It has not been heard or seen for two years, but AAGIWA’s newsletter Chaff is staging a comeback. AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen says the Board of Directors has approved a number of steps to bring more vigor to the Association and one of the main priorities is to better communicate with Association members. Kitchen says members should expect to receive Chaff electronically on a monthly basis.

The AAGIWA Board of Directors approved a series of actions to re-invigorate the Association during its meeting held September 10-11 at the Tan-Tar-A Resort at Osage Beach, Missouri.

The new program of work envisions:

• Improved internal and external communications, including a monthly newsletter, occasional reports on issues, and the availability of all items on the Association web site.
• Stronger issue advocacy, including submitting comments on pending rulemakings and working on specific issues, such as ethanol. (The board took the unusual step of designating issues connected to ethanol as a priority area for the Association.)
• More active member recruitment to outline the benefits of AAGIWA membership.
• General assistance on administrative items such as association management and meeting arrangements. In general, the Board is committed to a more active AAGIWA as a voice and advocate for official agencies.

The Strategic Plan approved by the Board at its September meeting assesses the business environment facing official agencies and current perceptions of how AAGIWA is serving its members.

• In looking at the business environment facing official agencies, the Plan finds that is easy to build a case for pessimism largely because of the uncertainties brought on by the rapid expansion of the ethanol industry. However, a closer looks shows that inspection volumes have been holding steady to higher. Furthermore, higher corn production levels will likely maintain exports at fairly steady levels and animal numbers are expected to hold fairly constant, even though ethanol production will be taking a large amount of the U.S. corn crop.
• In looking at AAGIWA’s situation, the Plan finds that many AAGIWA members are expecting more from the association than it has been able to provide in recent years. The Plan makes a number of recommendations that the Board has taken preliminary steps to implement.

The full Strategic Plan was mailed to all AAGIWA members on October 3 with a cover letter from President Kitchen explaining many of the key points. The Plan was prepared by Petersen Consulting Services, LLC, under contract with AAGIWA.

In comments filed with the Federal Grain Inspection Service on September 18, 2007, AAGIWA expressed its views on issues related to testing procedures for distillers dried grains (DDGs) and measuring the quality attributes of particular corn varieties designed for the ethanol industry. In particular, AAGIWA noted many analysts expect DDG production to surge over the next two years and AAGIWA said it was appropriate for FGIS to be taking a forward looking stance given unfolding marketing conditions. As these changes develop, AAGIWA said its members would like to be poised to provide testing services of importance to the industry. (See http://www.aagiwa.org/whatsnew/ethanolDDG.htm for the full comment letter.)

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While AAGIWA respects FGIS’ work to find alternatives that would lessen the safety concerns associated with providing rail car stowage exams, the Association wrote on September 28 that it does not feel the “Grain Car Inspection Pole” currently under development will prove feasible in actual use. AAGIWA said that while the new device has a number of positive aspects, the overall concern is that the device is so top heavy as to be very unstable in the best of circumstances and terrain. This instability would appear to make the device not practical for field use. (See http://www.aagiwa.org/whatsnew/stowage_pole.htm for the full comment letter.)

In response to continued member concern with the safety issues associated with performing stowage examinations on railcars, AAGIWA sent a letter to all members on October 2 to highlight some steps agencies can take under current rules and procedures.

FGIS Program Notice 06-07, “Conditional Dismissal of Mandatory and Service-on-Request Stowage Examination of Land Carriers and Domestic Barges,” outlines the procedure to follow in dismissing stowage examinations when hazardous conditions are present. As part of an official agency’s management practices, an agency may wish to include in its safety handbook a definition of “hazardous conditions” that would be applicable when dismissing stowage examinations. Those hazardous conditions could include such factors as lack of adequate lighting (after dark) and inclement weather (wind, rain, snow, ice, etc.). In other words, if an agency feels there are unsafe conditions present, it may decline to provide stowage examinations. An agency should be sure to appropriately document such steps and to include the following statement on the inspection certificate: “Stowage area not examined.”

Furthermore, agencies should work with their customers to explain the safety issues and explore whether a waiver of service would be merited. Customers may not realize that when a waiver is in place, it can result in expedited loading for shuttle trains. (See http://www.aagiwa.org/whatsnew/stowage_letter.htm for a copy of the letter.)

Breaking with past tradition, the 2008 Annual Meeting for AAGIWA will be held in early-May in the Kansas City area. President Larry Kitchen said one of the issues that became clear in the Strategic Plan was that many members felt the Las Vegas location and format had grown stale and it was time for a fresh approach.

Kansas City offers a central location with a choice of quality hotels and activities. The Board is optimistic the location will also be a plus in obtaining top-notch speakers from the grain, ethanol, and related industries. Further details will be forthcoming.

AAGIWA Vice President Mark Fulmer reports the FGIS Advisory Committee’s next meeting has been set for November 28 and 29, 2007 in Denver, Colorado.

Further details on the meeting agenda and schedule are expected shortly. Fulmer, manager of the Lincoln Grain Inspection Service, Lincoln, Nebraska, serves as a member of the Advisory Committee.

Given the number of AAGIWA members and Board members who typically attend the FGIS Advisory Committee meeting, the Board will hold its Fall 2007 meeting on November 27 in Denver, just the day before the Advisory Committee meeting begins. President Larry Kitchen says he expects the Board agenda to generally include updates on initiatives now underway.

AAGIWA leaders have scheduled a briefing session with GIPSA Deputy Administrator David Shipman for 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 18, at the Federal office complex located at 6501 Beacon Drive, Kansas City, Missouri. All AAGIWA members are invited to attend the session. AAGIWA has asked Mr. Shipman for an update on issues related to performing phytosanitary inspections. But, the session will present an opportunity for a general briefing on current issues. This will be a great opportunity for members to bring their questions on the Quality Management System (QMS), Information Data Warehouse (IDW), or other matters, said AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen. AAGIWA members planning to attend should let Bob Petersen know at bob.petersen@aagiwa.org or (816) 628-1287.

BBI International and the U.S. Grains Council will host an “International Distillers Grains Conference and Trade Show” October 21-23 in Schaumberg, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. The host entities are well-known – BBI as a sponsor of major ethanol industry events and U.S. Grain Council as the prominent producer-funded market development organization for U.S. feed grains. A conference brochure is available on-line at www.ddgconference.com.

FOSS North America has announced it now has available a calibration for its Infratec 1241 that will measure fermentable starch in corn, an attribute important to ethanol plants. This new test will give ethanol plants a way to analyze incoming corn for ethanol yield and potentially discourage the delivery of substandard corn.

Mark Host with FOSS says, “This technology allows ethanol producers to use real-time data to manage the grain feeding their ethanol production process. Farmers will be able to take this information and combine it with their on-farm agronomic performance data to tailor the corn hybrids they plant to maximize their ethanol yield on every acre.”

Contact Host for pricing information at (800) 547-6275.

John Giler, a long-time veteran of the USDA’s Federal Grain Inspection Service has been named Director of the Agency’s Field Management Division. Giler joined the agency in 1978 as an agricultural commodity grader in the Philadelphia Field Office. Giler has held a series of progressively more responsible, senior positions and was named acting director of the Field Management Division in 2005. “John Giler is an example of the best of the career civil service,” AAGIWA President Larry Kitchen said. “John has worked his way up the ladder and along the way proved himself as a real professional who is a hard worker with an excellent grasp of the issues.”

In his report for the September Board meeting, AAGIWA Secretary-Treasurer Dave J. Reeder said the Association is today composed of 32 official agencies and 8 vendors. Of the official agencies who are members, 8 are designated state agencies and 24 are private agencies. Reeder noted that AAGIWA’s membership of 32 official agencies represented only 58 percent of the total number of official agencies, which stands at 55 (11 state agencies and 44 private agencies). AAGIWA plans a major recruitment drive in the coming months, Reeder said.

Bob Petersen, a veteran of the U.S. grain industry, is providing part-time support services to AAGIWA under an agreement with the Board that goes through mid-May 2008. Petersen is a past president and CEO of the Kansas City Board of Trade (2000-2004), a past president of the National Grain Trade Council (1980-2000), and currently operates a consulting business in the Kansas City area that focuses mostly on agricultural public relations.

Petersen’s other clients include the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS), The ProExporter Network®, and Farms Technology, LLC. For further information see the firm’s website, www.petersenconsultingllc.com.

You should feel free to contact Bob by telephone at (816) 628-1287 or by e-mail at 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.