Official Newsletter of the Kansas State University International Grains Program

Developing Grain Market StrategiesJuly, August and Septmber 2011

Volume 14 • Issue 1 Fiscal Year 2012

1st quarter

Upcoming Short Courses

Buhler-KSU Executive MillingEnglish

Nov. 7-11

Grain Elevators ManagersJan. 9-13

IAOM-KSU Intro to Flour MillingJan. 23-27

IAOM-KSU Managing Mill PerformanceJan. 30 - Feb. 3

Grain PurchasingApril 16-27

For more information, visit www.grains.k-state.edu/igp

The International Grains Program and Kansas State University’s grain science department focused on their grain marketing and risk management curriculum by hosting three courses this quarter.

Jay O’Neil, grain marketing and risk management curriculum coordinator, explains the importance of implementing risk management and marketing tools in today’s economic environment by saying,“Every company and individual who engages in commodity trading and procurement activities for their company needs to employ strategies to ensure survival.”

The courses in this curriculum began with the Basic and Advanced Risk Management courses, a two-part program that was held Aug. 22-24. The remaining courses during this quarter were the result of collaboration with partnering organizations. On Sept. 13, IGP partnerd with the U.S. Grains Council to host the Japanese Market Outlook seminar and again on Sept. 26-27 to host the USGC Algerian U.S. Grain Marketing workshop.

According to O’Neil, content for this curriculum generally covers topics such as contracting, international trade rules,

transportation, risk management, and cash and futures markets. The importance, he explains is centered on employing strategic risk management tools.

“Without a good risk management strategy, grain processing and trading companies not only risk their market share to more sophisticated companies, but also risk their existence in the marketplace,” he says.“Understanding the use and application of risk management pricing tools is therefore critical to all who engage in commodity purchasing or trading activities.”

by Amanda Spoo

Grain Marketing and Risk Management at a Glance . . . August 22-24Basic and Advanced Risk Management18 participants, Germany, Mexico, Panamá and United States

September 13Japanese Market Outlook Seminar9 participants, Japan

September 26-27USGC Algerian U.S. Grain Marketing Workshop6 participants, Algeria

The USGC Algerian U.S. Grain Marketing Workshop was attended by six professionals from the public and private sector. The workshop was hosted by Jay O’Neil and Kevin Roepke, pictured in the back row.

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Message from the Associate Director Let me take a minute to

catch my breath. In this quarter, we completed 16 short courses and seminars hosting 262 participants from 24 countries. This already exceeds our annual record attendance, and we still have three months of short courses before the end of 2011. We continue to receive outstanding support from our international commodity marketing organizations.

For the third consecutive year, U.S. Wheat asked IGP to conduct a special flour milling course for participants from Nigeria, which is the largest market for U.S. hard red winter wheat exports. ASA-IM (USSEC) partnered with IGP and for the first time conducted the annual RAPCO course in the United States. This series of regional feed manufacturing programs has been a large part of the ASA-IM marketing program in Latin America and South America for the last 20 years with the courses traditionally held in Costa Rica. IGP hosted two RAPCO courses this quarter — feed manufacturing and aquaculture. U.S. Grains Council continues to rely on IGP

for feed manufacturing and risk management short courses for many of their marketing regions around the world.

We must not fail to recognize our IGP faculty are continuing to build the traditional IGP short courses. Sajid Alavi hosted his eighth annual Extrusion Processing—Technology and Commercialization course. Chris Miller, with the support of Buhler Inc., continued to expand our global reach by offering two sessions of the Buhler Executive Flour Milling course, one in English and one in Spanish. Jay O’Neil closed out August with the IGP Basic and Advanced Risk Management courses. And the quarter ended with Carlos Campabadal and John Howard leading the Basic and Advanced Feed Manufacturing courses.

The IGP advisory council met as well to review our activities and plan programming for the future. This annual meeting is an important part of our continuing success as we seek direction for our future growth. Effectiveness, impact, innovation and communication — these are our words of direction identified as target goals to measure for the coming year.

Thank you for your support of our program and remember we always welcome your ideas and feedback

Mr. Mark FowlerAssociate Director

Official Newsletter of the Kansas State University International Grains Program

Short Course Testimonials

“I really benefitted from the experience of interacting with the other participants. I was able to see feed in different forms and on different levels of production than what I am used to.”

- Herbert Pontecha, production supervisor for Pilmico Animal Health Corporation, Phillipines Basic and Advanced Feed Manufacturing

“The IGP program is highly instructive not only for people who are coming into the industry, but also for those who have been in the industry. What I have learned will help me improve my career as well as help the young millers learn more on the job. I appreciate the program so much because the instructors are seasoned millers who have a lot of experience.”

- Charles Ubani, head miller for Dangote Flour Mills, Plc., Nigeria USW Nigerian Flour Milling

“The information I received in this course is important to me. I know every technical process in our mills, but I didn’t know the specific details around the milling process. I chose to attend this course for that reason. I wanted to learn the milling process so I can talk with my millers in the same language.”

- Moderna Alimentos S.A. of Ecuador Buhler Executive Milling (Spanish)

3Official Newsletter of the Kansas State University International Grains Program

New Partners, New OpportunitiesThis quarter the Kansas State University International

Grains Program started a new relationship, partnering with the Regional Animal Production Courses (RAPCO) program, marking the first successful RAPCO courses held in the United States. Between the two courses, there were 55 participants from 11 countries.

The RAPCO/ASA-IM Feed Manufacturing short course held on July 26-29 at IGP allowed participants to broaden their knowledge of the industry by touring an operating feed mill and listening to professionals talk about their areas of expertise. Carlos Campabadal, course coordinator, explains, “The mission of RAPCO is to teach new technologies and show particpants that they can improve their production parameters.”

On Sept. 19-22, participants of the ASA-IM RAPCO Aquaculture short course, which was jointly sponsored by the United Soybean Board Rapco (USB), the American Soybean Association-International Marketing (ASA-IM) and the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC), had the opportunity to enhance their knowledge of aquaculture feed manufacturing and nutrition.

Course participant Nestor Salazar, general director for Nutritional Technology from Perú shared his experience.

“We have here great technology, people and partners, who have a lot of experience both in knowledge and practice. Our instructors have practice in the fields, and the partners and students also have knowledge. I was able to share my experience in quality control and commercialization.”

According to Campabadal, “This course allows participants to fully understand the key aspects of feed production in aquaculture and to learn new technologies in feed manufacturing and nutrition. This knowledge will improve their production on the farm and in the feed mill.”

by IGP Staff

Upcoming Webinars

Nov. 16, 2011, 10 a.m. CDT

Dec. 14, 2011, 10 a.m. CDT

For more information visit the online training page of our website. www.grains.ksu.edu/igp .

Cargill/Horizon Introduction to Flour Milling, a special course specifically designed for employees of Cargill/Horizon Flour Milling was hosted by IGP Sept. 12-16. According to Mark Fowler, the course manager, participants represented every area of their company from human resources to technical service, and included both industry veterans and those new to the industry. The course provided a general overview of the principles of the milling process, terminology, wheat quality and flour performance evaluation.

Above: Participants spent an afternoon in the Shellenberger Hall Milling Lab on campus.

Below: Participants gained hands on experience in the flour milling process by utilizing the table-top roller mills.

IGP StaffDirk Maier – IGP Director and Grain Science and Industry Department HeadMark Fowler – Associate DirectorJay O’Neil – Senior Agricultural EconomistCarlos Campabadal - Program SpecialistCathy McGlothin – Program Coordinator Lisa Moser – Marketing and Communications Coordinator

Heidi Maier - Event CoordinatorBrandi Miller - Distance Education Coordinator John Howard – Senior Program SpecialistCarl Reed – Grain Storage Technologist EmeritusMegan Brouk, Amanda Spoo – Student Communications SpecialistsNavdeep Kaur, Shelbi Stous – Student Assistants

UpdatesJulyPromoted U.S. soybean meal usage and technical support on soybean meal storage and quality control measurement in Casablanca, Morocco

Held workshop on Management of Insects in Stored Grains and Foods in New Delhi, India, and Hyderabad, India

Attended USGC Board of Delegates conference in San Francisco

AugustVisited Kansas City and New Orleans with USDA Cochran Fellowship Program for training in grain handling and port operations

Presented workshop with USSEC in Mexico City, Mexico

SeptemberVisited Mexico City with ASA-IM to participate in a feed manufacturing workshop of poultry producers and promote technical support for feed mills

Visited New Orleans with Feed Manufacturing short course to tour a grain export marketing port

Met with personnel at U.S. Wheat office, Wheat Marketing Center and Oregon State University Food Innovation Center, Portland, Ore.

IGP Communications InternWriting articles, photographing

participants, designing marketing materials and posting information to social media outlets are just some of the responsibilities held by Megan Brouk, IGP communications intern and agricultural communications and journalism senior.

“Megan brings a broad range of knowledge and skills that has significantly impacted our marketing efforts,” says Lisa Moser, IGP marketing and

communications coordinator. Brouk began working at IGP in January 2009 as a student

assistant for Program Coordinator Cathy McGlothin. During her junior year, Brouk moved to the communications office.

One of the main projects Brouk manages is the Year in Review, a 36-page, four-color piece. She is responsible for every aspect from writing to design to distribution.

“The Year in Review is a comprehensive project that draws on all my communications skills which I enjoy,” Brouk says.

As the 2011 summer intern, Brouk wrote communications and social media plans, and launched the IGP LinkedIn and Twitter accounts. “In writing the communications plan, I was able to put my training into practice” Brouk says.

As she looks toward her May 2012 graduation, Brouk hopes to find a communications job that allows her to have a wide range of responsibilities similar to her IGP duties.

Brouk says, “I really enjoy the variety of projects I work on and the people I meet in this job. I am grateful for all the hands on learning at IGP and am looking forward to applying the skills I learned here in my next position.”

Megan Brouk, IGP Communications

Intern

Official Newsletter of the Kansas State University International Grains Program

Cochran Fellowship Continues Strong Tradition at IGPThe Kansas State University International Grain Program

continued its involvement with the Cochran Fellowship Program by hosting six Cochran Fellows from Iraq on Sept. 19–23 to focus on seed certification and policy.

For Qahtan Khalaf Alani, chairman board of the Ministry of Agriculture in Iraq, the opportunity to travel abroad and learn from others in the industry is something that he believes will be very beneficial for his country. “We now need to see what the world is all about and how it has

developed — for service, culture, trade and industry,” he says. “I look forward to working together to improve our input into the industry.”

The group made visits to the Kansas Crop Improvement Association, Kansas State Agronomy Farm, Kansas Forest Service and a Syngenta wheat seed production facility.

by Amanda Spoo, IGP

IGP Onlinewww.grains.ksu.edu/igp