By Communications Director Lori Wickett — At this week’s Montana Grain Growers Association annual convention, the Montana Wheat & Barley Committee shifted gears. Moving into the wheat side this year and with a breadmaking machine in tow, we baked bread onsite each day at our booth using the best flours — from Montana of course. That’s not all we baked this week.
The MWBC board met Monday to finalize grant approvals for 2024. With more than 60 funding requests, it was a lengthy day of presentations while determining the best use of producer dollars toward research. Baked into the day were reports from the MSU College of Ag, MAES, the Northern Crops Institute and directors who traveled overseas visiting customers. We will release all awards information next week.
On Tuesday, Executive Director Kent Kupfner gave our annual MWBC update. He baked his topic with a few different ingredients this year. Kent chose to show producers a sampling of what MWBC provides trade teams upon their visit to Montana, or when MWBC visits buyers overseas. He walked through how MWBC shares with customers Montana’s growing conditions and agronomic challenges, plus the importance of international trade. Kent shared a taste of our in-depth reports for each class of wheat. By sharing a mock presentation with Montana growers, he showed the great curiosity of buyers about Montana farm life and family, and plenty of data on our wheat specs, whether it be falling numbers or protein levels. They love all that data!
With MWBC directors in town, they had a chance to catch convention workshops. Attendees really enjoyed Cognitive Investments Director Jacob Shapiro’s talk, Geopolitics and the Future of American Agriculture. Jim Wiesemeyer, policy expert with The ProFarmer/Farm Journal, joined us this year with an Ag Policy Update, always a welcomed and irreverent session. MWBC board members Charlie Bumgarner and Keven Bradley were honored along with 19 others in Past Presidents Mingle with Busch Beer, a testimony of strong leadership by Montana producers on the national scene.
Kent had a chance to jump on live with Northern Ag Network’s noon report for a quick MWBC report. Staff members Sam Anderson, Lori Wickett and Kolleen Spurgin worked the convention and Dave Tweet was an enormous help at the booth. About that – we baked 1.5 pound loaves using a Cuisinart bread machine with Living Grains and Wheat Montana flours. We topped our slices with Smoot Honey, out of Power, MT. It gave us latitude to explore new ideas for next year surrounding milling education and MWBC info.
So how did four days go so quickly?? Apparently when you combine great producer discussions and education, time flies by. By the way, we concluded that our baking idea was not half-baked after all; looks like we’ll be bringing that back by popular demand.