North American Millers' Association Holds Spring Conference in Marco Island, FL, March 9-12
By Karl Ohm, Contributing Editor, Milling Journal
More than 130 members from the North American Millers’ Association (NAMA) attended the 2019 Spring Conference, March 9-12, at the Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa, Marco Island, FL. With spouses and friends, total attendance was estimated at approximately 190.
On Saturday, March 9, members of the technical committee met, which was presided over by David Katzke, NAMA technical committee chairman and senior director of flour and grain quality and regulatory, General Mills, Inc., Minneapolis, MN.
NAMA also held a supply chain committee meeting.
During the early evening, a welcome reception for all attendees was held at the host hotel’s Gulf Front Great Lawn area. For corn division members, an optional dinner was held offsite.
On Sunday morning, March 10, two key sessions were held involving the corn division business meeting, which was presided over by Chris Giguere, NAMA corn division chairman and vice president, Iowa Corn Processors, Glidden, IA, and the oat milling business meeting, which was presided over by Brent Bash, NAMA oat division chairman and director, North America-Grains, General Mills, Minneapolis, MN.
The Oat Milling session continued during Sunday afternoon, March 10, with the following reports:
- World Oat Outlook, by Randy Strychar, president, Ag Commodity Research, North Vancouver, BC, Canada.
- Prairie Oat Growers Association Projects Update, by Shawna Mathieson, executive director, and Jenneth Johanson, president, Prairie Oat Growers Association, Regina, SK, Canada.
- Agricultural Update from an Ag Lending Perspective, by Michael Swanson, PhD, chief agricultural economist, Wells Fargo NA, Minneapolis, MN.
- Food Safety Issues Impacting the Milling Industry by Maile Hermida, partner, Hogan Lovells, US, LLP, Washington, DC.
- Gene Editing Applications in Food and Agriculture, by Kevin Diehl, PhD, director, regulatory seed platform, Corteva Agriscience, Midland, MI.
- Rail Transportation Update, by Greg Guthrie, director, agricultural products, BNSF Railway, Vancouver, WA.
- An Update about Glyphosate. The panel included:
• Oat Global Update, by William Zorrilla, assistant director of Oat Global, Stakman-Borlaug Center for Sustainable Plant Health, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN.
A reception and buffet-style dinner were held that evening near the pool deck, at the Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa.
On Monday, March 11, welcoming remarks to lead off the general session for all divisions were made by Robert Harper, NAMA chairman and president, Hopkinsville Milling Company, Hopkinsville, KY.
Afterwards, several presentations were given. Presentations included:
- Agricultural Update from an Ag Lending Perspective, by Michael Swanson, PhD, chief agricultural economist, Wells Fargo NA, Minneapolis, MN.
- Food Safety Issues Impacting the Milling Industry by Maile Hermida, partner, Hogan Lovells, US, LLP, Washington, DC.
(Note: The law firm of Hogan Lovells serves as legal counsel to NAMA on food safety matters.)
- Gene Editing Applications in Food and Agriculture, by Kevin Diehl, PhD, director, regulatory seed platform, Corteva Agriscience, Midland, MI.
A scramble golf tournament was held on Monday afternoon, March 11, at The Lely Golf Resort and Country Club in nearby Naples.
Along with a golf tournament trophy presentation, a reception also was held outside Monday evening on the beach frontage located at the host hotel.
Also attending the Spring Conference from NAMA were: Jim McCarthy, president and CEO; Chris Clark, vice president-communications and administration; Paige Smoyer, government affairs representative; and Dale Nellor, vice president-government and technical affairs. These NAMA staffers were on hand at the committee and division meetings to help augment discussions on various issues relating to food safety, allergens, and glyphosate residues, to mention a few, and their potential impact on the milling industry.
During the meeting, Jeff Zyskowski, vice president, supply chain, Ardent Mills, Denver, CO, was elected as chairman of NAMA’s newly created supply chain committee.
On Tuesday, March 12, members of the soft wheat division held their business meeting (members only), which was presided over by Bob Likens, vice president, Knappen Millling Company, Augusta, MI.
Later, Likens also introduced the general session that started off with two presentations and then was followed by the closing and traditional Ontario, Canada soft wheat and United States soft wheat crop reports and forecasts.
The two educational sessions included:
- Rail Transportation Update, by Greg Guthrie, director, agricultural products, BNSF Railway, Vancouver, WA.
- An Update about Glyphosate. The panel included:
Kim Magan, director, industry affairs, Bayer U.S. - Crop Science, St. Louis, MO.
Cole Waggoner, external communications, Bayer U.S. - Crop Science, St. Louis, MO.
This session took the place of the Wheat Breeding Issues: Trends and Technologies due to scheduling issues with invited speakers.
The crop reports then followed, which included:
• Canadian Soft Wheat Crop Outlook, Scott Krakar, wheat merchant, London Agricultural Commodities, Inc., London, ON, Canada. With the exception of hard red spring wheat, the production of the other classes of wheat (i.e., soft red winter, soft white winter, and hard red winter) are forecasted to decrease. (Note: Krakar’s full report will appear in the upcoming Second Quarter 2019 Milling Journal.)
• U.S. Soft Wheat Crop Report and Forecast consisting of the following panel members:
Chair and panel member – Grover Van Hoose, grain buyer, Mennel Milling Company, Fostoria, OH, who provided reports for Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, and West Virginia.
Shawn Branstetter, wheat merchandiser, The Andersons, Inc., Kansas City, MO, who provided reports for Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania.
Carl Schwinke, vice president, Siemer Milling Company, Teutopolis, IL, who provided reports for Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri.
Samuel Doering, SRW director, Ardent Mills, Denver, CO, who provided reports for North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.
Mark Rossol, commodity merchant, The Andersons, Inc., Maumee, OH, who provided reports for Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas.
Overall, the panel predicted 2019 soft red winter (SRW) wheat crop production of 269,922,000 bushels, a 5% decrease from last year’s crop of 285,558,000 bushels.
The 2019 soft white wheat (SW) crop is projected to decrease significantly by 16% from last year, for a total of 183,152,000 bushels from 2018’s total of approximately 212,457,000 bushels.
(Note: The panel’s full forecast along with a table of tabulations will appear in the upcoming Second Quarter 2019 Milling Journal.)
Upcoming 2019 NAMA Meetings:
60th Annual Corn Dry Milling Conference, May 15-16, (hotel tbd), Peoria, IL.
NAMA Policy Conference (formerly known as the Leadership Meeting & Legislative Conference), May 20-21, Capitol Hill Hotel, Washington, DC.
2019 Annual Meeting, October 17-19, The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO.
The 2020 NAMA Spring Conference, March 28-31, Hammock Beach Resort, Palm Coast, FL.
Photo caption: Members of the soft wheat crop report and forecast panel included, from left: Grover Van Hoose (chair), merchandising manager, Mennel Milling Company, Fostoria, OH; Shawn Branstetter, wheat merchandiser, The Andersons, Inc., Kansas City, MO; Carl Schwinke, vice president, Siemer Milling Company, Teutopolis, IL; Samuel Doering, SRW director, Ardent Mills, Denver, CO; and Mark Rossol, commodity merchant-wheat grain group, The Andersons, Inc., Maumee, OH. Photos by Karl Ohm.
Photo caption: After several corn and oat division meetings were held on Sunday, March 10, it was time to relax with a pool side reception/dinner held at the Marco Island Beach Resort & Spa, Marco Island, FL
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