WESTLOCK, Alta. — Getting a good grade on wheat seems to be like buying a new car, lots of negotiating required.
Val Katerenchuk said when she took samples of her wheat to three grain companies she got three different grades.
“I’m always fighting for the grade. It should be already decided,” said a frustrated Katerenchuk, who farms near Vegreville.
Katerenchuk said it used to be easy to grow No. 1 wheat, but in the new deregulated wheat market, it seems to always be downgraded for colour.
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“Marketing is a lot harder this year, for me personally,” said Katerenchuk during a joint Alberta Barley and Alberta Wheat Commission meeting.
“I might sleep better at night if I don’t think I’m getting ripped off. I’m tired of going to three different places and getting three different grades. You shouldn’t have to raise a stink.”
Henry Vos, a Fairview, Alta., farmer, former Canadian Wheat Board director and now a director of the Alberta Wheat Commission, recommended that Katerenchuk ask the elevators to send a sample to the Canadian Grain Commission for official grading.
It may help, but producers must wait for their money, said Vos.
Alberta Agriculture’s Bill Chapman recommended farmers take samples as they harvest and drive them to the grain commission’s Calgary office as a matter of course.
“You might have more of a bargaining chip,” said Chapman.
“It may be better to be proactive and take a sample to Calgary.”
