Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa • March 10-13 • Marco Island, Fla.

Registration is underway for the North American Millers’ Association (NAMA) 2026 Spring Conference. The event will be held in-person March 10-13 on Marco Island, Fla.

The Spring Conference is NAMA’s largest annual education conference. It is considered a “must-attend” event by both NAMA members and allied industry, with approximately 200 attendees and guests participating each year.

“NAMA’s Spring Conference brings together leaders from the entire wheat, corn and oat milling value chain,” says NAMA President Jane DeMarchi.

“The connections made during this event are valuable,” she continues. “especially as the milling sector continues to navigate a time of rapid change. Marco Island has been a long-time favorite for this meeting, with a hotel location right on a beautiful beach!”

The program will include education sessions addressing a wide range of topics of interest to millers and suppliers, including a first look at the 2026 oat and wheat crop. Speakers will discuss a variety of topics impacting the industry.

Oat and Corn Milling Session Presentations

  • Global Oat Market Outlook – Randy Strychar, CEO, OatInformation.
  • USMCA/CUSMA and the Politics of Trade – Cassandra Kuball, vice president, Torrey Advisory Group.
  • Trends in Innovation in Cereal and Snacks – Ty Kane, account manager, Innova Market Insights.
  • AI for Inventory Management and Decision Making – Ben Allen, CEO, BinSentry.

General Session Presentations

  • Innovation in the Era of AI – Theirry Duvanel, director of innovation, Buhler Group.
  • Navigating New Complexities in SNAP and School Meals – Brandon Lipps, founder, Caprock Strategies.
  • Data Strategy and Risk Management – Claude Yoder, chief data, analytics and digital officer, Lockton.
  • Food Halos and Demonized Ingredients: What Do Consumers Actually Want? – Ty Kane, account manager, Innova Market Insights.
  • AI Powered Packaging Systems – Yan Gagne, packaging automation specialist, Premier Tech.
  • Global Wheat and Corn Markets – Matt Murphy, vice president-Global Wheat, The Andersons.
The Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa is the host for the 2026 NAMA Spring Conference. Photo courtesy of Hilton.
The Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa is the host for the 2026 NAMA Spring Conference. Photo courtesy of Hilton.

Wheat Milling Session Presentations

  • HB4 Wheat: Breeding for the United States – Brad Erker, executive director, Colorado Wheat.
  • Partnering with the American Society of Baking – Kristen Spriggs, president and CEO, American Society of Baking.
  • Eastern Canada Crop Forecast – Scott Krakar, London Ag Commodities.
  • Soft Wheat Panel – Jay McAllister (chair), senior director of commodity risk management, Mennel Milling; Mark Rossol, profit center manager, The Andersons; Sam Doering, director-Wheat Trading, Ardent Mills; Andrew Rutter, commercial manager, Bartlett.

The event also provides attendees opportunities to network with industry colleagues during receptions and the annual golf tournament. Attendees can also choose to be paired with small groups during “Dine-Around Dinners” for additional networking in a casual setting.

The Spring Conference returns to the Hilton Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa. The deadline to secure NAMA’s group rate was February 9, but you can still register for the conference at namamillersevents.org/spring26.

Registration requires a unique email address for each attendee or guest. Please contact meetings@namamillers.org with any questions.