U.S. Wheat Associates and the National Association of Wheat Growers are urging Canada to change the nation’s grain grading system. The wheat groups say it unfairly minimizes the quality of U.S. grown wheat. Wheat Associate’s Steve Mercer says when a U.S. farmer sells wheat in Canada it has to meet their specifications and if it doesn’t its value is downgraded.
He says once the U.S. wheat is downgraded it has to be segregated which most Canadian elevators don’t want to deal with.
Mercer says the U.S. wheat groups are working with the new Canadian government to get the grading system changed.
Mercer says they’re comparing the policy barriers to the Country of Origin Labeling dispute saying the Canadian grain grading system affords less favorable treatment for imported wheat as compared to domestically grown wheat.
