Manhattan, KS - Offering a custom training course to selected industries, Cargill sponsored eight employees to join the Kansas State University IGP Institute for an introductory flour milling training course.
These participants were given an overview of the entire flour milling process to help them understand wheat impacts to the milling industry.
The IGP–KSU Introduction to Flour Milling for Cargill course was hosted from February 4–8, 2019.
The participants varied in their respected titles including product line managers, global wheat analysts, merchant leaders, logistics coordinators, elevator operators and production supervisors.
This course was conducted through a combination of lectures taught by Kansas State faculty at the IGP Institute, a visit to the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center, and hands-on trainings in the Hal Ross Flour Mill and the Shellenberger Hall Baking and Milling Labs.
“This course was customized for Cargill employees,” says Shawn Thiele, flour milling and grain processing curriculum manager and interim associate director at the IGP Institute.
The participants were able to receive extensive amounts of hands-on training with milling U.S. wheat and baking different products to help them grasp a better understanding of the value of quality wheat and why mills request the wheat specifications and consistencies they do.
This course focused on a variety of topics including an overview of the U.S. milling industry; wheat class-es, uses, and basic wheat chemistry; wheat cleaning and conditioning; the milling process and flowsheets; flour functionality; wheat and flour blending; grade; and quality.
Course participant, Meredith Kuhlmann, hard red winter wheat product line manager for Cargill, explains that she gained the most beneficial information from the hands-on lecture in K-State’s Shellenberger Hall Baking Lab.
“I enjoyed being able to test different wheat varieties with baking,” Kuhlmann says. She adds that using the different flour variations between cakes, breads and pastries made more sense after the baking lab concluded.
This is one example of the customized courses offered by the IGP Institute.
In addition to flour milling and grain processing, the IGP Institute offers courses in the areas of grain marketing and risk management, and feed manufacturing and grain quality management.
For more information, please contact Lisa Moser at 785-532-2459 or lmoser@ksu.edu