GTA looks on raising wheat test weights

Grain Trade Australia (GTA), the body responsible for setting segregation standards, is looking to raise test weights for the country and above paygrades of wheat from 74-76 kilogrammes a hectolitre, which it says will bring Australian standards in line with rival exporters such as the US and Canada.

The standards for the 2010-11 will be released within a week, with GTA chief executive Geoff Honey confirming test weights would not be rising for the upcoming harvest, in spite of an ongoing commitment to the change.

However, Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) grains group president Russell Amery said growers remained uneasy about changes to the system, given the current payment system.

''It's a problem, given the way our market is structured. We are told that other countries have test weight specifications of 78 or 80kg per hl, but the difference is that they have a secondary paygrade where that figure comes back to 72kg per hl, and the discount is only around US$5-US$10 a tonne,'' Amery said.

''Here, we are in the situation that an Australian Hard (AH) variety that tests 75.9kg per hl immediately goes back to General Purpose (GP) standard and your returns drop perhaps US$50 a tonne, or around a third of the value of the product, straight away,'' he added.

Mr Amery said he was pleased there would be no changes this season, saying growers had purchased their varieties for this season and would not be able to change from those varieties that had issues with low test weights.

However, he said he did not see the need for change at all, and said the issue of out-turning a quality product for export should be sorted out between exporters and the bulk handlers and should not involve making the specifications harder for wheat growers to achieve.

Mr Amery questioned GTA's links with the producer sector, saying membership costs made it difficult for state farmer organisations (SFOs) to participate.