A hiring team consisting of staff members from MWBC, and the Department of Agriculture was assembled to select a new Director of Communications following the departure of Jason Laird. The position was posted for three weeks and attracted a pool of over 30 highly qualified applicants from all over the U.S. The hiring team reviewed all the cover letters and resumes, narrowed the candidate field down to three, and interviewed them individually. Following the first set of interviews, we narrowed the field to the top two. Each remaining candidate was assigned a project, including a mock press release about an ag-related topic of their choosing and examples of social media posts. During a second set of interviews, the candidates presented their project results and discussed their methodology and thought process. It was a very difficult decision for the hiring committee, but the MWBC extended a job offer to an extremely competent and qualified individual and we will be making a hiring announcement soon.
Attending Malt Europ’s field day was a great experience and offered the opportunity to network with area malt barley growers, industry representatives, and Malt Europ staff. The day included a very thorough tour of the entire malting complex from start to finish. It is a very impressive facility and a wonderful asset for Montana’s malt barley industry. We also had the opportunity to tour irrigated malt barley plots at Pearson Farms near Fairfield and dryland plots at Sheffels Farms just north of Great Falls. The plots looked great with many promising varieties. The growers and Malt Europ staff provided excellent commentary about their farm operations and highlights related to the various varieties.
The MWBC staff has been extremely busy hosting an onslaught of six trade teams. In several instances, we had two trade teams visit the same week! The teams included wheat milling representatives from Indonesia, Maylasia, Myanmar, Viet Nam, the Philippines, South Korea, and Japan.
These groups were in Montana to see crop conditions, observe harvest, tour shuttle grain elevators, meet famers, as well as visit area flour mills and the State Grain Lab. We were also fortunate to host a team of Mexican Craft Maltsters. This team’s agenda included visits to Montana Craft Malt, Gallatin Valley Malt and the MSU Malt Lab and Plant Growth Center. Each of these teams was engaged and very interested in expanding their purchases of Montana wheat and barley.
It is a pleasure to host these groups to highlight the availability and promote the quality of Montana’s crops. We are always thankful to the growers who welcome these teams to their farm operations. For many of these visitors, it is their first trip to Montana and the farm visits and combine rides are cherished memories. We are also very appreciative of the involvement and hospitality offered by the commercial grain industry, the MSU research team and members of the Montana Department of Agriculture.
