MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, US — The Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS) and the Kansas State University (KSU) is offering two in-person grain training programs at the IGP Institute.

Both courses will take place on-site at Kansas State University if the situation with coronavirus (COVID-19) allows. Courses will follow COVID-19 safety procedures as outlined by KSU policy.

The Hands-On Training Program (HOT) is an in-depth maintenance course that will be this  Dec. 1-3 in the Hal Ross Flour Mill at Kansas State University. The two-and-a-half-day course will have participants working in small groups to repair common grain conveying equipment.

After a safety orientation, participants break into six groups, working on modules involving the following equipment:

  • Bucket elevator
  • Distributors
  • Screw conveyors
  • Bin sweep
  • Chain conveyors
  • Belt conveyors

Participants will be required to complete three hour-long online sessions on safety, lubrication and preventative maintenance before starting the training on site. Past participant Rhonda Knutson, CGOM, United Grain Corp, used the program to move from an office role to an operations position.

The HOT Program costs $1,375 for GEAPS members and $1,725 for non-members. If a minimum number of attendees is not reached by Oct. 19, the program will be cancelled, and attendees will be refunded registration fees. If the program is cancelled due to COVID-19, attendees will receive a full refund.

The second in-person course is the Grain Elevators Managers course. The four-day course will be Jan. 19-22, 2021 and will cover 18 topics from safety to quality management and personnel management. Training focuses on the science behind practices used in grain management. New managers will learn the information they need to correctly interpret the experiences they will have when managing grain quality, and the insight they will require when evaluating the practices used by their predecessors.

Topics for the GEM course include:

  • Personnel management
  • Grain elevator safety
  • Grain quality characteristics
  • Inventory management
  • Aeration principles
  • Hardware

Registration for the GEM course costs $670 for GEAPS members and $1,000 for non-members. If the course is not able to take place in person due to COVID-19 it will move to a virtual format over the same dates.