Professional development and technical assistance are two of the building blocks that U.S. Wheat Associates (USW) uses in its global strategy to engage with customers, open and maintain markets and establish a preference for U.S. wheat classes around the world.
One key component of this strategy is bringing international customers to the United States to participate in educational short courses, such as the IGP–KSU Grain Procurement and Purchasing short course, which took place from May 10 to 16, 2026. The in-person course was based at the IGP Institute on the north campus of Kansas State University in Manhattan, Kansas.
The course featured an orientation to the U.S. grain production and marketing system, including USDA grain standards and grading, ocean freight, contract terms, futures and derivatives and more. In addition to the lectures on campus, participants also had the opportunity to visit the Cargill Grain Terminal in Topeka and meet with the Kansas Wheat Commission and the Kansas Soybean Commission. The participants also visited the Kansas Grain Inspection Service, where officials explained U.S. wheat inspection and grading procedures.
U.S. Wheat sponsors purchasing staff and executives from top milling companies to attend educational short courses in the United States, like the course at the IGP Institute. The courses provide information to help buyers source higher-quality wheat at more competitive prices and help buyers better evaluate and compare offers from the United States and other competitors.
For this year’s IGP course, Stephanie Bryant-Erdmann, USW assistant regional director for the Mexican, Central American, Caribbean Region, accompanied two milling participants from the Caribbean to the course. One participant was funded through the Regional Agricultural Promotion Program (RAPP), while the other was self-sponsored.
“The IGP short course in Kansas goes beyond classroom learning – it brings the U.S. wheat marketing system to life,” Bryant-Erdmann said. “By connecting Caribbean millers directly with U.S. and Kansas farmers, it puts face, families and stories to the wheat arriving in their mills. Through visits to country elevators and FGIS, participants saw firsthand how wheat is graded and moves from the farm to the mill, building confidence in the integrity of the U.S. wheat inspection and marketing system.”
The IGP Institute is one of the organizations that U.S. Wheat partners with to offer a variety of short courses related to the global wheat supply chain and processing industries, including the Northern Crops Institute (NCI) at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota, and the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Oregon. Combined, these institutions are key educational partners in USW’s work to promote all six classes of U.S. wheat in an ever more complex world wheat market.
