Details Of Wheat Grading Proposals

Press, Volume XCVIII, Issue 29052, 14 November 1959, Page 8

Details Of Wheat Grading Proposals

Details of the new grading proposals for wheat were released this week by the general manager of the Wheat ; Committee, Mr L. C. Dunshea. Agreement on the proposals has now been reached among interested parties and the Wheat Committee has recommended to the Minister of Industries and Commerce, Mr Holloway, that the Board of Trade Wheat and Flour Regulations, 194*. be amended to give e..ect to the proposals. It is intended that they should come into operation for the new harvest, and operate for two years after which they will be reviewed. Mr Dunshea said that the principal proposal involved the establishment of a new grade for milling standard wheat in place of the present grade for f.a.q. : milling wheat with provision for dockages by weight in cases where the wheat is beyond the tolerances allowed for moisture, broken, immature and shrivelled grains, weed seeds and other extraneous matter. The proposed • grade for milling standard wheat : was more specifically described ■so that the difficulty of interpretation with the present grade for f.a.q. milling wheat was rei moved. Expectation The introduction of /the new grading proposals was expected to be followed by' an improvement in the quality of wheat delivered and at the same time was expected to assist wheat handling. Details of the new grading proposals are:— "(1) Definition of milling standard wheat: ‘Milling standard wheat means wheat containing not more than 15.5 per cent, by ! weight of moisturj, sound and (sweet, free from sprouted grains, I

free from smut, free from decay, free from damage by Insect pests, injurious to baking quality, free from blemish or damage not herinbefore particularised, and containing not more than 2.5 per cent, by weight of broken, immature and shrivelled grains, weed seeds and other extraneous ous matter; provided that weed seeds and other extraneous matter shall not exceed 0.5 per cent, by weight.’ Screen *‘<2) The determination of broken, immature and shrivelled grains shall be by screening a representative sample of the wheat over a 51 A sieve. “(3) Millers may buy wheat which contains more than 15.5 per cent, by weight of moisture and/or contains more than 2.5 per cent, by weight of broken, immature and shrivelled grains, weed seeds and other extraneous matter by deducting, with the consent of the grower, the weight represented by the excess over the tolerance allowed for broken, immature and shrivelled grains, weed seeds and other extraneous matter. All material represented by such weight deduction shall become the property of the purchaser and the grower shall not be entitled to payment for same.

‘‘(4) A 11b sample representative of each line offered by the grower shall be forwarded to the miller, as the basis of purchase, but final deductions or rejections to be determined on the bulk delivery. If, after purchase, when the wheat is delivered, it is found that the bulk is not in accordance with the sample, the miller shall have the right either to re*

ject the wheat, or subject to the consent of the grower, take it into store, and make such necessary weight adjustments as will equate the wheat to milling standard wheat. “(5) Moisture content shall be determined by any method acceptable to the Wheat Research Institute.

"(6) A reliable guide to baking quality (such as the Zeleny test) may be required to accompany each sample.

“(7) In the event of a dispute samples are to be taken in accordance with an agreed upon procedure. "<B> In all disputes regarding the sale and purchase of wheat., the Wheat Committee’s grader shall be contained in sound, clean, putes regarding moisture, milling and baking quality of wheat, the Wheat Research Institute shall act. Sacks “(9) Milling standard wheat shall be contained in sound, clean, once-shot 46in by 23in sacks or in sound new 46in by 23in standard New Zealand cornsacks, free of holes and other damage.” Recalling events leading to agreement being reached on these proposals, Mr Dunshea said that the New Zealand Flourmillers’ Society had sought an alteration in the present grade and the matter had been before interested parties for some months. More recently the question had been the subject of lengthy discussion and negotiation at meetings representative of the Flourmillers’ Society, the Dominion Agricultural Section of Federated Farmers, United Wheatgrowers (N.Z.), Ltd, the New Zealand Grain Merchants* Federation, the Wheat Research Institute, and the Wheat Committee. As a result, concrete proposals had been evolved as the basis of wheat grading in IMO.