CGC at it again

[mcfarms]

JD
Have you talked to either of the 2 producer reps on the standards commitee? I see the Alberta position is empty it may be prudent to talk to them as the fall meetings are usually just before halloween. I know this may not help you in your current situation but it is important that they are engaged and aware of issues that are occuring if there is a problem with the system they are likey the best ones to really go after if they are truely engaged in doing their job on the commitee. Without knowing them I cannot speculate but it seems like you can make a very good argument and yes you may be able to affect change.

[TOM4CWB]

JDGreen,

I know for a FACT greens are graded using special CGC colour PICTURES that are the standard for the grades for colour...

"Colour (CLR)
Colour is evaluated after the removal of stained and damaged lentils, using approved lentil colour guides."
http://www.grainscanada.gc.ca/oggg-gocg/18/oggg-gocg-18d-eng.htm#c



Are you saying the CGC has changed those approved grading pictures in the past couple of days?

If they have... why are these changes not on the official CGC web site that designates these changes?

[mcfarms]

Tom
other countries are using color meters for grading why not canada?
Using visual grading is still subjective as we all see color differently.
http://www.aaccnet.org/cerealchemistry/articles/1998/0108-03R.pdf

[JDGreen]

tom you are correct on greens. This is only an issue with reds at the moment. I witnessed very qualified staff leave work early on friday as a result of the stressful situation encountered. Employes, growers, companies should not be subjected to these types of losses EVER. What has NEVER been an issue before is now front and centre. I will be speaking with producer reps on Monday. Wmoebis your sarcasm is duly noted and i will mark it on my score card.

[poorboy]

The bigger issue here is that the CGC has stopped inspecting at the inland terminals and only grades at the coast. This has added 2 weeks delay to flow of information back to the elevator on grades.

Used to be in the local elevator, that a rail car was loaded up into an outload bin and a sample caught, which the CGC looked at. If if met grade it was put in the train car. If not the elevator could put it back into the house and reblend or send out new grain to get graded.

The elevator graders very quickly learned what they needed to meet the specs from the CGC.

Now you load the cars, send to coast and see what they grade. Do it all again a few times, and it takes a month or more before the elevator grain buyers have a good understanding of grade.

Lose a few cars to downgrading at the coast and most elevator graders are going to start to be very cautious.

Farmer grades would be better if the CGC was to start grading again at inland elevators. With more risk of grade loss at the coast, it means more farmers grain is bought a poorer grade to cover the risk.

[dave4441]

Pulse Sub Committe meeting is Thursday this week.

Sure Tom, there is a color picture guide for greens that has not changed, no discussion there. The problem is a new interpretation on red color. Product that was graded 2 weeks ago, even by the Stoon CGC office as a #2 will likely not make it now. There has been a shift in the interpretation. There is data that says bleaching will drop splitting efficecy, but that data has not been entered into the grading standards and requires consulation with growers/industry.

I know the product that JD is talking about. Low damage, some white bleaching. I thought that the line cos where grading harder then the processing industry but that was not correct, the CGC instructed them to grade at these levels. Processors where grading where they graded in the past.

SGS grades the red crop and my feeling from their new grades is that there has been a major shift here. Some say it was being done wrong before, others say that the bleaching is different and must be analysised differently. I call BS. Yes there is more of it this year, but that does not mean there should be new standards applied.

Woembis-I think you took my comment to you incorrectly, i only meant if you look at the bleach on a #2 green color picture (was not stating that you have not looked at a color chart, meant WHEN you look at it...), there should be a similar tolerance for red lentil bleaching. You can drive a truck thru that green #2 grade, should be able to do same on reds (and CGC has stated in the past the color pic is relevant to reds). Especially on a product that is decorticated. If industry wants to argue that bleaching causes lower splitting efficiency then we need to have the consultation. Maybe growers over the long haul are better off with a tighter red #2 grade, but needs to be done prior to crop year not during it. Growers grew reds based on a looser grade and traders took forward sales on that same looser grade. Shit runs downhill and we know where the losses eventually end up.

[JDGreen]

Poorboy you are spot on with your comments.. This is exactly what is happening. Dave your are also bang on with your comments. This problem needs to be adressed this week by the subcommitee. W W W W W W W W W W W W W ;-)

[sumdumguy]

The grading takes time to be established. This happens every year. Buyers should factor this in when they are buying right off the field. You can't just jump in and buy on grade with certainty until the grades are established and the buyers agree to grade.

[sumdumguy]

JD Green, if you say you have experience, why do you not know that it takes time for grades to be established? This is not a new phenomenon. Many times over the years, the grading has changed. MANY TIMES.

[mustardman]

And why did you fellows not complain to your mp when the conservatives announced cutback at the CGC ?
The trouble with the rural all voting for the cons is that they can take you for granted and start cutting any institution here and you guys still vote for them

[dave4441]

Many of the cutbacks where done to reduce the amount of competition by CGC towards private business, ie SGS. This has nothing to do with that. This is a interpretation of color in their head office. You are grasping at straws mustardman.

[sumdumguy]

Cutbacks right through Western Bureaucracy. These cutbacks are hurting the services delivered in the Western Region. We don't hear about it much in the press. As I see it, the CGC is in a tough spot- they have to grade so that foreigners will buy at that level. WE produce for a market. There is no point in grading Lentils #1 or #2 and when they get to the other side, they are unacceptable- we are businessmen who know that the buyer dictates my production.

[JDGreen]

sumdumguy please reread the title of the thread it says CGC at it "AGAIN" .. Does this not mean to you that I realize the cgc changes at the drop of a hat.

[JDGreen]

sumdumguy foreigners will buy at these levels. It does not matter if the cgc thinks the outside coat of a red lentil is the perfect color in their opinion or not. Fact of the matter is that a group of producers and grain companies are caught in this fiasco needlessly. Something which you have failed to realize or support.

[hlg]

CGC didn`t do this on a whim, somebody forced this on them and us. Who has the most to gain??