Reauthorization time is again approaching for the U.S. Grain Standards Act, which is set to expire in September 2020. With an election year approaching, however, requests were made during a Senate Agriculture Committee hearing on Wednesday for the update to come early so it can springboard off the positive changes made during the last authorization and work in the recent farm bill.

Senate Agriculture Committee chairman Pat Roberts (R., Kan.) said he’s confident that the committee “will once again work in a bipartisan fashion to ensure that our U.S. grain system continues to facilitate reliable U.S. grain exports for years to come. This hearing is the first step in this process.”

Roberts added, “Maintaining the certainty and predictability of the grain inspection and weighing system is key for the successful flow of grain and oilseeds -- from their origin at farms across the country to their eventual destinations, including critical export markets.”

Overall, testimony and questioning focused on some of the improvements made since the last reauthorization in 2015 as well as improvements in communication with the Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) since it was realigned by Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue under the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Agricultural Marketing Service.

Brian Linin, a wheat farmer from Goodland, Kan., who testified on behalf of the National Association of Wheat Growers, said, “A properly functioning grain inspection system is critical, and we urge Congress to reauthorize the Grain Standards Act this year. Despite the significant impacts of tariffs on exports, U.S. wheat has maintained some competitiveness in the international market in part thanks to the advantage and premium international buyers place on the U.S. grain inspection system.” He added that international buyers have said they have more confidence in the U.S. grain they purchase because of the unbiased, independent, third-party verification system.

Bruce Sutherland, president of Lansing, Mich.-based Michigan Agriculture Commodities, testified on behalf of the National Grain & Feed Assn. (NGFA) and noted that ahead of the last reauthorization in 2013 and 2014, the reputation of the official inspection system was called into question when one delegated state agency that repeatedly -- and with little, if any, notice -- withdrew official inspection service at a major export elevator, which caused NGFA and the North American Export Grain Assn. to propose several important changes that Congress saw fit to enact.

As lawmakers consider reauthorizing the Grain Standards Act, NGFA offered several recommendations for improvement. The first stated that FGIS should conduct a detailed review of the current geographic boundaries for each officially designated agency operating in the domestic market. FGIS designates a single agency to provide official inspection services in each geographic territory, but it has not conducted a comprehensive review of these boundaries since it was established in 1976. 

In addition, delegated states should be required to notify users of official inspection or weighing services at least 72 hours in advance of any intent to discontinue service. Such agencies already are required to provide such notification to USDA. “We strongly believe affected facilities need and deserve the same courtesy and consideration as currently provided to USDA so they can make appropriate logistical and other alternative arrangements to continue to serve customers whenever possible, including farmers and upstream and downstream customers,” Sutherland said.

NGFA also said FGIS should expressly prohibit the inappropriate and misleading practice of using grain standard quality factors as an indicator of plant health risk on phytosanitary certificates issued by USDA’s Animal &  Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS). “APHIS inappropriately and unwisely, in our view, acquiesced in late December 2017 to Chinese officials’ requests that foreign material content – a grain quality factor – be used as a proxy for weed seed content in U.S. soybean export shipments,” Sutherland said in his written testimony. The resulting market uncertainty led to a sharp reduction in U.S. soybean exports to China months before the advent of tariffs.

Nick Friant, raw materials quality leader for Cargill Inc. located in Wayzata, Minn., also voiced support for some of the changes involving the 72-hour notice and the language on inappropriate and misleading grain standard quality factors.

Friant testified that reauthorizing the Grain Standards Act "on schedule, or even a bit early, would provide continued certainty to grain handlers, farmers and our global customers."

In a follow-up interview after the hearing, Jess McClure, NGFA vice president of safety and regulatory affairs, expressed hope that the lack of sweeping changes could help advance the bill across the finish line quickly. The last time around, work started in the House, but the Senate appears to be taking the lead this year. “With the 2020 election, the sooner it can get done, the better,” McClure said.

The current reauthorization is set for every five years, but witnesses also offered support for lengthening the duration between the next reauthorization because of the positive steps made in the last reauthorization.

Watch the hearing or view the full written testimony from witnesses by clicking here.