Australia: Western Australia to introduce new malting barley screening standards
As of the 2013/14 harvest Malt 1 barley varieties delivered into WA's receival systems will need to adhere to new screening standards of 20 per cent, Farm Weekly posted on August, 23.
The change is a result of the Grain Industry Association of WA's (GIWA) annual receival standard review which focused on the State's barley crop.
Earlier in the year GIWA proposed changes to WA's barley receival standards by suggesting screenings for Malt 1 be changed from 25pc to 15pc and Malt 2 from 35pc to 30pc to bring them in line with national standards.
But in what GIWA chairman Jon Slee called a "certain compromise", the standard for Malt 1 was last week ratified at 20pc.
After viewing more than 100 review submissions, largely from trading businesses within WA's grains industry, the GIWA standards committee also decided there would be no change to the current Malt 2 barley standard which remained at 35pc screenings.
"Market pressures from overseas customers to improve the quality of WA's export grain cannot be ignored," Mr Slee said.
"The changes to Malt 1 screening standards, though minimal, will strengthen WA's ability to be commercially competitive in the export barley market.
"Industry still has the ability to manage in-season risk by introducing new segregations if and when required at delivery time but it's essential to note the primary Malt 1 and 2 grade won't be adjusted within a harvest period to manage seasonal issues."
Mr Slee said the Malt 1 screening changes were a simple reversion to where the Malt 1 standard used to be before the deregulation of the grains industry in 2008.
"The standard was actually pushed out to 25pc just to deal with a seasonal issue at that time and it was never reverted back," Mr Slee said.
"All we're doing is putting it back to where it was meant to be."
Mr Slee said changes to Malt 2 screening standards weren't supported by GIWA, growers or the domestic Malt industry during the review process because it opened the door for product to slip from Malt to the Feed grade upon delivery.
"We still want to capture as many Malt tonnes as we can even though the changes will result in some slippage from the Malt 1 to Malt 2 grade compared to the last few seasons," Mr Slee said.
"The market will set prices accordingly and in seasons when there is short supply we'll probably find there will be better premiums for Malt 2 than what we've seen in the past."
As a result of the recent review, GIWA also ratified a change in the method used to determine screenings by moving the number of screen shakes from 20 to 40 for all barley receivals.
This change will be introduced at the beginning of the upcoming 2012/13 harvest.
Mr Slee said in years when high screenings were widespread the 20-shake methodology didn't deliver as accurate a result as that achieved by moving to 40 shakes in the test procedure.
He said the basic principle of any test method was to use the most accurate measure available at the receival point and it was important to note GIWA had made a change to improve the accuracy of results which wasn't the same as changing a receival standard for barley.
When asked whether GIWA's ratified changes were staunchly supported by farmers in light of the grower backlash surrounding the association's alleged siding with traders throughout the review process, Mr Slee said the changes reflected a whole supply chain view.
"We're trying to maximise value which still comes back to growers," he said.
"But all of our standards for grains have got to be put in place to meet what the market requirements are."
The overall review of WA barley standards also bought into question the role of GIWA within WA's grains industry.
WAFarmers' grains council recently urged GIWA to reconsider the processes it used to make decisions which impacted the State's grain growers.
Feedback to the lobby group suggested many growers weren't clear about the role GIWA played in the setting of receival standards and that the process was too heavily weighted towards the interests of traders rather than the grains industry as a whole.
WAFarmers grains council spokesman and Esperance barley grower Mic Fels said the current process of consultation with growers through a written submission was an inappropriate and ineffective means of establishing a meaningful dialogue with growers.
"GIWA should consider hosting regional grower meetings to discuss issues such as receival standards like those which were carried out pre-deregulation by the Australian Wheat Board and the Grain Pool," Mr Fels said.
"In the past growers were given the opportunity to provide feedback on the often contentious issue of receival standards through local grower meetings with the body responsible for setting receival standards.
"This allowed for the proposed changes to be explained in full detail while allowing growers the opportunity to provide feedback unequivocally and directly.
"The current process based on written submissions indicates that GIWA is out of touch with growers' needs and the time poor and largely practical nature of their occupation.
"This shows either a lack of respect or a lack of understanding of the value of growers' contribution to the industry and as a result the credibility of GIWA is compromised from a grower's perspective."
Mr Fels said while growers logically represented half the grain supply chain they were clearly outnumbered in terms of representation on GIWA, making it difficult to sway the outcomes of issues.
Mr Slee refuted Mr Fels' claims by repeating that the review represented a balanced view across the whole of supply chain.
In response to the idea of further grower consultation, Mr Slee said GIWA could always do more and was in the process of deciding how to best approach grower consultation in the future.
He said any changes to receival standards were designed to result in a net positive gain to growers.
GIWA will also re-examine the process it uses for reviewing grain standards for next year and welcomed any feedback from industry participants prior to next year on ways to improve the review process.
Growers will have the chance to meet with GIWA and trade representatives at the GIWA stand at the Dowerin GWN7 Machinery Field Days on August 29 and 30.
24 August, 2012
