On paper, USMCA ended the practice of automatically downgrading American wheat to feed, the lowest value available.
The USMCA did not mention what turns out to have been a significant detail — the Canadian Varietal Registration System, a list of all the wheat varieties that may be sold on Canadian markets, reports the Sidney Herald.
Any wheat varieties not on that list must be sold as feed, regardless of what the USMCA agreement says.
According to Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana, and North Dakota’s Republican Senators Kevin Cramer and John Hoeven, that list so far excludes many of the varieties grown in northern tier states like Montana and North Dakota.
Tester said he has received several reports from growers that Montana wheat is still facing a huge competitive disadvantage in Canadian markets, and that Canada has so far indicated it is not willing to change its VRS to include Montana varieties.
Read the full report here.
