Lori Wickett, Communications Director, MWBC
Gallery of Photos
Eight Montana producers and one Montana State University College of Ag representative headed west to join Keven Bradley, MWBC board member; Kent Kupfner, MWBC executive director; and me for the Wheat Marketing Center’s annual grower education experience. We spent two-plus days in Portland touring bakeries, the port and the Wheat Marketing Center.
This story probably has more to do with truly grasping what our customers are looking for in wheat quality, than it does the physical witness of the port. Our growers were unanimous in their “ah ha!” moments about the critical importance of end-use qualities. I heard things like, “I had no idea how critical the lab tests are to our buyers,” and, “now I literally know what they’re talking about with falling numbers, because I’ve seen the test.” Sue Mondal, who captains winter wheat breeding at MSU and attended with the group, was so glad she went. It was a good experience for Sue to network with our growers; they were quite fond of her by trip-end, giving her a nickname.
The labs are really pretty incredible. They test crackers, bagels, noodles and of course, bread. We followed testing through the bagel lab including the differences between steaming or boiling the bagels. We visited at length about hard red spring wheat qualities that impact Asian noodles and other products. I think everyone enjoyed the cracker line, mostly because of the sampling! We dropped in to say hello to the Federal Grain Inspection Services, which is located in the Albers Mill building. Whether it was learning about gluten strength in the lab or identification of varieties at FGIS, we were filled with knew technical information that can be impactful back home. Quick side note: the Albers building is owned by and houses the Wheat Marketing Center. It is a handsome grandfather of a building.
The mission to Portland included visiting two bakeries: Marsee and Dave’s Killer Bread. The former was a smaller, more customized bakery with a laundry list of baked goods and an amazing French COO/chef. This photo shows our fascination with the cake station. 🙂 Dave’s is a larger commercial facility. While we were not allowed to take photos, just know that the size of the mixing bowls to the height of the cooling tower were a sight to be seen. They allowed us to follow their bread all the way to packaging, and everyone wound up with growling stomachs.
United Grain Inc. hosted us for a port tour on the Columbia River, which happens to still be 97 miles away from the Pacific Ocean. We began indoors in the control room, focused on all the technology that moves grain from one place to another. It was a quiet day at the port so we did not get to see any vessels being loaded. We did walk the stretch from the shipping offices to the docks, talk about the loading systems and gawk at the enormity of it all.
Shaver Transportation was our second stop on the water. Most of us understand that most of our PNW wheat is loaded in Portland, but many do not know about the ancillary services that make it happen. Shaver owns the tugboats, as well as barges for the up-river carry system, that ensure a ship can reach the ocean. These were some of the nicest, hardworking people we met and they seemed over-the-moon to share their business with us. They absolutely love what they do, have a long family business history and appreciate the outdoors — they are just like us!
The Montana Wheat & Barley Committee makes an annual call for Montana producers who would be interested in attending the Portland experience. We typically go in March before seeding; we are considering adding a second tour in the fall of 2025 due to demand. Adults interested in attending should email us at WBC@mt.gov.
A complete gallery is available HERE under the Education – Portland tab.