NCI Hosts Soybean and Soybean Meal Procurement Course | May 12-20, 2025
The Northern Crops Institute (NCI) hosted its Soybean and Soybean Meal Procurement course on May 12-20, 2025. This course contained lectures on cash and futures markets and the complexity of the international soybean and soybean meal markets. It also provided an overview of the U.S. soybean and soybean meal handling and marketing system and the risk management tools available to assist buyers in purchasing U.S. soybean and soybean meal that meets their quality needs at the best value. This course was conducted in-person at the NCI in Fargo, North Dakota and the U.S. Pacific Northwest in Portland, Oregon with 24 participants from the United States, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, India, United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Canada.
The course, similar to previous years, was led by William Wilson, Ph.D., NDSU Distinguished Professor, AES Agribusiness and Applied Economics, and Frayne Olson, NDSU Professor and Crops Economist. In addition to lectures at NCI, the participants experienced hands-on exercises in the NDSU Commodity Training Room, a world-class training facility of the Agribusiness and Applied Economics Department at NDSU. The high-tech room has 32 computer stations, each with a computer that receives live information feeds for financial information including equities and credit, plus commodity market information such as agriculture, energy and biofuels.
Participants playing the trading game in NDSU’s Commodity Trading Room
The first day was spent at Barry Hall in the NDSU Commodity Training Room with lectures on the U.S. soybean export market and soybean importing decisions before participants could spend time on live trading exercises. The second day was spent at NCI with more lecture-heavy discussions on understanding hedging principles and commodity analysis, as well as industry professionals from NDSU and Green Bison who shared about their work in the production and procurement of soybeans. Day three was back in the Commodity Room to further enhance the application of the topics covered thus far. The participants learned more about risk management, an introduction to options, and spent more time on the live trading game.
On the fourth day, the course began with presentations from USSEC on U.S. soy in animal and aquaculture feed and feed formulation with carbon footprint calculations. The course then spent the rest of the day on tours. The first stop was at NCI’s Feed Production center where the group toured the newly updated facilities. The course then traveled to North Dakota Soybean Processors, a soybean crush plant in Casselton, ND, for a tour. Next, they stopped for lunch and visited Grand Farm’s Innovation Campus in Wheatland, ND. The afternoon began with a tour at the Maple River Grain & Agronomy, before wrapping up the day with touring a farm in Portland, ND, with farmer and ND Soybean Council board member Milo Braaten.
On the final instructional day in Fargo, the group wrapped up with case studies and reviewed major topics of discussion in the morning. The afternoon concluded with the final presentations on weather conditions, the world soybean and soybean meal outlook, and purchasing soybean meal for export. Industry experts from NDAWN, the Money Farm, and AGP presented on these topics.
Participants at the Bonneville Locks and Dam during the PNW portion
Some participants continued on to the PNW portion of the course, where they departed Fargo and landed in Portland, Oregon the next day. The weekend was spent exploring the sights with optional tours of the Bonneville Locks and Dam and Multnomah Falls.
The group toured many different sites during their time in the PNW. First up was SGS in Vancouver, Washington, then TEMCO Kalama, which is a 50/50 joint venture between CHS and Cargill. The participants enjoyed lunch on the water before concluding the course with a tour of Kalama Export in Kalama, Washington.
This group contained a variety of international soybean and soybean meal buyers, managers, directors, and traders associated with private trading companies, soybean processing, feed manufacturing and food processing. This course was designed for participants with an intermediate to advanced level of knowledge and experience. This program was made possible by the support of the North Dakota Soybean Council, South Dakota Soybean Checkoff, Minnesota Soybean Research & Promotions Council, and the U.S. Soybean Export Council (USSEC).
A certificate of completion was awarded to all the attendees who participated in this course. some participants joined only for the Fargo, ND, portion, while the majority traveled on for the tours of the PNW. NCI would like to extend a thank you to all the participants, presenters, sponsors, and staff members who made this course possible.