The Saskatchewan Wheat Development Commission (Sask Wheat) and
the Agricultural Producers Associaon of Saskatchewan (APAS) oppose a recent decision by the Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) to ghten the primary elevator tolerances for test weight and total foreign material to export tolerances for most western Canadian wheat classes and are calling for a quick reversal of this decision.
In early June, the CGC announced that longstanding separate primary and export standards for test weight and total foreign material for most western Canadian wheat classes would be harmonized at the ghter export tolerances, effecve August 1, 2023. Wheat producers will potenally face significant negave financial implicaons as harmonized test weight and foreign material standards may lead to quality downgrades and lower prices at primary elevators.
Test weight is of parcular concern. With the primary standard ghtened to export standard, CWRS wheat that previously would have graded a number one could be downgraded to as low as feed if test weight is the determining grade factor. The current separate primary and export standards recognize that blending and cleaning throughout the grain handling system naturally and economically improve grain quality for grain handling companies. Producers do not have the same ability to improve the test weight of their grain
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