Wheat plays an important role in Michigan's economy with half a million acres planted annually.
We encourage coordination of industry-needs, research priorities and processor requirements through the Michigan Wheat Program, ultimately leading to profitability.
We support:
Michigan Farm Bureau collaborating with representatives of the crop insurance industry, wheat millers, and the Michigan Agri-Business Association to discuss transparency in wheat pricing and statewide standards for wheat sampling.
Continued education and certification efforts to improve sampling and testing procedures to ensure accurate and consistent falling number and Vomitoxin testing results.
Continuation of the wheat checkoff program.
The Great Lakes Yield Enhancement Network, which evaluates the production practices of wheat producers, and we encourage stakeholders to help fund this research.
Risk Management Agency (RMA)
We commend RMA for recognizing results of the falling number test when determining quality loss adjustments for white wheat. However, the coverage must be expanded to include all classes of wheat, and discount factors must be comparable to the level of discounts experienced by producers in the marketplace.
We also recommend RMA explore developing a new insurance policy recognizing the differentiation between wheat classes.
We encourage RMA to standardize wheat planting deadlines with the Farm Service Agency to reflect current climatic conditions.