Straw shorteners inhibit the growth of the length of the grain so that it does not break or lie down. We work for a sustainable use of chemicals in cultivation, to minimize risks to health and the environment.

Straw shorteners are used to inhibit the growth in the length of the grain so that it does not break or lie down, which leads to poorer quality of the harvest and more difficult harvesting work. In Sweden, straw shorteners have previously only been allowed to be used on rye, which has longer straws than other grains. In the rest of the EU, legislation has been less restrictive. Since 2011, the use of straw shorteners is also allowed in Sweden for wheat, barley and oats.

There is an ongoing discussion in the industry and in the media about residues in food and other environmental and health aspects of pesticides. For cereals, this mainly applies to the use of straw shortening, since it is in principle only this type of preparation that has residues. In Sweden, the National Food Agency annually checks pesticide residues in plant and animal foods by means of random checks, to ensure that they do not contain harmful or excessive levels. The controls show that measurable levels of straw shorteners are present in some cases, mainly in rye products. However, the levels are far below the current limit values for food.

Lantmännen handles large quantities of grain and must therefore have responsible handling and clear information about straw shorteners in different grain flows. We offer several products produced from cereals grown without straw shorteners.

Swedish food products without straw shortening

Lantmännen's starting point is to work for a sustainable use of plant protection products and minimize the risks to health and the environment. We grow with different concepts and can offer products where the grain has been separated all the way from harvest to product. Kungsörnen's wheat flour from the Climate & Nature cultivation program as well as Lantmännen Cerealia's organic range is guaranteed to be grown without straw shorteners.

For cereals sold to other markets, the various customers define any restrictions on the use of straw shorteners in addition to the current legislation. Among our various customers and markets, there is a demand both for so-called standard quality, where straw shortening is accepted, and for grain quality guaranteed free from straw shortening.

Straw shortening is today an important issue in the dialogue with many of our food customers, e.g. bakeries and other food companies.

The Finnish Food Authority's controls

In the Swedish Food Agency's control of pesticide residues in food in 2020, a total of 30 samples of Swedish wheat and 17 samples of Swedish rye were analysed. In the controls of wheat, no concentrations above the limit value were found in any sample, and in 86 per cent of the wheat samples there were no residues at all. In the samples of Swedish rye, none of the samples contained pesticides above limit values, however, residues were found in a total of 53 percent of the samples.

Source: The Swedish Food Agency's report Control of pesticide residues in food 2020.