Three of the nation’s most respected agricultural executives will address AAGIWA’s Annual Meeting which will be held April 27-30 in Kansas City. Those speakers include:

Roger Fray, executive vice president, grain, and director of operations, West Central Cooperative, Ralston, Iowa. Fray oversees West Central’s grain operation. His responsibilities include generating market share growth through new marketing alternatives and competitive pricing structures, coordinating risk management of processing divisions within the cooperative and continually improving relationships with members of West Central. He is responsible for the strategic direction and execution within the grain division.

Bill Hudson, founder, The ProExporter Network® (PRX), will address the dramatic changes unfolding in the nation’s grain markets, including the explosive growth of the ethanol industry, and the impact these changes are having on grain flows and transportation patterns. Hudson is one of the nation’s premier grain analysts and a much sought after speaker. He is well-known for his expertise and insight into cash grain markets.

Ken McCauley, chairman, National Corn Growers Association, White Cloud, Kansas. Ken and his wife, Mary, and son, Brad, farm 3,500 acres of corn and soybeans in North East Kansas. McCauley has served on the Kansas Corn Commission in many different positions of leadership and has held leadership positions in his church and community. Ken was the 2006/07 President of NCGA. Prior to that he was vice chair of NCGA’s Ethanol Committee and liaison on the Biotechnology Working Group.

“We are expecting an outstanding line-up of speakers for the 2008 Annual Meeting,” said AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen. “We are awaiting word from a few more top executives on whether they will be addressing the meeting.” Kitchen also noted that the meeting session the afternoon of April 29 will focus on current topics and issues at the Federal Grain Inspection Service. Kitchen said AAGIWA has invited the entire FGIS senior management team to attend the meeting.  

The meeting will be held at the Great Wolf Lodge in Kansas City, Kansas. A limited number of rooms have been reserved for the meeting at a special, reduced rate. Those rooms are available on a first come, first-served basis. Kitchen noted that those registering for the meeting by March 27 will save $50 on their registration fee. Further information on the meeting, including a registration form, is attached with this issue of Chaff.

USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service (FGIS) is asking AAGIWA for input on its new draft procedures on diverter sampler (DT) control switches. The purpose of the new program notice, now in the clearance process, is to define how spout backup switches may be installed and used in the official system.

In a note to AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen, FGIS Field Management Division Director John Giler explained that grain companies are installing switches in the spouts at rail loading facilities in the event grain backs into the loading spout up to or past the DT sampler. The switches are designed to cut-off the DT sampler so it is not damaged as it tries to cut across the plugged spout. These switches affect the integrity of the official sample because the sampling process is no longer under the control of the official service provider and the possibility exists that some grain may not get sampled properly.

President Kitchen, in distributing the draft program notice to AAGIWA members for their input on March 3, noted the significance of the FGIS courtesy. “In the past, AAGIWA really did not have an organized means of providing input to FGIS representing the entire membership,” Kitchen said. “We (the Board of Directors) believe that as we do a better job of communicating with our members and representing those views, FGIS will more often seek out our opinions on key issues.” Kitchen continued, saying “We value this improved and constructive relationship with FGIS which will benefit the entire official inspection system.”  

AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen reports the Quality Management Program (QMP) Review Team appointed by FGIS continues its work toward a common template that all agencies could use in designing their quality manuals. The Team held its third teleconference during the month of February on February 22. The team members have been developing a common QMP outline to be used by official agencies, with each member providing their ideas to the other team members over the last several weeks, and discussing each outline during the calls.

During the February 22 call, all team members agreed there was an overall common subject matter in everyone’s outlines and that the next step would be to condense all of the outlines into one. As of now, all outlines reflect a QMP template which will relate directly to the day-to-day operations of running an official grain inspection agency, and the areas to be addressed will be similar to what is expected and viewed during a management review by the Compliance Division. Mr. Kitchen is working on developing the overall outline.

In the coming weeks, once a semi-final outline is presented to FGIS for review and consideration, there will be the opportunity for all AAGIWA members to comment and provide input into the final template. Tom O’Connor, Director of the Compliance Division, stated he wanted to be certain that the committee first agreed among each other that the template offered for review reflected both FGIS and official agency interests. It is expected that by the annual AAGIWA meeting, there will be the opportunity to discuss a semi-final version of the template during the meeting. Everyone is encouraged to attend, and provide input and concerns during the discussion.

AAGIWA Board Member Randy Deike has been participating in the FGIS joint application development (JAD) sessions on Equipment, Licensing, and Inspection/Testing/Weighing (ITW). Deike, who is the grain inspection program manager for the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), reports the Equipment and Licensing JADs have dealt primarily with moving record keeping from a paper to an electronic format that will mesh effectively with the central laboratory format.

The ITW JAD also deals with enabling electronic data capture and single entry data for management of inspection and weighing results. The ITW system will be (primarily) a FGIS resource, with some official agencies electing to utilize it’s functionality for their certification processes.

Vessel loading (CUSUM) is also a part of ITW and will be utilized by WSDA when completed. FGIS is several months away from having ITW or Licensing available for testing/acceptance. Equipment is somewhat closer to being completed. All the various systems under review and development are destined to become linked within the GIPSA Application Modernization (GAM) effort. E-authentication will be required to access any of these systems.

Deike says he has expressed his concerns to JAD team leaders that some of the electronic processes will be more time-consuming and less flexible than those currently in use and believes additional improvements may be necessary to realize the maximum benefit from GAM. (Editors Note: Future issues of Chaff will carry reports from other JAD participants.)

The National Grain and Feed Association reported in its February 19th newsletter to members that inspectors from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Kansas City Regional Office are visiting ethanol plants to obtain distillers’ grains product samples and collect information about processing activities. FDA will analyze the samples for antimicrobial residues and other potential contaminants. In addition to collecting samples, inspectors are asking management about procedures in place to prevent the cross contamination of inbound corn with mammalian protein products (such as ruminant meat and bone meal) that are prohibited from use in ruminant feeds under the agency’s feed regulations designed to prevent the amplification or spread of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

Charm Sciences announced on February 7 that it is providing the first Lateral Flow Quantitative test for Ochratoxin in grain and feedstuffs. Gerard Ruth, sales manager, Charm Sciences, said the ROSA® Quantitative kit delivers fast, economical, accurate detection for Ochratoxin A in a convenient single strip, Rapid One-Step strip Assay. The ROSA Ochratoxin kit has the flexibility to meet domestic and export requirements with quantitative readings and a detection range from 0 to 12 ppb. A dilution step expands the range from 10 – 150 ppb.

Following a methanol extraction, the diluted sample is added to the ROSA OCHRA strip and read after 10 minutes. The ROSA-M reader stores Ochratoxin results electronically for record keeping and reporting. Optional mycoSOFT™ software delivers flexible and intuitive functionality with customized data trending reports.

The ROSA Ochratoxin lateral flow tests require minimal equipment and user involvement. Multiple samples can be prepared and tested at the same time. ROSA test strips are uniquely packaged so that the strip only comes in contact with the sample. The ROSA Ochratoxin kit uses the same extraction as the GIPSA approved quantitative ROSA methods for aflatoxin and zearalenone. The ROSA Ochratoxin kit shares the same equipment and assay format as the ROSA quantitative methods for aflatoxin and zearalenone, and the same equipment as the GIPSA approved ROSA Quantitative method for DON.

Karen Guagliardo, chief of FGIS’s Compliance Division’s Review Branch, has assumed responsibility for managing the FGISonline projects. She is a certified project manager and been involved with the design, development, and deployment of several FGISonline applications. Under her leadership and management, FGIS will proceed with bringing a number of new applications into operation, including equipment checktesting, licensing, inspection testing and weighing (the new Cu-Sum plus more), and quality assurance and control. (taken from the GIPSA News, February 2008)

AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen, Vice President Mark Fulmer, and staffer Bob Petersen, met Tom O’Connor, the new FGIS Compliance Division Director over dinner in Kansas City on February 5 for an opportunity to become acquainted. The group was joined by most of the FGIS senior management team (including Administrator James Link and Deputy Administrator David Shipman) who were in Kansas City for a management meeting. The AAGIWA delegation was smaller than expected because of bad weather.

AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen said the association was pleased with this opportunity to become acquainted with a new, key member of the Agency’s senior management team. Kitchen pointed out that these types of opportunities to meet and discuss issues in a more casual setting can help build stronger working relationships that benefit the entire official system.

AAGIWA members Mark Fulmer, Lincoln Inspection Services, Dave Reeder, Fremont Grain Inspection, and Tom Dahl, Sioux City Grain Inspection and Weighing, presented two educational sessions during the course of the GEAPS annual meeting and technical conference in Omaha, February 23-26. Mark Fulmer reported that the sessions were well-attended. The corn session in particular, he said, drew a good cross-section from the grain industry including merchandisers, ethanol plant personnel, and elevator operations personnel.

Fulmer said the AAGIWA representatives also helped staff a booth shared with FGIS personnel Diane Palecek and Susan Fall. Also helping out were AAGIWA Board members Randy Deike, Washington State Department of Agriculture, and David Ayers, Champaign-Danville Grain Inspection Departments, Inc.

AAGIWA Secretary-Treasurer Dave Reeder reports the annual membership renewal process is proceeding on-pace and noted the addition of Aberdeen Grain Inspection who is re-joining after an absence of several years. Thanks go to Mike Hoesing the agency manager at Aberdeen for his support.

Members and their voting representatives who renewed their membership during February are:

• Eastern Iowa Inspection and Weighing Service, Dave Slater
• Foss North America, Mark Host
• Louisiana Department of Agriculture, Terrell Castille
• Utah Department of Agriculture, George Wilson
• Vicam (Waters Corp), Patricia Jackson

Reeder reminds members that there is a new address for membership renewals. Those should go to:

Dave Reeder
Fremont Grain Inspection
603 East Dodge Street
Fremont, NE 68025

Gary Mundhenke, president, AgTrax, has announced to customers that he will be retiring on June 30, 2008, and that Jeff Jackson will be promoted from general manager to president at that time. Jackson has been with the firm since its inception in 1996. Prior to that, he had extensive industry experience as an an auditor, controller at a privately owned elevator and farm supply operation, and then working in an agriculture software business with Farmland and Heartland Data Services.

AgTrax provides grain inspection certification software that complies with Federal guidelines. Its software suite includes customizable forms, automated billing and endless customer statistics to assist agencies to better manage their operations.

Steve Taylor joined the Missouri Agribusiness Association (MO-AG) on February 1 as the group’s new chief staff executive. The Association’s members include grain, feed, and agricultural chemical companies. Most recently, Taylor served as CEO of the Environmental Resources Coalition (ERC). He has also held positions with the Missouri Corn Growers Association, Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and as a seedstock manger with Cargill.

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 April issue must be submitted by March 25th. Those ads should be sent to Bob Petersen at bob.petersen@aagiwa.org.

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.com.

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.