CWB and CGC Grain Grading at Port....Gossip?

[parsley]

Chat tonight for you guys that have been concerned.....at 8:30 tonight..... to talk a little about what's happening at port. Sounds grim if it's true.
Who knows what's going on?

Parsley

[TOM4CWB]

Parsley,

Let me get this straight, as we all had such a hard time getting on the chat site, and kept getting cut off, was this about CWRS quality problems?

Was something mentioned about 2CWRS falling numbers being too low?

Was it about our west coast terminals not being able to meet milling quality standards because of sprouted wheat, or wheat dryed too fast, leading to whole boat loads being rejected?

What does this say about KVD dependability, shouldn't we be testing falling #'s at the local elevator like the American system has for ever?

[parsley]

It's rumor so far Tom4CWB, but there could be a problem. #2 CWRS is supposedly at port and the buyers have refused because the falling # is bad. Anyone who mills flour knows that you need a proper balance of FN's and protein. One or the other too high or too low and the bread is not ideal.

With the grading system we have, it is rumored that the CGC made the usual eyeballing.....and it probably looked ok....but it wasn't .

Sprouted grain=Disastrous falling#'s
Like we were chatting last night, it's only rumor.....but if it's true, it could be serious.
Parsley

Chatting is pretty neat!

[parsley]

It's rumor so far Tom4CWB, but there could be a problem. #2 CWRS is supposedly at port and the buyers have refused because the falling # is bad. Anyone who mills flour knows that you need a proper balance of FN's and protein. One or the other too high or too low and the bread is not ideal.

With the grading system we have, it is rumored that the CGC made the usual eyeballing.....and it probably looked ok....but it wasn't .

Sprouted grain=Disastrous falling#'s

Like we were chatting last night, it's only rumor.....but if it's true, it could be serious.

Parsley

Chatting is pretty neat!

[AdamSmith]

It's not just rumor guys!

Let me share with you a few exerpts of a copy of a letter that, shall we say arrived across my desk the other day.

It was addressed to Mr. Ed Guest, Executive Director of the WGEA from Ward Weisensel VP Transportation and Country Operations CWB.

The first paragraph reads: Further to our meeting of March 22, 2001, the purpose of this letter is to advise Country Elevator Association (CEA) members of a serious problem that is affecting the quality reputation that Canada has built over the years. In particular, I'm refering to the low and highly variable falling number(FN) levels on shipments of No.2 and 3 Canada Western Red Spring (CWRS).

Weather conditions during harvest of this year's crop resulted in varying levels of kernal sprouting of wheat...

... The net effect of this blending is that the FN levels of No.2/3CWRS unloading at port are not meeting the quality expectations of customers.

...The present segregation program is not meeting all our expectations. As a result, we are in the process of identifying alternatives that need to be employed to ensure that Canadian wheat maintains its quality reputation with export customers. One of these is the potential NIR system... Another would be the implementation of a program that intergrates FN requirements at both the country and terminal level.


So there you have it straight from the CWB themselves. Our system, the CWB/CGC/KVD system has failed us big time.

AdamSmith

[parsley]

My sources tell me this is reliable information. AdamSmith did you do any checking?
Parsley

[parsley]

BY the way, the elected Directors will be the last to know, won't they?
Parsley

[AdamSmith]

I am still trying to find out how serious this is, I'll make some calls today. We know from the letter it's fact but we don't know yet if it can be sorted out in time to do any serious long term damage.

AdamSmith

[TOM4CWB]

Parsley,

My local elevator did confirm that there is a problem, but said this was the first report from a farmer that he had recieved.

Isn't this amazing, farmers are responsible for producing the grain quality, but when a problem occurs, we are the last to know!

What does this say about quality control in Canada?

US elevators have been doing falling #'s for ever, as do all millers.

Isn't it amazing that Canadian Farmers are the last people on the planet to learn that the falling # is the first and most important criteria in Milling wheat, along with bushel weight!

# 3 CWRS with a good falling # is worth much more than # 1 with a bad falling #

This is why when I shipped my 3CWRS to the US it was worth much more than in Canada.

The CWB does not really pay anything for protein in CWRS, and until now because of high thruput elevators, blending took care of the falling # issue, simply by dilution.

The CWB must now start marketing wheat American style, wheather they like it or not.

I really hope this solves problems, and makes our wheat more valuable, not discounting Canadian wheat again!

So much for product differentiation!

[TOM4CWB]

I should clearify, 3CWRS, and feed CWRS which both can be perfectly good milling quality!