Official Grain Grading Guide
Safflower seed: Grading factors
Full list of grading factors
- Contaminated grain
- Damage (DMG)
- Dehulled (DHULL)
- Earth pellets
- Empty hulls (HULLS)
- Excreta (EXCR)
- Extraneous material
- Fertilizer pellets (FERT PLTS)
- Foreign material (FM)
- Heated (HTD)
- Matter other than cereal grains (MOTCG)
- Odour (ODOR)
- Other grains (OGRN)
- Rotted (ROT)
- Soft earth pellets (SEP)
- Stones (STNS)
- Treated seed and other chemical substances
- Variety (VAR)
C
Contaminated grain (CONTAM GRN)
Important: Wear gloves and a mask to handle any sample that is suspected of containing contaminated grain.
Grain is contaminated for the purposes of the Canada Grain Act if the grain contains any substance in sufficient quantity that the grain is either
- adulterated for the purposes of the Food and Drugs Act; or
- contaminated within the meaning of the regulations made under section 51 of the Safe Foods for Canadians Act.
Treated seed
Treated seed is grain that has been adulterated with an agricultural chemical for agronomic purposes. The types of agricultural chemicals used to treat seed include pesticides, fungicides and inoculants. These seed dressings contain a dye to render the treated seed visually conspicuous. The colour of the dye varies depending upon the type of treatment and the type of grain. The current Canadian colour standard for pesticide and fungicide seed treatments for cereal (including corn) is red or pink. The colour standard for pesticide and fungicide seed treatments for canola is blue; however, green has also been used. Pulse crop (including soybeans) pesticide and fungicide seed treatments are typically blue or green. The coatings or stains may appear greasy or powdery and the surface area covered may range from tiny flecks to complete coverage.
Other chemical substances
Other chemical substances refers to any chemical residues either adhering to the kernel or remaining in the sample and to samples having a chemical odour of any kind.
Extraneous material
Can be defined as glass, metal, wood (including wood pellets), plastic or any other material not already defined in the Official Grain Grading Guide.
Procedure
If a sample is suspected of being coated with a pesticide, desiccant, inoculant or if the sample contains evidence of extraneous material, including any foreign chemical substance other than fertilizer pellets (FERT PLTS), the sample shall be graded ‘Safflower Seed, Held IP Suspect Contaminated Grain’ and submitted to the Canadian Grain Commission. Determination as to whether grain is contaminated will be made by the Grain Research Laboratory in consultation with the Chief Grain Inspector for Canada.
Samples deemed to be contaminated are graded ‘Safflower Seed, Sample Condemned’.
D
Damage (DMG)
Damaged seeds are frosted, green, broken, heated (HTD), insect-damaged or otherwise unsound.
Dehulled (DHULL)
Intact safflower seeds are called “achenes” which consists of the hull containing the seed. Dehulled seeds are broken or whole seeds without hulls.
E
Earth pellets
- Hard earth pellets are pellets that do not crumble under light pressure. See Stones (STNS).
- Soft earth pellets are pellets that crumble under light pressure. See Soft earth pellets (SEP).
Empty hulls (HULLS)
Intact safflower seeds are called “achenes” which consists of the hull containing the seed. Empty hulls are achenes with intact hulls but which contain no seeds. This also includes hulls having less than one-third of the seed attached.
Excreta (EXCR)
Excrement from any animal including mammals, birds and insects.
Important: Wear gloves and a mask to handle any samples that you suspect may contain excreta.
Extraneous material
F
Fertilizer pellets (FERT PLTS)
Fertilizer pellets are a manufactured plant nutrient product used by producers in the production of grain. They are typically small, round or irregular shaped and usually white, grey, brown, pink or reddish in colour.
Procedure
- Handpick any fertilizer pellets and determine the concentration in the net working sample.
- Fertilizer pellets are assessed as stones (STNS) when the concentration does not exceed 1.0% of the net sample weight.
- Samples containing fertilizer pellets in excess of 1.0% of the net sample weight are graded ‘Safflower Seed, Held IP Suspect Contaminated Grain’. The sample should be submitted to the Canadian Grain Commission. Determination as to whether grain is contaminated will be made by the Grain Research Laboratory in consultation with the Chief Grain Inspector for Canada. Samples deemed to be contaminated are graded ‘Safflower Seed, Sample Condemned’.
Foreign material (FM)
Foreign material is anything other than safflower that remains in the sample after the removal of dockage. Some types of foreign material have separate tolerances.
H
Heated (HTD)
Heated seeds have the colour or odour typical of grain that has heated or deteriorated in storage. Heated kernels include kernels discoloured from artificial drying, but not charred kernels. Heated seeds of other grains are included in the tolerance for heated
M
Matter other than cereal grains (MOTCG)
Matter other than cereal grains refers to weed seeds and other grains that are not readily removable and may include
- Canola, peas, lentils, beans, corn, other domestic or wild seeds
- Ergot (ERG) and sclerotinia sclerotiorum (SCL)
O
Odour (ODOR)
There is no numeric tolerance for odour. Consider
- The basic quality of the sample
- The type and degree of the odour
- The presence of visible residue causing the odour
| If odour is the grade determinant and there is: | Then the grade is: |
|---|---|
| An excessive objectionable odour not associated with the quality of the grain, but not heated or fireburnt | Safflower Seed, Sample Canada, Account Odour |
| An excessive heated odour | Safflower Seed, Sample Canada, Account Heated |
| An excessive fireburnt odour | Safflower Seed, Sample Canada, Account Fireburnt |
Other grains (OGRN)
Other grains in safflower seed include wheat, rye, triticale, barley, oats and groats, including wild oat groats that remain in the cleaned sample.
R
Rotted (ROT)
Seeds have the colour or odour typical of grain that has heated or deteriorated in storage. Rotted seed is considered in combination with heat-damaged kernels.
S
Soft earth pellets (SEP)
Soft earth pellets are pellets that crumble under light pressure—if they do not crumble, they are considered stones (STNS). These pellets can be
- Earth and fertilizer pellets (FERT PLTS)
- Any non-toxic material of similar consistency
Soft earth pellets in safflower seed are considered foreign material (FM).
Stones (STNS)
Stones are hard shale, coal, hard earth pellets, and any other non toxic materials of similar consistency. Fertilizer pellets are assessed as stones when constituting 1.0% or less of the net sample weight. See Fertilizer pellets (FERT PLTS) for the specific procedure to be followed when samples contain fertilizer pellets.
Procedure
- Handpick stones from a representative portion of the cleaned sample.
- Determine stone concentration in the net sample.
- Samples of grain grown in western Canada containing stones in excess of basic grade tolerances, up to 2.5% are graded ‘Safflower Seed, Rejected (basic grade) Account Stones’. The ‘basic grade’ refers to a grade established in the Canada Grain Regulations (grades listed in the first column in grade determination tables) that would have been assigned to the sample if it contained no stones.
- Samples of grain grown in eastern Canada containing stones in excess of grade tolerances are degraded to lower grades. Samples containing stones in excess of the tolerance of the lowest grade established by regulation up to 2.5% are graded ‘Safflower Seed, Sample Canada Account Stones’.
- Samples of western and eastern Canadian grain containing more than 2.5% stones are graded ‘Safflower Seed, Sample Salvage’.
Examples: Western Canada
| Grade name | Stones % |
|---|---|
| numberNo. 1 Canada | 0.1 |
| numberNo. 2 Canada | 0.1 |
| numberNo. 3 Canada | 0.1 |
Basic grade: Safflower Seed, numberNo. 2 Canada
Reason for basic grade: 4.0% Dehulled
| If the above sample contained | Grade in western Canada |
|---|---|
| 0.2% stones | Safflower Seed, Rejected numberNo. 2 Canada Account Stones |
| 3.0% stones | Safflower Seed, Sample Salvage |
Examples: Eastern Canada
| Grade name | Stones % |
|---|---|
| numberNo. 1 Canada | 0.1 |
| numberNo. 2 Canada | 0.1 |
| numberNo. 3 Canada | 0.1 |
Basic grade: Safflower Seed, numberNo. 2 Canada
Reason for basic grade: 4.0% Dehulled
| If the above sample contained | Grade in eastern Canada |
|---|---|
| 0.2% stones | Safflower Seed, Sample Canada Account Stones |
| 3.0% stones | Safflower Seed, Sample Salvage |
T
Treated seed and other chemical substances
V
Variety (VAR)
Only varieties registered in Canada under the Seeds Act are eligible for the top grades of domestic mustard seed.
The Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) is responsible for the registration of varieties in Canada. Consult the CFIA’s database of varieties registered in Canada online to determine if a given variety is registered in Canada.