Two producer groups ordinarily at the opposite ends of the ideological spectrum have teamed up and come out swinging against proposed changes to wheat grading.
The Wheat Growers Association (WGA) and National Farmers’ Union (NFU)have issued a joint statement decrying changes that will take effect August 1 which would see the export grade standard applied to deliveries to country elevators.
Historically there have been primary and export standards for wheat, and the primary standard was applied at country elevators where farmers deliver their grain.
Addressing the elephant in the room, the two groups noted the issue was broad enough that they chose to put aside their many differences.
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“The NFU and WGA disagree on many policy matters but are united in their opposition to the decision to harmonize primary and export standards for wheat,” the statement reads.
They’ve also penned a joint letter to Lawrence MacAuley, the new federal agriculture minister, asking him to halt the change.
At the heart of the dispute is bushel weight. Under the current rules, wheat must weigh a minimum of 60.1 pounds a bushel, or it will be downgraded to no. 2 wheat. As of August 1 it must weigh at least 63.3 pounds per bushel to avoid downgrading.
“Farmers across the prairies will soon be harvesting wheat that under the current rules would be graded as #1, but as of August 1, 2023 they will be forced to sell it at lower prices as a #2 instead, if the changes by the Canadian Grain Commission come into effect as planned,” Daryl Fransoo, WGA chair, said in the statement.
Terry Boehm, former president of the NFU, said in the statement the current regulations recognize the variability of growing conditions across the region and that justifies the slightly lower bushel weight in the country under the current regulations.
“Loads that grade #1 under current rules often exceed the minimum standards, allowing grain companies to blend country deliveries to ensure the export standard is met when they assemble shipments at their port terminals,” Boehm said.
He added the grade change will “…take money from farmers’ pockets.”
The proposal was brought before the Western Standards Committee, which the WGA and NFU are both members of, and met with “…opposition from virtually all the farmers on CGC’s Western Standards Committee.”
Initially the WGA offered “cautious support.”
“The updated standards are founded on science-based outcomes regarding sprouting, test-weight and foreign material tolerances,” WGA said in a media release earlier this summer.
In the July 17 statement, Sask Wheat and the Agricultural Producers Association of Saskatchewan (APAS), also called for a halt to the grading changes, calling it “ill-considered and finalized hastily” as well as alleging it was done without proper producer consultation.
