A note on the market valuation of grain quality characteristics

The issue addressed in this paper is whether the grain quality factors used by the Federal Grain Inspection Service in determining the quality grades of wheat exported by the United States including test weight, dockage, moisture content, percentage of foreign material, percentage of shrunken and broken kernels, and protein content are characteristics that influence the price of wheat for export. Using shiplot data on the transactions price for hard red winter wheat, hard red spring wheat, and soft white wheat and the associated quality characteristics covering the period January 1990 through October 1991 and exported to 63 countries, the results suggest that only the test weight and the protein content are characteristics consistently valued by the market.