The Arkansas Department of Agriculture is reminding producers of important resources and protections available during the fall harvest season. These include the Arkansas Grain Grading Act, the Department’s slow pay hotline for grain sales, voluntary smoke management guidelines, and roadway safety awareness.
Grain Grading Protections
Enacted in 2019, the Arkansas Grain Grading Act applies to all grain warehouses in the state. Under the law, warehouses and dealers engaged in grain grading must have their programs and graders certified by the Department. All grading must follow the Official United States Standards for Grain established by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Producers are guaranteed several protections, including:
- Timely grading: Warehouses must grade and sample each delivered load within 24 hours.
- Sample retention: Any sample with more than a four percent reduction must be kept for at least two days.
- Right to dispute grades: Producers may request a regrade by an official grading agency. The reissued grade becomes the official result, and requests must be made within two days of the original grade.
Source : arkansas.gov