MANHATTAN, KANSAS, U.S. — The first-ever Southern Africa Feed Manufacturing Training Activity was held March 5-9 at the Kansas State University International Grains Program Conference Center, Manhattan, Kansas, U.S.

Participants from four countries came together to improve their knowledge of feed manufacturing. Extrusion basics, record keeping, and batching and mixing were just a few topics covered during the course.

Course manager Carlos Campabadal, IGP program specialist in feed manufacturing and grain storage, hopes to hold the course in years to come.

“There is a lot of opportunity in Southern Africa for growth. If we can help them gain a better understanding of how to run their operations, or just do their job better, the whole industry benefits. This particular group seemed to enjoy sharing information among each other by telling stories and experiences they’ve had,” Campabadal said.

As a director and manager for a family business, participant Hellen Zalira found the field trips to feed manufacturing operations the most beneficial part of the course.

“We’re expanding our feed operation to include swine due to the Chinese coming into our country and their interest in this specie. I liked seeing the ingredients that the operations here use to produce this kind of feed,” Zalira said.

She enjoyed the interaction with her peers.

“We learn from each other. I learned a lot from my colleagues and identified opportunities that exist among them. Networking opportunities back home just aren’t there,” Zalira said.

Her sentiment was echoed by Stephen Kyriazis of Nutrifeeds who said, “The most helpful things we’ve learned have not been actual things. What was more important for us was to compare our operations to others and share our knowledge.”

For more information about the IGP course offerings go to the IGP website at www.ksu.edu/igp.