FARGO, NORTH DAKOTA, US — The Northern Crops Institute (NCI) completed its first stone milling short course in February and will hold a second in-person course June 18-21 at its facility in Fargo. Stone milling is an ancient grain processing technique still used throughout the world.

NCI said the course, which provides hands-on training to teach participants to operate a stone mill, is designed for custom millers, producers thinking about adding value to what they grow, artisan bakers and staff, and people who recently have purchased stone mills.

Dr. Amrita Ray, milling specialist at NCI, said the institute has curated its own stone milling research and experimental results to develop the course.

“At NCI, we are experimenting with the traditional milling technique; exploring various factors such as stone speed, gap and feed auger to standardize milling operation for grains,” Ray said. “Along with hard red spring and winter wheat, we are working on durum, spelt, emmer and einkorn. Our study expands to ancient grains, pulses and millet, too.”

She noted that today’s consumers are opting for healthier food choices, which has spurred renewed interest in the stone milling process.

“We are joining in to shed light on this traditional technology and bring its well-deserved popularity back in modern-day conventional milling,” Ray said.

NCI also is offering an online course that delves into the concept, principle and operation of stone mills, as well as a handbook that demonstrates the stone milling process, describes how it is different than other milling techniques and reveals experimental results.

The in-person short course costs $2,000 and the registration deadline is May 1. For more information, visit the NCI website.