Iowa Grain Quality Initiative
Advisory Committee Meeting
Meeting Minutes
July 11, 2014
Present: Joel Brinkmeyer, David Fairfield, Ray Hansen, Connie Hardy, Chad Hart, David Holm,
Harold Hommes, Mark Johnson, Charles Hurburgh (moderator), Randy Ives, Larry Johnson,
Steve Johnson, Angela Shaw, Ed Kordick, John Lawrence, Dan Loy, Gretchen Mosher, Robin
Pruisner, Ryan Sauer, Howard Shepherd, Curt Sindergard, Tim Sullivan, Randy Watts
Welcome and introductions – Charlie Hurburgh opened the meeting at 9:30am and
expressed thanks to those attending. Self-introductions were made.
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS) – Agriculture and Natural
Resources Extension (ANR) update was given by John Lawrence. ISU’s agricultural
programs are ranked #5 in the world for agriculture and forestry. CALS is again
expecting to have record student enrollment, but the numbers are not yet available.
CALS has maintained a job placement rate of 97% for 14 years. Average beginning
salary information was given for graduates of CALS programs. John announced that
the Ag Career Fair will take place this fall at the Lied Recreation Center and he
encouraged agricultural company representatives to attend. At the last Ag Career Fair,
220 companies and 2500 students participated. John suggested that companies should
start early to hire.
In 2014, the Iowa Legislature increased funding by $1.8million and ISU is expected to
ask for another $1million. Veterinary Diagnostic Lab received the additional funding it
requested. The new Biosciences Building (to be located north of the horse barns) has
been promised $51 million, and this also includes a revonation of Bessey Hall.
Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering (ABE) faculty have moved into the new
building. The Jeff and Deb Hanson Student Learning Center seats 800+ in the pavilion
and includes four classrooms.
The World Food Prize Youth Institute will be coming to campus this fall. It brings in 200
high school students and connects them to agriculture and the food industry. The Iowa
Soybean Research Center started on July 1 with Greg Tylka as director. This center
works along with ISU Research Farms to conduct on-farm research.
Charlie updated the group on the search for a faculty member in Grain Storage. The
people who applied were not as focused on Extension activities as the committee had
hoped, so they rewrote the job description and emphasized Extension with an on-farm
focus. Research activities could draw out of the Extension needs. The new position
was posted in early July. Targeted calls are being made. Applications close on Sept.
30.
As the Food Science and Human Nutrition Dept. expands its faculty base in Food
Safety and Obesity, the Grain Quality Lab is preparing to move to the third floor of the
National Swine Research and Information Center (NSRIC) located in the northeast
corner of campus.
IGQI projects
Charlie reviewed the three major areas of IGQI activities Bioprocessing – 30%
Qms/FSQMS, Food Safety – 40% Grain Management – 30%. We have been able to
leverage our state funding by a ratio of at least 3:1. Our Extension allocation for IGQI is
$156,000.
Grain Flow Survey
Chad Hart is leading the Grain Flow Survey which will include corn processing for
ethanol, food, and feed. It was decided not to include corn producers this year as they
have recently been asked to complete the US Census survey. A draft of the survey was
distributed, showing questions about quantities stored, how it is transported, and how
processors are preparing for food/feed safety requirements. It will include how the
industry is testing grain and grain products now, and if they need support in complying
with FSMA requirements. The survey will be sent out at the end of the marketing year
for 2013-2014 (Aug/Sept) and followup calls will be made to increase response rate.
Chad has asked that the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association include a letter with the
survey to encourage their members’ participation. A related survey will be done to
include grain handlers and producers next year.
Several suggestions were made to refine the survey questions. A definition of “highprotein distillers grains” was requested. Dan Loy mentioned that he is doing a survey of
modified and wet distillers grains, and Kurt Rosentrater has recently completed a survey
about distillers grains.
Analytics
Charlie reported that there have been more projects in analytics, including one that will
make it possible to have more than one brand of NIR instrumentation in the official
system. GIPSA would like to qualify several instruments, as they did a four years ago
with moisture testers.
FSMA
Charlie gave an update of FSMA activities related to the proposed rules for feed mills.
All facilities must register with FDA, but several have not yet done so. Comment
periods are closed on the Food, Produce, and Feed rules. Rules in all of these
categories must be completed by August 2015. Dave Fairfield said that certain aspects
may be re-opened for comment.
“Sleeper” issues – Foreign supplier verification program and third-party accreditation.
These provisions will likely be included in domestic procurement.
Rules in Process – Sanitary Transportation comment period ends on July 30, 2014.
FSMA and farms – Exempt, but farmers should be able to certify that they do not handle
animal protein meals and that immediate action is taken if treated seeds are found.
There might be a requirement that farmers make a connection with crop insurance if
mycotoxins are found to show that damaged grain is used in an approved manner.
Farms may be listed in “farms of origin” if required for buyer tracking. FDA has said that
any operation after harvest is in the covered supply chain. Charlie expects that there
will be more requests for identity of producer, handler, etc. by food processors in order
to tighten liability exposure. Dave Fairfield thinks that grain elevators may be exempt
from some of the rules and that there are efforts to change the existing definition of a
farm so that it will encompass more operations.
Angela Shaw shared some points on new activities in FSMA. She mentioned that feed
may also include fruits and vegetables. She has found in teaching HACCP for nonmeat industries that several processors are considering how their operations interact
with the feed industry. How do they get wood out of their facilities? What feed safety
items affect the animal, species by species? In the area of Sanitary Transportation,
what sanitizers are allowed and are they effective on wood surfaces, etc.?
Reportable Food Registry – For who needs to report, what does “manufacture, process,
pack, or hold food” mean in terms of compliance?
The pet food industry has frequent pathogen/toxin positives in their in-plant tests. Many
don’t want to report because they might be considered “higher-risk” facilities.
For example, vibrio is becoming a concern because it is resistant to heat and pressure
and may contaminate seafood ingredients that go into pet foods.
Brewers/Distillers – FDA’s understanding is that the potential hazards associated with
spent grains are minimal. Researchers are looking at how pre-processing affects them.
Randy Ives mentioned that distillers grains in an ethanol plant are considered “foodgrade” until they “hit the concrete floor”. Brewers have cGMPs for the food industry, but
all the processors have some kind of by-product that is “feed”.
FDA Inspector Training
Connie reported on the FDA Inspector Training materials with a listing of the required
modules and some examples of an interactive program that includes all aspects of the
grain supply chain. Discussion followed about development of industry materials. We
have a checklist. Howard Shepherd explained that the Grain Supply Chain format is
capable of hosting all of the educational modules that have been developed. Charlie
asked if, by completing some of these modules, a plant employee may become a
“qualified person” under the FSMA proposed rules. Randy Watts answered that a
qualified person needs only to understand the HACCP plan and walk an inspector
through it. Angela said that most companies are training people for HACCP. Mark
Johnson pointed out that insurance companies might want certification as a strategy to
control losses. Ray Hansen mentioned that plant personnel could have an advantage if
they know what the inspectors have to know. Howard talked about training the less
experienced people coming into the industry. Could these modules be used in
community college training, such as in the Feed program at the Oskaloosa community
college.
If a person gets certified, will they be required to complete continuing ed? GEAPS
doesn’t require it, but many do. Should a University do it by itself or in partnership with
an industry association? There is some value to certification if the industry helps keep it
updated and improves job performance. Did Iowa Valley Community College attempt
this? Gretchen Mosher answered that it has not done so yet. She also suggested that
we could include small survey in industry newsletters with a link to one of our modules
to ask if this type of education is useful to the industry.
GMO labelling
Charlie stated that there has been a lot of pressure for mandatory GMO food labelling
which could impact the grain industry.
Viptera – DNA testing will confirm its presence. Starlink corn comprised 0.5% of US
acres, but it was found in 25% of export cargos. China’s approval of Viptera is pending
for two years. Shipments of corn and DDGS have been diverted to other countries.
China buys about half of DDGS exports from US, and they will be testing more
shipments. The markup to trade in China is basically $120/ton, recently.
Duracade, a new Syngenta GM event for rootworm resistance, is planted now in 2014
through a limited release to cover approximately 0.5% of US corn acres. Syngenta is
attempting to track the Duracade corn from planting to use. Gavilon Grain has
contracted with Syngenta to track Duracade to prevent it getting into export channels.
Planting has been mainly in the corn belt. Most ethanol plants will not take Duracade
except those that sell DDGS only locally. For sales to elevators, Syngenta might agree
to pay the difference if a farmer can prove he had to sell it at a discount. A Bill of Lading
exists for every 1000 expected bushels.
A test kit is available through Envirologix. Grain handlers should probe a truck at least 7
times and use a 1500 gram sample.
Charlie proposed that it would be good for Syngenta to get the data on how much of the
corn they could actually track. If 80% of the Duracade corn planted (0.5% of US corn
acres * 0.8) can be tracked to a final approved use, then 0.1% of the US corn acres
remain untracked. So, assuming that half (50%) of the untracked corn was used in an
approved manner, that leaves the other half (0.05% of the US corn supply) possibly
going into export channels. 0.05% is below the limit of the Envirologix test kit. We could
have sporadic positive Duracade test results in export loads.
Discussion:
Ed Kordick stated that, at the farmer’s meeting, one farmer challenged another who had
grown it. It makes a problem in the system.
China will not reject soybean meal because they need the protein, especially when they
are rejecting DDGS. Currently, China has too much corn, and Ryan Sauer suggested
that the Chinese are embarrassed for getting into this situation. China’s new president
is more a reformer.
Do we need to stop the introduction of all GMO events until they are completely
approved across the board? What steps would prevent that? Does ISU have a role to
play in helping the industry?
Robin Pruisner asked if there had been an occasion when it was decided not to release
an event until China approves. Ryan Sauer said that farmer education about the use
and marketing issues surrounding these GM events would guide farmers to feed the
GM corn on farm.
Syngenta released another GM corn called Enogen. Randy Ives mentioned that
Enogen is already approved in China even though it was released after Viptera was
released. Liabilities along the supply chain should be defined. Charlie suggested the
grain handling companies may have a complaint to make. David Holm asked if we can
know how much of it is planted in each county so grain buyers in those counties can
have an idea who has planted it.
There should be one statement that can be used in press releases, newsletters, etc. to
alert farmers and grain handlers about the need to follow the appropriate stewardship
program for a particular GMO event. If you planted it and you don’t know where, then
you have to consider your whole crop to be GM. The consequences will hit the ethanol
plants and the producers that are closest to them.
A map showing the passage of GMO labelling legislation (passed in VT, will pass in ME
and CT if 5 other states pass it) was discussed. Legislation has been introduced in
several states. Europe does not label, but food processors have turned away from using
corn and soybean based ingredients, which has resulted in a 15-20% increase in food
costs.
Coalition for Safe Affordable Food has suggested to federal agencies a program that
would help them decide whether to mandate GMO labelling or let it be voluntary.
David Fairfield said that the Coalition is there to establish standards for non-GMO
labelling of food products, not for labelling GMO. There is a precedent but we don’t
label non-organic.
Charlie estimated that the cost of having a dual marketing system will be about 50 cents
per bushel. Larry Johnson suggested that it could be closer to $1.00 per bushel to
cover the liability the seller assumes for labelling correctly.
Grain Handling and Storage Modules
Listed as :
Mycotoxins -Biology
Mycotoxins – Handling
Grain Drying Economics
Grain Storage Economics
Next meeting
Friday, January 9, 2015 Issues might be storage of 2013 and 2014 crops because of
lower prices.
Perhaps an ICM article (Charlie) on grain storage and Ag Decisionmaker (Steve) to
guide producers would be helpful.
Meeting adjourned at 2:30pm.
Respectfully submitted,
Connie Hardy