GIPSA Amends US Wheat Standards

GIPSA's POLICY ON HARD WHITE WHEAT CLASSIFICATION

American wheat producers are working diligently to market Hard White wheat as a premium product to buyers in the competitive global marketplace. To help producers meet market needs for this developing class, GIPSA will amend the wheat standards and modify policies for the classification of Hard White wheat. With more than one half million acres harvested in 2004 and an increase expected in 2005, GIPSA believes that these changes will facilitate the marketing of Hard White wheat.

Wheat Standards

On May 1, 2006, GIPSA will amend the U.S. wheat standards to facilitate the marketing of Hard White Wheat. "GIPSA is amending the grain standards to change the definition of contrasting classes in Hard Red Winter wheat and Hard Red Spring wheat such that Hard White wheat is not a contrasting class but is considered as wheat of other classes. GIPSA also is amending the grain standards by adding the sample size used to determine sample grade factors, because the standards should transmit this information. These actions are necessary to ensure market-relevant standards and grades and facilitate the marketing of grain."

GIPSA published a Final Rule in the February 18, 2005, Federal Register amending the U.S. Standards for Wheat, with an effective date of approximately 15 months (the equivalent of 2 harvests) after the Final Rule publication to allow the market to prepare for the change.

Effective May 1, 2006, Hard White wheat will not be counted as a contrasting class (CCL) in either Hard Red Winter wheat or Hard Red Spring wheat. All Hard White wheat will be counted as wheat of other classes (WOCL) when found in predominantly Hard Red Winter wheat or Hard Red Spring wheat. The grade requirement for WOCL, will remain unchanged at 5 percent (maximum) for U.S. #2 wheat.

The standards and grade requirements for CCL and WOCL in predominantly Hard White wheat will not change either. Hard Red Winter wheat and/or Hard Red Spring wheat have always been, and will continue to be, counted as both CCL and WOCL when found in predominantly Hard White wheat. The grade requirements for CCL and WOCL applicable to Hard White wheat will remain at 2 percent maximum and 5 percent maximum respectively for U.S. #2 wheat. Finally, the wheat standards will not change with respect to Soft White wheat, which is CCL and WOCL in Hard Red Wheat.

United States Standards for Wheat
Changing	Remaining the Same
Hard Red Winter and Hard Red Spring wheat standards to count Hard White wheat as WOCL, not CCL	Hard White Wheat standards Grade requirement for WOCL (5% maximum) for U.S. #2 wheat Standards and grade requirements for CCL and WOCL for predominantly Hard White wheat Standards for Soft White wheat

Policy Actions

GIPSA currently is revising the classification policy for Hard White Wheat. In 2001, GIPSA established a classification policy for Hard White wheat under which only light colored kernels of Hard White wheat were considered as CCL and WOCL when found in Hard Red Winter wheat or Hard Red Spring wheat. The policy facilitated trade, especially in growing years when growing conditions made Hard White wheat darker than normally expected. On May 1, 2006, the effective date of the standards change, GIPSA will implement a new policy for classifying Hard White Wheat:

All Hard White wheat varieties are considered Hard White wheat regardless of color and regardless of whether they are in a predominantly Hard White wheat sample or a predominantly hard red wheat sample, and, all Hard White wheat kernels will be counted as wheat of other classes in Hard Red Winter wheat and Hard Red Spring wheat.

GIPSA analyzed the effect of revising the policy and found that 41 percent of the samples marketed as Hard Red Winter wheat would have WOCL values greater that 5.0 percent. Any number of occurrences could contribute to the discovery of a small amount of a grain other than that being marketed in the cargo, including inadvertent commingling of grains due to binning and handling equipment, or growing conditions such as volunteer plants in production fields. The classification policy in place since 2001 allowed the combination of darker Hard White wheat kernels in hard red wheat without an adverse effect on the determination of other classes.

GIPSA is releasing the new Hard White wheat classification policy 15 months in advance of the effective date to allow the market adequate time to manage inventories and modify business practices as necessary.

GIPSA's new Hard White wheat classification policy appears in program notice, PN-05-04, which can be viewed on the GIPSA website at: http://www.usda.gov/gipsa/reference-library/bulletins/pn05-04.pdf.