Export Fallout From Vomitoxin Minimal

Winter 1995
Export Fallout From Vomitoxin Minimal

By Tracy Sayler, Communications Specialist; Minnesota Assn. of Wheat Growers & Minnesota Wheat Council

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Prairie Grains is the
official publication of
the Minnesota
Association of
Wheat Growers,
North Dakota Grain
Growers Association,
South Dakota Wheat,
Inc., and the
Minnesota Barley
Growers Association.

While there was great concern about how scab and vomitoxin in the 1993 spring wheat crop would affect overseas marketing, it appears that actual damage was minimal.
Most overseas staff of U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) report no longterm effects on importer buying practices and virtually no complaints from importers about excessive vomitoxin or scab, says Jim Frahm, USW, Washington, D.C.

Revised Food and Drug Administration guidelines, which in the fall of 1993 established a perimeter of 1 parts per million vomitoxin in finished or processed grain products, helped substantially in alleviating marketing uncertainties.

The Federal Grain Inspection Service also helped, offering quick vomitoxin testing which then gave importers the option of choosing either a scab or vomitoxin specification that could be officially certified, says Frahm.

USW and the U.S. government helped by reassuring importers. For example, An Egyptian national, who claimed to have visited North Dakota during the 1993 harvest, wrote a letter to the Minister of Supply and recommended that all imports from the United States be stopped, "because U.S. wheat was poisoned."

The letter was taken quite seriously by some in the Egyptian government. Both USDA's Foreign Ag Service and USW, funded in part by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, supplied information about the crop and the FDA's recommendations about vomitoxin to reassure the Egyptians.

After a few weeks of uncertainty, the Egyptian government resumed purchasing U.S. wheat. In fact, Egypt was the second largest importer of U.S. wheat in the 1993/94 marketing year, with only Japan buying more.

Frahm says scab and vomitoxin have been even less of a concern in the current marketing year. "Buyers are finding that it is much less of a problem, and that their purchasing specifications are working even better compared to the previous marketing year," he says.

Copyright Prairie
Grains Magazine
Winter 1995

Winter 1995	Export Fallout From Vomitoxin Minimal By Tracy Sayler, Communications Specialist; Minnesota Assn. of Wheat Growers & Minnesota Wheat Council

Library Home E-Mail Back Prairie Grains is the official publication of the Minnesota Association of Wheat Growers, North Dakota Grain Growers Association, South Dakota Wheat, Inc., and the Minnesota Barley Growers Association.	While there was great concern about how scab and vomitoxin in the 1993 spring wheat crop would affect overseas marketing, it appears that actual damage was minimal. Most overseas staff of U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) report no longterm effects on importer buying practices and virtually no complaints from importers about excessive vomitoxin or scab, says Jim Frahm, USW, Washington, D.C. Revised Food and Drug Administration guidelines, which in the fall of 1993 established a perimeter of 1 parts per million vomitoxin in finished or processed grain products, helped substantially in alleviating marketing uncertainties. The Federal Grain Inspection Service also helped, offering quick vomitoxin testing which then gave importers the option of choosing either a scab or vomitoxin specification that could be officially certified, says Frahm. USW and the U.S. government helped by reassuring importers. For example, An Egyptian national, who claimed to have visited North Dakota during the 1993 harvest, wrote a letter to the Minister of Supply and recommended that all imports from the United States be stopped, "because U.S. wheat was poisoned." The letter was taken quite seriously by some in the Egyptian government. Both USDA's Foreign Ag Service and USW, funded in part by the Minnesota Wheat Research and Promotion Council, supplied information about the crop and the FDA's recommendations about vomitoxin to reassure the Egyptians. After a few weeks of uncertainty, the Egyptian government resumed purchasing U.S. wheat. In fact, Egypt was the second largest importer of U.S. wheat in the 1993/94 marketing year, with only Japan buying more. Frahm says scab and vomitoxin have been even less of a concern in the current marketing year. "Buyers are finding that it is much less of a problem, and that their purchasing specifications are working even better compared to the previous marketing year," he says.
Copyright Prairie Grains Magazine Winter 1995

Export Fallout From Vomitoxin Minimal

Copyright Prairie Grains Magazine Winter 1995

Copyright Prairie
Grains Magazine
Winter 1995