The Global Miller

September 25, 2016

26/09/2016: SPACE 2016, A world-class thirtieth expo focused on the future

SPACE 2016 was held at the RENNES Exhibition Centre from September 13 to 16.

Inaugurated by the Minister of Animal Resources of Côte d'Ivoire, the professional associations who accompanied him, officials from Togo and Guinea and the Minister of Livestock of Cameroon, and closed by Phil Hogan, European Commissioner for Agriculture, this 30th SPACE reflects the event's strong international dimension.

This year's expo brought together 1,445 exhibitors including 484 international exhibitors from 42 countries, and 101,963 visitors, including 12,022 international visitors from 120 countries. The participation of exhibitors remained at the same level as last year (1,441 in 2015), which was a record year in this respect.

The participation of visitors declined slightly (in 2015: 106,226 visitors, including 15,042 international visitors). This slight decrease is due to the difficult situation in some sectors and the fact that the event coincided with silage harvesting.

Regarding international visitors, far fewer visitors from Northern Africa came this year because the SPACE began the day after an important religious holiday, Eid Al Adha. However, large delegations from West Africa, Europe and Iran were present.

Exhibitors at SPACE 2016 unanimously praised the quality of contacts they had with visitors during the four day event. This professionalism, in a globalised world, clearly reflected the constructive and fluid tone of this year's expo.

SPACE 2016 developed the political dimension of discussions with livestock sector stakeholders. The Minister of Agriculture, Stéphane Le Foll, as well as various presidential primary candidates, were able to speak and convey their messages to exhibitors and livestock farmers during SPACE.

These visits reinforce SPACE as a platform of expression and discussion to advance the major issues regarding the future of the livestock sectors.

This year's event was again marked by innovations that benefit animal production. The 50 Innov'Space award-winners presented at the stands, including 5 special commendations, enhanced the quality of the presentations at SPACE.

The theme of the Research and Development Village was "Producing for the Future – Climate – Energy – Land Use".

We succeeded in getting farmers to embrace the issue of greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon market, by showing them that solutions already exist and can be put to use immediately. It also demonstrates their ability to plan ahead.

The SPACE was again a springboard for employment and international trade thanks to 300 job vacancies at the job-dating events organised by APECITA, and more than 300 BtoB meetings organised by Entreprise Europe Network between exhibitors and international investors.

The animal presentations also boosted the appeal and quality of our event. 550 cattle of different breeds provided a continuous spectacle in the main ring.

150 sheep and goats of 10 different breeds were also shown. The Montbeliarde breed and the Rouge des Prés breed were the two breeds in the spotlight this year. Their involvement and the quality of their presentations were highly praised.

The 70 conferences, debates and seminars that took place during the four days gave this year's event a new dimension, as livestock farmers were able to express their needs and expectations, in line with the ambition of the creators of SPACE.

The thirtieth SPACE concluded with an excellent record in terms of discussions and contacts, based on trust, in a spirit of construction and progress. The organisers look forward to seeing you at SPACE 2017, from 12 to 15 September at the Rennes Exhibition Centre.

Read more HERE.

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine GFMT
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.

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September 22, 2016

23/09/2016: The Pelletier Column, from curiosity to action

From curiosity to action

by Christophe Pelletier

Christophe Palletier

In my previous column, I wrote about why curiosity is a great asset when it comes to facing and preparing for the future.

However, that is not quite the whole story.

Food and agriculture are not intellectual exercises, they must deliver concrete products and results. It is nice to be curious but what do you do with that?

The answer to this question is quite simple:

action! According to the saying, knowledge is power. Knowledge is only truly power when it is active and circulating.

Knowledge that remains in a brain or in a drawer is not very useful for the greater good. The first step that I advise curious people to do is to always share what they learn. It is even easier today with the Internet, and there is a lot of knowledge out there.

By sharing, I do not mean simply copy and paste or click the share button. Before sharing, it is essential to make sure that what you share is quality.

There is too much information that is spread on social media while clearly not critically reviewed, not to say not even read; as is quite often the case.

The mindset here is a mix of enthusiasm, critical thinking and practical service orientation. The knowledge must be correct and the message must come over.

It also must be useful to the recipients; it must connect to their needs and add value to them.

The final result has to be better food through more efficient and sustainable systems that are financially viable.

In the food and agriculture sector, it must lead to always more collaboration and knowledge transfer in all directions within the entire value chain.

Often, the weakness of communication is that it stays too long in the same circle and other links, and consumers in particular, are kept too long out of the loop.

It results too often in misunderstanding, distrust and erroneous perception. Through collaboration and brainstorming, curiosity helps create a more accurate and achievable vision of the future, on which action can further be carried out to shape the future.

From this angle, there is no doubt that collaboration between all stakeholders is certainly an ongoing process; this is especially true with technology.

Read the full article HERE.

Obial company profile

OBIAL is one of the leading global companies for grain storage technologies. It has become a sought-after brand thanks to its philosophy of offering the highest quality with the most reasonable prices.

OBIAL sets targets with an awareness of the responsibilities that come with being the leader in the sector.

To this end, the company offers turnkey grain storage system solutions with reasonable prices through the use of materials of the highest quality, superior design and production standards, and effective customer relations management.

Visit the website HERE.

23/09/2016: King Arthur Flour brings its baking expertise to the West Coast

Flour Company Partners with Washington State University’s Bread Lab and Opens Baking School

King Arthur Flour, America's oldest flour company, is taking its baking expertise from New England to the Pacific Northwest, as today it announces the Fall 2016 opening of its Baking School at Washington State University's Bread Lab in Skagit Valley, Washington.

The endeavor marks another milestone in the growing relationship with the wheat think tank and baking laboratory.

Image: Martin Lindstrom

King Arthur Flour offers unparalleled baking education for home and professional bakers with over 800 hands-on classes every year, free recipes, tips and techniques at www.kingarthurflour.com, access to professional bakers through its toll-free Baker's Hotline, and online classes through Craftsy.com.

The Baking School classroom is part of the new 12,000 square-foot Bread Lab facility in Skagit Valley, Washington that also includes bread and milling labs, a professional kitchen, and meeting areas for collaboration and experimentation.

"The work of The Bread Lab is inspirational to King Arthur Flour. Their commitment to rebuilding regional grain economies through breeding wheat varieties for flavour and nutrition gives us a wonderful opportunity for continued growth and discovery in the field of baking," says Susan Miller, Director of Baking Education at King Arthur Flour.

"Teaching bakers how to bake with both new and ancient whole grains, and how to adapt recipes to new varieties is really exciting to us. The King Arthur Flour Baking School at The Bread Lab welcomes the added benefits this close collaboration will bring to our instructors and students alike. While we will continue to teach our traditional offerings, we look forward to incorporating what we learn from The Bread Lab's work."

Classes begin on November 5 and registration is open online at www.kingarthurflour.com/baking-school.

Topics focus on bread and pastry baking, with instruction from notable guests and King Arthur's own certified master baker Jeffrey Hamelman, Board Chair for The Bread Bakers Guild of America Jeff Yankellow, and several instructors from its Baking School in Norwich, Vermont. All classes during the month of October are free to the public.

Through the scientific study of grain diversity along with the expansion of available regional grains, the Bread Lab researches and breeds whole grains for a healthy diet and introduces innovative applications and techniques for wholegrain milling, baking, cooking, and malting.

"From the start we have partnered with King Arthur Flour. They were the first sponsor of the Bread Lab and Grain Gathering and that connection continues to build through the bakers, the school, and the leadership that they show," notes Bread Lab's founder Dr. Stephen Jones.

"As breeders, bakers, scientists, and cooks we look to help develop food systems that are innovative and equitable - providing increasing access to good food to as many people as possible."

Yenar company profile

With more than 20 years experience in the sector, Yenar have a state of the art production plant on an area of 40 000 m2, of which 18 000 m2 is covered.

Domestic and global leaders since 1995, Yenar's equipment range includes rolls manufactured using the most up to date technology by means of the double pour centrifugal casting method. These rolls are in demand in many food sectors.

Manufacturing 22 000 units annually of various diameters and lengths as of 2014, Yenar is the fastest growing Turkish company in the sector, supplying hundreds of food sector producers in both domestic and foreign markets by means of professional sales teams.
Visit the website HERE

22/09/2016: US Wheat Associates promotes Rutger Koekoek to European regional marketing director

US Wheat Associates (USW) is pleased to announce that Rutger Koekoek is promoted from marketing specialist to regional marketing director for Europe.

Mr Koekoek joined USW in 2009 and is based in the organisation’s regional office in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. USW is the export market development organisation for US wheat farmers.

Rutger Koekoek

“We are recognising Rutger’s work and his successful performance over the past several months filling this regional role as our long-time director Goris van Lit transitioned to retirement,” said USW Regional Vice President Ian Flagg.

Mr Flagg manages USW staff and all market development activities in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa from Rotterdam.

Europe continues to be an important regional market for US wheat. It is the largest export market for northern durum and Desert Durum® and flour millers frequently import US hard red spring (HRS) wheat to blend with locally-produced “soft” wheat.

Before joining USW, Mr Koekoek worked in seed sales and marketing management first with Delta and Pine Land in its Netherlands office.

Mr Koekoek managed sales and marketing of cotton seed in Europe and directly managed Delta and Pine Land's Turkish subsidiary. Mr Koekoek also worked as a marketing product manager for Dutch vegetable seed producer De Ruiter Seeds, where he steered the development and product lifecycle for pepper and eggplant varieties.

Mr Koekoek received a bachelor’s degree in International Management at the Rotterdam Business School and a master’s degree in Agricultural Economics and Marketing from Wageningen Agricultural University.

USW’s mission is to “develop, maintain, and expand international markets to enhance the profitability of US wheat producers and their customers.”

USW activities in more than 100 countries are made possible through producer checkoff dollars managed by 19 state wheat commissions and cost-share funding provided by USDA/Foreign Agricultural Service.

USW maintains 17 offices strategically located around the world to help wheat buyers, millers, bakers, wheat food processors and government officials understand the quality, value and reliability of all six classes of US wheat.

Read more HERE.

September 21, 2016

Profile: Norwood and Company

With almost 100 years of collective experience in the family business, Norwood and Company has provided multiple services to our customers that have been used to help launch their projects and keep them under budget and on time.

According to their website "We know the mechanical workings of the grain, feed, and milling industries like no one else, and our knowledge can make the difference between a successful project and a costly one."

Visit the website HERE.

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