Designing U.S. Corn Grades to Reflect End Use Value

The 1986 U.S. Grain Quality Improvement Act introduced an explicit, economic purpose for grades-that they transmit information about end use value-but provided little guidance about what factors to include in grades. We determined which quality characteristics best reflect the processed value of U.S. corn in the case of a Japanese wet miller. Foreign material is the only grade factor closely related to processed value, but a large number of nongrade attributes, many of which reflect the intrinsic properties of corn, are found to vary substantially across shipments and to provide extensive information about value. Recommendations for U.S. grades are made.