Montana State University |
Montana State University |
by Carol Flaherty
05/26/99 Bozeman, Mont. - Twelve students and faculty from Montana State University have returned from Taiwan and Portland, the culmination of a spring semester "Follow the Grain" course.
The course was designed to give students a view of grain production from breeding the seed, to sowing it, selling it and using it in a foreign country, said Vince Smith, MSU economist, who coordinated the class along with Debra Habernicht, MSU’s baking and milling quality expert.
Shipping and using grain in a foreign country was the core of this trip, which was sponsored through a number of grants, including ones from MSU’s Trade Research Center, the USDA and State of Montana. Mei Mei Wang, a representative of Montana’s Department of Commerce in Taiwan, said this was the first class of Montana students she has been asked to facilitate. Instructors also had the help of K. H. Lu of the U.S. Wheat Associates Office in Taipei. Lu set up meetings for the students with government officials and milling and baking company representatives.
Rob Ridgeway of Stanford said seeing the grain from the users point of view is quite different than growing it. Ridgeway said he knows the United States has high-quality grain, and thinks the storage and transport systems ought to focus on delivering an equally high quality product when it is unloaded from ships in Taiwan’s harbor.
He said the Taiwanese he met want cleaner grain, and consider the dockage, such as dust and small pebbles, in their shipments from the United States to be this country’s biggest problem.
When at the end of the trip he asked Vancouver, Washington grain inspection agency official about the problem. He said their response was that the Taiwanese just "don’t understand dockage."
"Maybe this is oversimplifying," said Ridgeway, "but it seems like the people in Portland Port know what the Taiwanese are looking for, so why don’t they give it to them?"
That seems a useful perspective for a student majoring in agricultural business. Ridgeway will return to MSU in the fall as a senior.
Smith explained that other countries sometimes send cleaner grain than specified in contracts, but the U.S. Grain Inspection Service enforces buyer contracts to the letter. The contrast is sometimes perceived to work against U.S. grain exports.
Ann Stradley of Belgrade, whose family farms northwest of Great Falls, said she had similar concerns about dockage in U.S. wheat shipments, and thought overall that "we seem to be more quantity oriented and they are more quality oriented."
Stradley added that she was very impressed that top Taiwanese consultants and plant managers were willing to share information about how their plants and systems work.
Steve Johnson of Mott, N.D. said "the experience I had meeting with import officials in Taiwan. . . helped me understand a lot about the world trade of wheat and how it works." Johnson will return to MSU as a senior in finance this fall. Johnson said he now intends to add classes in agricultural economics to his senior course load.
Not only did the students learn that the Taiwanese want cleaner grain, they also learned what other wheat qualities Taiwanese want to buy, and that includes a potential for Montana hard white wheats, said Habernicht. She and her assistant, Jackie Kennedy (who was also a student in the class) participated in a function at the baking institute in Taiwan. The demonstration showed them how to make steam bread – a staple of the Taiwanese and other Asian diets that is now made from a blend of red wheats but with some loss of flour in milling due to removal of the red part of the grain.
"The wheats used must meet certain criteria, and they like a nice white color," Habernicht said. Right now that white color largely comes from removing the hull of wheats, but hard white wheats would give more flour and less waste. Steam bread flavors are varied by adding ingredients like a brown sugar syrup or bits of pork or onion. It is quicker to make than classic American loaves of bread, and often is eaten for breakfast.
The Taiwanese seem to be a people who are always at work, said Brett Holzer of Stanford. Holzer graduated from MSU two days before leaving for Taiwan and will do an agricultural work exchange this fall while looking for a permanent job.
"It seems like everyone (in Taiwan) has a better work ethic than people in the U. S. Everyone was working. I didn’t see too many people with time on their hands. It was an important experience for me," added Holzer. I think it would be great if universities taught more classes this way, hands on learning and exposure to an international experience. I’ve learned a lot of things that will help me as I try to decide what part of the agricultural marketing business I fit into."
Joel Schumacher of Malta, who will return as a senior in business finance this fall, said he thought "every student should have the opportunity to go on some type of cultural exchange." He said his own exposure to international marketing will influence his senior year course work.
MSU students saw this ship carrying corn from the United States coming into Taichung, Taiwan harbor to the Far Eastern Silo and Shipping Corporation. The ship operates under a Greek flag. Photo by Deb Habernicht. It is available (7 in wide 266 dpi) on the web at http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/ag/ship_twn.jpg
Participants in the MSU College of Agriculture course "Follow the Grain" at the port in Taichung, Taiwan. Back row left, Brett Holzer, Stanford; J.R. Peterson, Wilsal; Steve Johnson, Mott, ND; Vince Smith MSU economist; Joel Schumacher, Malta; Jim Johnson MSU economist; Rob Ridgeway, Stanford; Front row left Sun Hua Lou, director of the Far Eastern Silo and Shipping Corporation’s Tai Chung office; Mykel Mathews, Roberts; Jackie Kennedy student and MSU cereal quality technician; Deb Habernicht MSU cereal quality lab manager; Ann Stradley of Belgrade; Martha Mikkelson MSU plant disease diagnostician. A 7 inch wide 266 dpi version is on the web at: http://www.montana.edu/wwwpb/ag/classdock.jpg
Send questions or comments to Carol Flaherty, MSU Communications Services, Bozeman, MT 59717 or to Jerry Nielsen, Dan Long and Flaherty with this link: carolf@montana.edu.
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