MANHATTAN, KANSAS, U.S. — Educating potential foreign buyers of the benefits of U.S. grain and feed was the focus of the recent USDA Cochran Fellowship Program held at the Kansas State University (KSU) IGP Institute Dec. 3-14.

The seven participants from Vietnam learned about identifying new commodity markets, and increased their knowledge of grain processing, purchasing and storage. The U.S. Sorghum Exposure and Utilization for Vietnam course participants primarily were trained by Carlos Campabadal, outreach specialist in feed manufacturing and grain quality management and Patrick Clark, technical consultant.

“The USDA Cochran program hosted at the IGP Institute focused on providing the fellows a deep look on everything related to U.S. sorghum from the agronomy side all the way to the processing into food and feed products,” Campabadal said.

Participants completed lessons about grain storage and handling, feed manufacturing, animal nutrition and engaged in learning new techniques for grain marketing. The group also received additional training on the opportunities for processing and utilization of sorghum for human consumption. Throughout the two-week course, participants were able to visit farms and grain elevator cooperatives.

“The fellows had the opportunity to visit the locations and people who actually export and grade the products that are purchased for use in Vietnam,” Clark said. “The experience helped the fellows realize where their commodities come from and how the U.S. has the safest food system in the world. It will help open up new markets for the U.S. grain sorghum producer.”