WHEAT GROWERS RMA

I'm Bob Larson. Northwest wheat growers aren't likely to find any easy answers to potential discounts after the Department of Agriculture's Risk Management Agency denied their request to ease procedures related to falling number tests...

MICHELLE HENNINGS-WR-2 = 20 sec ... "What happened was, it they received the letter, and then we had scheduled a meeting with RMA administrator Brandon Willis, and we presented our case. And basically he told us that they couldn't grant us our request as of right now. And that there wasn't anything they could do currently to help alleviate our position."

Washington Association of Wheat Growers' Michelle Hennings says changes are needed, but growers won't see that happen overnight...

MICHELLE HENNINGS-WR-7 = 24 sec ... "Well right now they have to provide their Actual Production History to their crop insurance companies, but for us moving forward, since we didn't get an okay for our request, we're going to have to go and meet with our regional director, look at the falling number crop insurance plan, see what's working and what is not, and then we're going to need to make a request for change. And this could take a year to two years."

Moving forward, industry officials are asking for clarity on how falling number tests are run.

They would also like to see changes that include a whole-grain analyzer-style test used instead, giving farmers better information faster.