Members of the U.S. grain industry welcomed renewal last month of the U.S. Grain Standards Reauthorization Act by Congress through 2025.

The measure allows USDA to establish marketing standards for grain and to provide procedures for inspection and weighing.

“All grain that’s exported has to be inspected,” Glen Squires, CEO of the Washington Grain Commission, told the Capital Press.

About 50% of all U.S. wheat is exported. 

In the Pacific Northwest, the percentage is much higher: 85% of Washington’s crop, 95% of Oregon’s crop and 60% of Idaho’s crop are exported.

The Federal Grain Inspection Service is the independent, third-party inspector.

“That gives a lot of credibility to our overseas customers that want to have that third party,” Squires said.

He said the process provides integrity for buyers overseas. If customers have a question, the inspection service has a review process.

The standards are the same regardless of where in the U.S. the grain is exported, Squires said.

“Overseas customers get exactly what the standard says,” he said. “Customers getting what they buy is certainly important.”

No big changes were included in the passage of the act, Squires said.

The National Association of Wheat Growers and U.S. Wheat Associates, the overseas marketing arm for the industry, issued a joint press release.

“With our farmers facing tough economic challenges, including several years of low commodity prices and headwinds blowing against overseas demand, it is critically important that we at least maintain a smooth grain inspection system,” said Dave Milligan, president of NAWG and farmer in Cass City, Mich., in the press release. “We applaud Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate for working together to get this piece of legislation passed by the end of the year. To maintain a properly functioning grain inspection system, NAWG encourages the President to sign this bill into law before the closing of 2020.”

“This law and our system of standardized, independent grain inspection makes U.S. wheat more valuable,” U.S. Wheat chairman Darren Padget, a wheat farmer from Grass Valley, Ore, stated. “The proof of that came this year when many of our overseas buyers expressed a real concern that the pandemic would interrupt our supply chain and FGIS inspections.”

President Donald Trump is expected to sign the bill into law, according to the National Grain and Feed Association.