MANHATTAN, KANSAS, U.S. — The Kansas State University (KSU) International Grains Program (IGP) and the International Association of Operative Millers (IAOM) will be hosting two courses this June — Mill Processes I: Basic Milling Principles, June 4-8 and Mill Processes II: Advanced Milling Principles, June 11-15.

The first week will allow participants to dig into their role in the milling process and help them improve their knowledge and understanding, said Mark Fowler, IGP associate director and course coordinator.

“This course is designed for millers with practical, on-the-job experience who want to take the time to delve into the reasons why we do things in milling — not just how we do them. In order to accomplish this, we will explore topics such as receiving and storing grains, binning and blending wheat, and wheat processing topics such a cleaning, tempering and milling. We will tie this altogether by examining the impact of wheat quality and preparation on the mill’s performance,” Fowler said.

Students will have the chance to learn both in the classroom in the pilot scale Hal Ross Flour Mill from IGP’s milling faculty and industry experts. While the first week will focus on providing participants with theoretical milling background, the second week will expand this understanding and its application.

“The advanced week will provide participants with a better understanding of the milling process and trouble shooting skills. We will achieve this by an in-depth analysis of mill flow sheets and their design. We will also go through a quantitative analysis of mill balance and product distributions. The course will also cover roll stand maintenance as well as sifting and sifter maintenance. Participants will explore the purification system and process controls,” Fowler said.

2011 Advanced Milling participant Keith Koehler, Mennel Milling Company assistant miller from Bucyrus, Ohio, said of the course, “I greatly enjoyed my time in Manhattan, both in and out, of the classroom. My instructors and classmates have helped me achieve an understanding of milling equipment and processes, which I have had little previous knowledge of. This will help me in my future milling endeavors.”

He is echoed by 2011 Basic Milling Principles participant John Alberts, who had served as an apprentice miller of Star of the West.

“Being here made it a lot easier to really think about the process. Because when you’re on the job, it’s all about production,” Albert said. “You’ve got to keep things going and you can’t always take a lot of time to think about why we do things.”

This is one example of the trainings offered in the flour milling and grain processing area. IGP faculty also lead courses in the grain marketing and risk management, and feed manufacturing and grain management. To learn more about IGP, visit the website at www.grains.ksu.edu/igp.