As I look back at the year and some of the achievements of Montana Wheat and Barley Committee (MWBC), a long list of memories quickly emerges. Covid severely halted trade team visits to Montana, however we certainly made up for it in 2022. The MWBC hosted teams from Japan, South Korea, Latin America, and Mexico. It would take all day to rehash the memories associated with these teams, but here are a few of the stories that come to mind.
While hosting a Mexican brewers procurement team in Bozeman Montana; Dave Tweet, a consultant with the MWBC had the opportunity to show the team snow for the first time. While walking through a parking lot in route to a meeting, the team made a quick detour and ran towards a pile of snow. One of the most influential barley procurement teams in the world, quickly turned into kids on a snow day.
Another memory that comes to mind is when former board member Frank Schoonover took us to see his neighbors “pet” bison. We were hosting a team of wheat buyers from Japan, and they stood in amazement for a solid 45 minutes.
Let’s be honest, there’s nothing better than a cold brew on a hot day. Following combine rides during the wheat harvest, Mike O’Hara hosted our Japanese friends in his backyard. According to one of the Japanese team members, O’Hara means “large field” in their language.
I’ll never forget a dinner with former board member Chris Kolstad and a South Korean trade team. While at dinner one of the members of the trade team literally ordered a 40oz steak. Upon receiving his meal, in broken English he said, “too much volume!” The entire room erupted in laughter. He did indeed finish the steak in one sitting and amazed us all.
We had quite a few laughs with this South Korean team. Here’s Dale Cederberg of Moccasin Montana wearing an apron that the team gifted him while on their visit. Following a tongue in cheek request made by the South Koreans, Dale promptly renamed the field in honor of one of the buyers.
Oh, and let’s not forget about the adventures associated with our webcam! An Engineer, I.T Expert, Meteorologist, and Economist sitting in a field trying to figure out why our webcam was not working. Seriously Kelly Hertel, Riley Slivka, Jason Laird, and I, spent the latter of a day setting up our virtual experience webcam. The situation turned comical as we tried to hypothesize why it was not working. We investigated things like powerline interference, radio waves, weather, electrical shorts, faulty transformers, wire gages and even internet providers. What was wrong? The age-old problem that District 5 Director Charlie Bumgarner likely could have told us in one minute… The battery! It’s always the battery.
Now you might say, what do these memories have to do with market development here in Montana? For example, when you go on a business trip, typically the fondest memories aren’t the PowerPoint slides and business discussions, it’s the people and experiences. The same can be said for our foreign buyers. When our visitors make their purchasing decisions, we hope they throw on their MWBC hat, say “giddy up” and buy a boatload of our wheat and barley..
We truly couldn’t be successful without the many people who offer up their time, resources, and knowledge. The relationship between growers and buyers is one of the many aspects that makes Montana grains so special!
For that, Cheers, Salud, Kanpai, Geonbae, Ganbei, and tagay to 2022!