What to keep top of mind when selling your crop
Saskatchewan Agriculture
As harvest starts to wind down and grain shipments are moving to elevators, producers need to be aware of the rights and responsibilities they have regarding dealing with elevators.
Due to amendments made to the Canada Grain Regulations, because of the Canada-United States-Mexico agreement, as of July 1, 2022, all Canadian Grain Commission (CGC) licensed facilities in Canada, will be required to have declarations filled out regarding certain grains. This includes licensed crushing plants. The grains that require a declaration are barley, beans, buckwheat, canola, faba beans, flax, lentils, mustard, oats, peas, rapeseed, rye, triticale and all wheat classes including durum. Declarations are not required for canary seed, chickpeas, corn, safflower, soybeans (both food grade and oilseed) and sunflower. The Grain Act does not prevent negotiation of a contract between a producer and a Canadian grain company based on quality specifications that are outside of the statutory grading system regardless of the variety. If you chose to sell your grain to a non-licensed facility or a private party, this declaration is not required.
The Canadian Grain Regulations and your declaration will be used by the elevator operator to grade your delivery. As a producer, should you disagree with the elevator’s assessment of your grain at the time of delivery by you or your representative, you have the right to dispute the assessment. Producers can challenge not only the grade but any other grading factor including moisture, protein and dockage.
The way to do this is by asking for a representative sample to be examined by the CGC “subject to inspectors’ grade and dockage.” Elevators may not refuse to honour a producer’s request that a representative sample be taken. If an elevator is unaware of this procedure, producers should contact the CGC so that the situation can be resolved (see Figure 1 below). This process only applies to grain deliveries made to licensed primary elevators and it does not apply to licensed processing elevators or licensed grain dealers.
If a producer wishes to speed up the process, a representative sample can be hand delivered to a CGC service centre office. In Saskatchewan, we have CGC offices in Weyburn and Saskatoon.
Once your sample is received by the CGC service centre, depending on what factor(s) you may be disputing, the sample will be graded and information will be sent back to you by email. The CGC decision is binding to both parties.
Dockage can be a controversial issue. Grain companies will use sieves to calculate dockage. The companies are within their rights to use whatever sieve they deem appropriate. By asking for a “subject to inspector’s grade and dockage” sample to be sent to the CGC, the guess work of what level of dockage a producer has is removed from the equation.
Knowing your harvest grain grade is as important as choosing when and where to sell your grain. If producers would like to streamline the process, they should sign up for the CGC Sample Harvest Program and sample envelopes will be sent to them. This program will provide you with the following for each sample you send in:
• An unofficial grade;
• A dockage assessment on canola;
• Protein content on barley, beans, chickpeas, lentils, oats, peas and wheat;
• Oil, protein and chlorophyll content for canola;
• Oil and protein content and iodine value for flaxseed;
• Oil and protein for mustard seed and soybeans; and
• Falling number for wheat and rye and vomitoxin (deoxynivalenol or DON) levels for wheat, corn and barley.
For more information, contact your local regional office (https://www. saskatchewan.ca/business/agriculturenatural-resources-and-industry/agribusiness-farmers-and-ranchers/agriculture-regional-offices/view-regional-staffbiographies) the Agriculture Knowledge Centre at 1-866-457-2377 or the Canadian Grain Commission.