MANHATTAN, KANSAS, U.S. — Focusing on best practices for storing grain in elevators, 30 participants attended the semi-annual Grain Elevator Managers short course Jan. 9-13 at the International Grains Program (IGP) at Kansas State University (KSU).

“This course provides new managers 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,” said Carl Reed, course coordinator and IGP grain storage specialist emeritus.

Putting these lessons into practice is Bryan Brauer of Pride Ag Resources who was a course participant. He is not only a grain elevator manager but also a feed mill manager.

“The increased understanding of grain management principles that I gained from the course helps me to better meet the quality and condition demands of the feed mill in order to fulfill the needs of the livestock,” Brauer said.

Along with meeting quality demands, Brauer said that the knowledge gained in this course allows him to work closer with the grain elevator superintendent to fine-tune the processes to maintain the grain. He also relates his learning experiences.

“We learned from the social interactions with other participants during meals by swapping stories about how we manage grain in different ways. That’s the kind of learning you won’t get in a classroom,” Brauer said.

Another participant, Jeff Webb with Max Yield Coop, said he was impressed with all the information he learned throughout the course.

“The week of the course I talked to a co-worker who has been in the business for over 30 years. Because of the course, I figured out things that we hadn’t ever been able to before. We came up with many new ideas that we had never even thought of before, all from things we learned in a week,” Webb said.

Webb said that the science taught in the course takes a lot of trial and error guessing out of his operation. Additionally, he appreciates the IGP facility and course presenters.

This course will be offered again May 21-25. For more information or to register for this course, go to the IGP website at www.grains.k-state.edu/igp.