Grain buyers from 19 countries came to Northern Crops Institute on the NDSU campus for the Grain Procurement Management for Importers course held from Sept. 15-24. It was the largest group of nations to come to the institute for any course since its establishment in 1983.
Course participants were from Belgium, China, Colombia, Egypt, El Salvador, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Netherlands, Peru, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Tunisia and the United States. U.S. Wheat Associates and the USDA FAS Cochran Fellowship Program sponsored many of the participants in the course.
John Crabtree, institute assistant director, coordinated the course, which highlights how companies can make more effective purchases while decreasing their financial risk.
“It’s interesting that we had 31 participants in our 31st annual course,” said Crabtree. “From the first year that we offered this course until today, grain buying has gone from private purchasing agencies to almost exclusively private trading, and most purchases are made electronically. Major portions of the course are held in the NDSU Commodity Trading Room, where students learn about electronic trading. All the information is presented simultaneously, so everyone receives the same information at the same time.”
Highlights of the course were lectures by academic and commodity trade authorities on cash and futures markets, sessions in NDSU’s electronic trading classroom, and time with grain merchandisers who discussed the complexities of international grain markets.