Weather conditions over the last 10 days have dramatically increased the likelihood of head scab or DON (deoxynivalenol) in this year’s wheat crop which will be ready for harvest later than usual. Stephen Wegulo, plant pathologist at the University of Nebraska, reports that the wet weather conditions in the last part of May and early June has led to scab damage in the state’s wheat crop. Dr. Wegulo’s field studies are mostly limited to central and southeast Nebraska and he says some fields in that area have up to 60 percent scab damage. He suspects that other areas of the mid-west will have the disease if wet conditions existed the last 7 to 10 days.

Members of the FGIS Quality Management Program (QMP) Review Team continue to make progress in working toward a common template that all agencies could use in designing their quality manuals. Most recently, the Team met by conference call on June 3, 2008, to review and critique the more formalized draft of the QMP plan that was presented at AAGIWA’s April 28/29 Annual Meeting.

AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen, a member of the Review Team, said the outline was reviewed for anything repetitive contained in the document so persons would not have to answer/justify the same thing twice. Suggestions for changes in grammar and language were discussed, as well. The team anticipates having the outline ready for a pilot program by August 1, 2008, and implemented as a pilot project by September 1, 2008. The purpose of the pilot program is to further investigate the QMP plans once written by the participants, to make certain the plan is applicable to all agencies, not just the bigger or smaller ones.

As the work continues, good progress is being made among the team members in assembling a plan that hopefully everyone will be able to write and live with in their respective agencies.

The Portland FGIS field office will also be participating in future QMP work, to develop the criteria for FGIS operations to implement just as the agencies will have to. The next conference call for the Review Team is scheduled for June 17, 2008.

USDA announced on June 4 the appointment of four members and three alternate members to serve on its Grain Inspection Advisory Committee. The appointees will serve 3-year terms.

The new members are

• Thomas E. Bressner, general manager, Assumption Cooperative Grain Company, Assumption, Ill.;
• Bennie B. Lackey, Jr., management director of commodity operations, Riceland Foods, Inc., Stuttgart, Ark.;
• Marvin R. Paulsen, professor emeritus, University of Illinois; Urbana, Ill.; and
• Jon G. Stoner, president, Stoner and Sons, Inc., Havre, Mont.

The new alternate members are:

• Randall R. Deike, grain inspection program manager, Washington State Department of Agriculture, Olympia, Wash.;
• Cassie L. Eigenmann, marketing product manager/analytical laboratory, Auburn, Ill.; and
• Paul J. Lautenschlager, general manager, Beach Coop. Grain Company, Beach, N.D.

The Grain Inspection Advisory Committee is comprised of 15 members and 15 alternate members appointed by the Secretary of Agriculture who represent all facets of the grain industry. The Committee meets twice annually to advise USDA on the establishment of programs and services under the U.S. Grain Standards Act.

AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen congratulated Deike – an AAGIWA Board Member – on his appointment as an alternate member. “Randy is an outstanding Board member who we rely on for his thoughtful views and we are very pleased to see that he will be in a position to provide his input on key FGIS issues.” Mark Fulmer, AAGIWA Vice President, currently serves as a regular member of the Advisory Committee.

FGIS Designation Activities

FGIS published notices in the June 2 Federal Register announcing the following designations to officially inspect and weigh grain in specified areas in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Montana, Texas, and Washington.

GIPSA designated the Georgia Department of Agriculture (Georgia); Montana Department of Agriculture (Montana) and MidIowa Grain Inspection, Inc. (Mid-Iowa) to inspect or inspect and weigh grain effective July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2011 for Georgia and Montana, and effective July 1, 2008 through June 30, 2009 for Mid-Iowa. GIPSA determined that no qualified applicants were available to provide service in the southeast Texas region.

GIPSA is seeking applicants to provide official services in Alabama; Essex, Illinois; Springfield, Illinois; Savage, Minnesota; and Washington State areas and is requesting comments on the official agencies currently serving these areas. Applications and comments about the current service providers are due by July 1, 2008.

AAGIWA is very pleased to welcome Omaha Grain Inspection Service, Inc., as a new member of the Association. Bruce Probst is the official agency manager and will be the firm’s voting representative.

AAGIWA welcomes member information about new products, business changes, personnel changes and other items that may be of interest to AAGIWA members. Please let us know what is new in your business. Send your information to: bob.petersen@aagiwa.org

Looking for a way to move that used equipment you are no longer using? Place an ad in Chaff – the most well-targeted publication for used inspection equipment. The advertising cost for members begins at $100. Ads for the issue must be submitted by Those ads should be sent to Bob Petersen bob.petersen@aagiwa.org

AAGIWA is now booking sponsors for future issues of Chaff. Chaff can present your company with a unique opportunity to hit a very targeted audience of key executives in a venue that has strong readership in the agriculture industry. It is an excellent marketing opportunity – contact Bob Petersen for further information.