World Grain - September 2012 - 49

FEATURE: MILLING EDUCATION REVIEW

and South Dakota. In addition to regular courses, new programs and technical services are developed to address new trends in the food and feed industries. The NCI staff regularly responds to issues that participants mention during the courses. If their company is working with a certain ingredient or process that NCI is not teaching about, material or a speaker on the topic may be added. Each participant at the educational courses is asked to complete an evaluation that asks questions about the course content, quality of speakers, comfort of the facility, and helpfulness of the staff. Based on these evaluations and input from its advisory boards, NCI said it constantly revamps course content, lab equipment, and technology to stay at the forefront of the food and feed industry. The number of NCI’s customized courses for individual companies or organizations is increasing. These courses are conﬁdential and provide an arena where the participants can openly discuss issues that are facing their company. Sometimes in regular courses where several companies are represented, participants may not want to discuss the problems that they are facing because their competition is in the same room. A customized learning experience that is limited to just one company’s personnel can be very effective. Many of NCI’s courses and programs are requested by U.S. market promotion organizations, such as the U.S. Wheat Associates, U.S. Grains Council, U.S. Soybean Export Council, U.S. Dry Bean Council, U.S.A. Dry Pea and Lentil Council and others. NCI staff presented the new “Rheology of Wheat and Flour Quality” course in June. It was developed in response to feedback from the milling and baking industries that indicated a need for their personnel to have more training on the latest rheological equipment. This knowledge will help them explain to their customers the differences in quality and how to adjust for those variations. Each participant had the opportunity to operate the rheological instruments and interpret

the analytical tests. They focused on tests for gluten content, falling number, ﬂour color, ash content, moisture, starch damage, speck count, protein and starch. With the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act, there have been many questions about the regulations that could come down on the industry. Members of the feed industry have expressed interest in learning more about how they can ensure meeting the new standards. In response, NCI has hosted several courses that address developing a Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (HACCP) plan. NCI staff travels throughout the world to provide educational programs and technical consulting services to assist food and feed companies in the utilization of northern-grown crops. In 201112, the staff presented courses and technical consulting in Dominican Republic, Mexico, Thailand and Turkey. NCI’s grain procurement and pasta manufacturing courses attract the most stable enrollments. They have both been offered annually since the NCI opened in 1983. The Grain Procurement Management for Importers and the Advanced Grain Procurement Strategies courses teach grain merchandisers how to make more effective purchases while managing their risk. An addition to NCI’s grain procurement courses is the availability of the new electronic trading room developed by North Dakota State University’s Agribusiness and Applied Economics Department, under the direction of William Wilson, Ph.D. The high-technology trading room, which includes simulations software from Trading Technologies, will be used by the grain procurement participants to analyze markets in real-time and illustrate trade simulations. NCI, along with many major agribusinesses and commodity organizations, provided additional funding for the room. The Pasta Manufacturing courses are very unique, since no other U.S. organization offers pasta processing courses. NCI’s pasta short courses, presented annually since 1984, showcase the high

quality durum that is grown in the Northern Plains region. NCI’s pasta courses focus on the manufacture of traditional Italian-style pasta. A near record enrollment attended the 2012 Pasta Production and Technology Short Course. Some years, NCI has offered multiple pasta courses due to the tremendous demand both domestically and internationally. NCI constantly updates the equipment and technology in its labs. The following equipment has been added at NCI in 2012: • Brabender Extensograph (measures ﬂour quality) • Brabender Farinograph (tests wheat gluten quality) • Chopin Alveograph (measures ﬂour quality) • Chopin Consistograph (tests wheat gluten quality) • Chopin Rheofermentometer (measures fermentation capability of dough) • LECO FP 628C Nitrogen Determinator (protein analyzer) • Omcan FMA (TR50) Italian Commercial Electric Pasta Machine (restaurant-sized pasta production) • RMS Roller Grinder (controls size reduction process) • Rondo Dough Sheeter (sheets dough to precise thickness). More information and registration forms are available on NCI’s website (www.northern-crops.com). CIGI The Canadian International Grains Institute (Cigi), Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, is an independent market development institute created in 1972. It delivers technical expertise, support and customized training to the domestic industry and customers around the world. Cigi is funded by farmers, the government of Canada (AAFC) and industry partners. This year marks two signiﬁcant milestones in Cigi’s history. First, Cigi is celebrating its 40th anniversary and its successes in continuing to create proﬁtable opportunities for Canada’s ﬁeld crops. The second milestone is the transition to an open market for western Canadian wheat,
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World Grain - September 2012

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