Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen.
Jeremy Hansen knows a thing or two about Ontario farming and reaching new heights of success. He was born in London, Ontario and raised from a young age on a farm near Ailsa Craig. Rising through the ranks of the Royal Canadian Air Force, he became a CF-18 fighter pilot eventually reaching the rank of Colonel before his selection as a Canadian Space Agency recruit. He was the first Canadian to be entrusted with leading a NASA astronaut class and in April 2026 during the Artemis II mission, he became the first Canadian and first non-American to take part in a lunar mission, where he and his fellow crewmembers travelled further than any other human in history.
Before reaching the moon, the wheat had already completed a remarkable journey through Ontario’s value chain. It was likely seeded in autumn of 2024, a record year for Ontario winter wheat plantings with close to 1.2 million acres put into the ground. From there, it would have been harvested in summer 2025, which proved to be a strong year for yields and even better quality. That year, Grain Farmers of Ontario’s annual wheat harvest survey reported that 98 per cent of 2025 soft red winter wheat samples achieved milling grades.
Following harvest, the wheat would have travelled through the grain handling system, finding its way into one of Ontario’s nine commercial flour mills. At the mill, it would have been tested for soft wheat milling and baking quality as well as food safety requirements. Like the majority of the 2025 crop, according to the wheat harvest survey, it would have achieved full marks against class expectations on flour brightness, extraction, gluten properties and cookie baking tests.
The milled wheat flour would then travel to Commercial Bakeries Corp in Toronto, a Canadian bakery that produces over 45 million pounds of cookies annually, largely using Ontario wheat and other local ingredients. At the bakery, which receives a truckload of local flour per day, the wheat flour would have been baked into crisp, golden, maple leaf-shaped cookies and married with pure Ontario maple syrup to form maple cream sandwich cookies.
These Ontario wheat cookies, already a Canadian favourite, would become globally iconic in April, when Jeremy Hansen chose to bring them on board the Artemis II mission. As his ‘taste of home’ he shared them with his fellow astronauts during the communications blackout as they flew around the far side of the moon.
Speaking with Shawn Warren, CEO of Commercial Bakeries Corp, it was a surprise to see their cookies in space.
“As proud Canadians, our team were all following the Artemis II mission and we saw the pictures of the cookies from the Canadian Space Agency. We recognized the distinctive shape of our maple cream sandwich cookies, and we were proud to be able to confirm with our friends at Turkey Hill that they were the ones selected by the Canadian Space Program.”
Warren confirmed that Commercial Bakeries sources flour milled in Ontario from Ontario-grown wheat. It is, in fact, the distinctive quality of Ontario soft red winter wheat that helps Commercial Bakeries Corp’s maple cream cookies achieve their signature shape and fine details.
While bread flour is often valued for high protein and strong gluten, cookie manufacturers are looking for the opposite characteristics. Ontario soft red winter wheat produces a lower-protein flour that allows cookies to bake with a crisp texture, controlled spread and sharp definition. These qualities help preserve the maple leaf’s decorative details and ensure each cookie consistently matches its partner when assembled into a sandwich cookie.
Consistently delivering that quality, year after year, is where Ontario has earned a strong wheat reputation in the cookie business. Grain Farmers of Ontario’s wheat harvest survey has repeatedly demonstrated that Ontario soft red winter wheat performs reliably against soft wheat key milling and baking specifications, particularly for complex cookies. “I would say we’ve been blessed with the work that the Ontario farmers have done with a very consistent high quality of product that we’ve seen over my tenure here,” says Warren.
That consistency is no accident. It reflects decades of investment by Ontario farmers in plant breeding, agronomy research, performance testing and quality assurance programs designed to keep Ontario wheat competitive in demanding food markets. It’s the result of the sophisticated management of Ontario farmers growing wheat for milling markets, underpinned by programs like the Great Lakes Yield Enhancement program.
Commercial Bakeries is working to raise Ontario’s baking sector to new heights through their vision of “Baking Up Better”.
“We are seeing double-digit volume growth out of our Ontario facilities,” says Warren, “and we are seeing dramatic improvements on our safety record, dramatic improvements on waste reduction, and our lowest attrition rate in the history of the company.”
This vision has helped Commercial Bakeries expand sales of maple cream cookies into markets across the Americas, Europe, and Asia.
“You can only imagine that seeing our cookies being the ones that went into space helps to reinforce that sense of pride throughout our team,” says Warren.
Whether Jeremy Hansen has ever reflected on the connection between his cookie choice and his own Ontario farm roots remains an open question. Grain Farmers of Ontario farmer-members will have the opportunity to hear from Jeremy when he headlines Grain Farmers of Ontario’s March Classic on March 23, 2027, in Niagara Falls. Hansen will share his remarkable story of leadership, resilience, teamwork, and exploration before participating in a live question-and-answer session with attendees.
Dana Dickerson is Grain Farmers of Ontario’s Director of Market Development and Sustainability. •
