About EIGI

An Official Agency

While Eastern Iowa Grain Inspection is privately operated, all personnel employed at an approved agency must pass an examination and be licensed under the United States Grain Standards Act. Equipment at the labs must also meet strict federal standards. All are continually check tested and remain in service only if the results of those exams fall within the tight margins established by the Federal Grain Inspection Service every 6 Months.

Licensed under the United States Grain Standards Act, we are required to meet its tough standards. Customers can be assured of dependable and accurate grades when lots of grains are officially sampled by the official agencies or samples are submitted by the applicant.

Official Inspections ...

Many types of certificates an official agency can issue under the United States Grain Standards Act examples of a few are the Official Certificate or “white certificate” and the Submitted Sample Certificate or “pink certificate”. The white certificate is issued to represent the grade on a lot of grain that has been sampled and inspected by the official agency's licensed personnel. The pink certificate is issued on a sample that was drawn and submitted to the official lab by the applicant. Because the official agencies licensed sampler did not take that sample, the pink certificate will represent only the amount of grain submitted for testing. See some examples of certificates we produce.

If either the buyer or seller of grain is dissatisfied with the results after an official agency has performed an inspection and issued an official or submitted sample certificate, the United States Grain Standards Act specifies several options. Interested parties can request a reinspection in the same laboratory, or because the original inspection was performed in a federally licensed lab, a request can be made for an appeal inspection. The local USDA Federal Grain Inspection Service Field Office and/or the FGIS Board of Appeals and Review in Kansas City would perform an appeal inspection.

The USDA website also contains a great deal of useful information about the federal grain inspection system and can be found at Inspection Services | Agricultural Marketing Service (usda.gov).