foreign material, and other matter in grain that foreign 

 buyers are complaining about the poor quality of U.S. 

 grain, including grain produced in Montana. -^^ 



The problem has generated a fear that buyer 

 dissatisfaction could combine with other factors so that 

 the United States might become a supplier of last 

 resort. -^^ The price of U.S. grain is higher in the 

 world market, and there are alternative supplies of 

 quality grain available from U.S. competitors. 

 Together, price, competition, and the quality problem 

 could cause buyers to purchase their grain elsewhere. 



The current problem stems from inadequate federal 

 standards governing dockage, foreign material, and 

 blending. The problem of dockage is basically a problem 

 that involves the underreporting of nongrain matter 

 present in grain. This nongrain matter includes stems, 

 chaff, dirt, stones, and other material, collectively 

 known as "dockage". 



Under the federal grain standards, dockage is 

 certificated by rounding down to the nearest half or 

 whole percent the amount of dockage found in a sample 

 of grain. Thus, if the measured sample of grain 

 contains 0.49% dockage, it is certificated as having 0% 

 dockage. If the sample is 0.99%, it is reported on the 

 grading certificate as 0.5% dockage. ^° 



Buyers question the adequacy of this method for 

 certificating dockage because the system results in 

 more dockage than is reported on the official grading 

 certificate. While the buyer does not pay the seller 

 for dockage, he must pay the freight and levy charges on 

 grain shipments that include dockage. The buyer may 



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