Course Details:

Dates: May 13-21, 2024
Locations: Northern Crops Institute - Fargo, ND, Portland, OR and Vancouver, WA
Registration Fee: $2,200.00
Registration Deadline: March 31, 2024

Course Overview:

This nine day course focuses on the mechanics of soybean and soybean meal merchandising, and is designed to educate individuals who are responsible for purchasing these agricultural commodities. Academic and commodity trade authorities lecture on cash and futures markets, and grain merchandisers guide you through the full complexity of the international grain markets. The course provides an overview of the U.S. grain handling and marketing system and the risk management tools available to assists buyers in purchasing U.S. grain that meets their quality needs at the best value. This course is led by William Wilson, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor, AES Agribusiness and Applied Economics and an expert in commodity futures trading and consultant to the international grain and food processing industries.

Daily lectures and exercises will be held both at NCI and in the NDSU Commodity Trading Room, a world-class training facility of the Agribusiness and Applied Economics Department at North Dakota State University (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.

The course will start in Fargo, North Dakota and then the group will travel to Portland, Oregon for tours of soybean and soybean meal export facilities.

Objectives:

• Learn from experts from both academic and commodity industry professionals on cash and futures markets.
• Meet with grain merchandisers and hear of their experiences in dealing with the complexity of the international grain markets.
• Share day-to-day experiences with colleagues from other countries and U.S. grain merchants.
• Experience the U.S. grain handling system through tours of a farm, a country elevator, and export grain terminal.
• Participate in trading exercises in the world-class, NDSU Commodity Trading Room.

Major Topics:

• U.S. grain export handling and logistics

• Commodity analysis: fundamental and technical factors

• Basis: implications for grain importing decisions

• Grain hedging principles

• U.S. grain grading standards

• International grain contracts

• World and U.S. grain market outlook

• Developing purchasing strategies

• Supplier-customer relationships

• Purchase quality specifications for importers

• Risk management strategies

• Managing ocean freight risks

Who Should Attend:

International grain buyers associated with private trading companies, soybean processing, feed manufacturing and food processing. Anyone with interest in importing soybeans and soybean meal from the United States.

How Do I Register?

This course will be offered in-person only, and registrations are limited to 30 participants. Space will fill up quick, so we encourage you to enroll early!

Registration Fee: $2,200
Registration Deadline: March 31, 2024

Included in the registration fee are course materials, lunches and refreshments during the course, and one evening dinner banquet. Airfare, hotel rooms and other meals are not included in the registration fee.

Hotel Information:

Information on hotels for the course will be provided to you upon registration. A valid credit card is required upon check-in at each hotel to cover your room expenses. Hotel rooms ARE NOT included in the course registration fee.

Transportation:

Do not purchase air travel for this course until the minimum number of registrations has been received. Participants will fly into Fargo International Airport (FAR) and to Portland International Airport (PDX) for additional tours and lectures, then fly out of PDX upon conclusion of the course.

NCI will provide transportation during the course.

Cancellation Policies:

Requests to cancel a registration must be received on or before March 31, 2024 to receive a full refund. Requests to cancel a registration after that date will receive credit for a future NCI course that is good for 1 year. If NCI is forced to cancel this course, all registered participants will be immediately contacted, and each will receive a full refund within 10 business days. Substitutions may be made up to 7 days before the course begins. To read our full Event Refund & Cancellation Policy, click here.