KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Ongoing shortages of labor and freight capacity creating some of the biggest supply chain challenges in the milling industry will undoubtedly be discussed during the North American Millers’ Association Spring Conference. 

The Spring Conference, NAMA’s largest annual education conference, is set for April 9-12 at Wild Dunes Resort on the Isle of Palms on the South Carolina Coast. 

Included in the draft agenda for the 2022 conference are meetings of the Corn, Oats, and Wheat divisions of NAMA. Educational sessions on topics of interest to millers of those grains will address supply chain and sustainability issues, among others. 

The annual Soft Wheat Crop Report and Forecast will be presented during the conference. Historically, this portion of the program includes soft red winter wheat production forecasts for the United States in total, as well as regional forecasts presented by panelists representing various milling and grain companies.  Those regions include the Central states of Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin; the Mid-Atlantic states — Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania; the Southeast, including North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia; the South, the Mississippi Delta and Southwest — Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. A forecast for soft white winter wheat typically is presented for the United States and in the primary soft white winter production region, the Pacific Northwest.

The program also provides attendees opportunities to network with industry colleagues at several planned receptions and dinners.

NAMA, headquartered in Arlington, Va., is led by Jane DeMarchi, president; Dale Nellor, vice president of government and technical affairs; and Kim Cooper, director of government affairs.

Registration for the three-day program will open in mid-January, NAMA said.