Grain, Feed Officials Want Karnal Bunt Removed from Designation

The National Grain and Feed Association has urged USDA to resume "aggressive" efforts to remove Karnal bunt from its designation as a quarantined pest. In a statement Wednesday at USDA's Karnal bunt workshop, NGFA Director of Technical Services Tom O'Connor noted that Karnal bunt has a minimal impact on wheat yields and reduces milling quality only at high infection rates. But the designation of Karnal bunt as a quarantine pest has had disproportionately large adverse impacts on producers and grain handlers in regions of the country that experience the fungal disease, O'Connor said, and poses a threat to U.S. wheat exports.

NGFA urged that USDA complete its pest risk analysis on Karnal bunt "at its earliest opportunity." Completion of the study could allow the United States to remove Karnal bunt from its list of quarantined pests, thereby setting the stage for other countries to take similar actions. "Clearly, the economic losses and market disruptions to the U.S. wheat industry caused by the designation of Karnal bunt as a quarantine pest far exceed any potential economic losses posed by the disease caused by reduced yields or lower quality," O'Connor said.

The NGFA statement also urged USDA to take several actions to contain and eradicate the disease, particularly so long as it is designated as a quarantine pest. Among other things, the NGFA recommended that USDA amend its current Karnal bunt program to:

-- Include wheat that tests negative for Karnal bunt, but which is grown in geographic areas being regulated by USDA for presence of the disease, in its permanent compensation program because of the diminished marketability of such wheat, as occurred this year with several grain handling facilities in Wichita Falls and Fort Worth, TX. "These facilities are experiencing real economic losses as they are prohibited by USDA from shipping their wheat to export markets" because it cannot be determined conclusively that the wheat originated from Karnal bunt-free areas, O'Connor said. "To deny compensation to grain handlers who are operating in good faith but being adversely affected by government actions is unfair and needs to be addressed quickly."

Under rules issued by USDA earlier this year, any wheat that tests positive for Karnal bunt is eligible for compensation at a rate of up to $1.80 per bushel for handlers for lost market value for the first crop year, and up to 60 cents per bushel in areas previously regulated for the presence of the fungus. But such compensation does not apply to wheat that tests negative for Karnal bunt but is located in Karnal bunt-regulated areas where its value and marketability is undermined.

– Increase compensation levels provided to grain handlers required to clean and decontaminate Karnal bunt-infected facilities. Currently, compensation is limited to up to 50% of the cost of cleaning and decontamination but is capped at $20,000 per grain storage facility.

– Continue to divert potentially Karnal-bunt-contaminated wheat away from export markets to enable exporters to continue meeting the phytosanitary certification requirements of U.S. wheat export customers.

– Discourage planting of wheat in geographic areas being regulated for the presence of Karnal bunt, in part by using the current 60-cents-per-bushel federal compensation payment as an incentive payment to producers not to plant crops that are susceptible to the disease.

-- Expand the required cleaning and disinfection of mechanized harvesting equipment. Specifically, the NGFA urged USDA to evaluate whether its cleaning requirement should be expanded to apply to host crops that test negative for Karnal bunt but are located in geographic areas that are regulated by USDA for the presence of the disease. Currently, such cleaning is required only of equipment that has harvested host crops that test positive for Karnal bunt.

– Encourage that only seed that is treated and certified to be free of Karnal bunt be planted in regulated areas and areas that are at increased risk for Karnal bunt.