Course Details:
Dates: May 12 - 20, 2025
Locations: Northern Crops Institute - Fargo, North Dakota, and Vancouver, Kalama and Aberdeen Washington
Registration Fee: $2,200.00
Registration Deadline: April 15, 2025
Course Overview:
This course focuses on the mechanics of soybean and soybean meal procurement, and is designed to educate individuals who are responsible for purchasing these agricultural commodities. Academic and commodity trading authorities lecture on cash and futures markets, and soybean merchandisers guide you through the full complexity of the international soybean and soybean meal markets. The course provides an overview of the U.S. soybean and soybean meal handling and marketing system and the risk management tools available to assists buyers in purchasing U.S. soybean and soybean meal 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 agricultural commodity 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 travel to the U.S. Pacific Northwest 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 soybean and soybean meal merchandisers and learn from their experiences in dealing with the complexity of the international commodity markets.
Share day-to-day experiences with colleagues from other countries and U.S. soybean and soybean meal merchants.
Experience the U.S. soybean handling system through tours of a farm, shuttle-loading terminal elevator, and Pacific Northwest export terminals.
Participate in trading exercises in the world-class, NDSU Commodity Trading Room.
Major Topics:
U.S. soybean export handling and logistics
Commodity analysis: fundamental and technical factors
Basis: implications for soybean importing decisions
Commodity hedging principles
U.S. soybean and soybean meal grading and quality standards
International soybean and soybean meal contracts
World and U.S. soybean and soybean meal market outlook
Developing purchasing strategies
Supplier-customer relationships
Purchase quality specifications for importers
Risk management strategies
Managing ocean freight risks
Who Should Attend:
International soybean and soybean meal buyers associated with private trading companies, soybean processing, feed manufacturing and food processing. Anyone with interest in importing soybean and soybean meal from the United States. This course is designed for participants with an intermediate to advanced level of knowledge and experience.
How to 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: $2,200.00
Registration Deadline: April 15, 2025
Click on the “Register Now” button to pay by credit card. For group registrations and alternate methods of payment, please contact ndsu.nci@ndsu.edu.
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:
Airfare is not included in the registration fee. NCI will provide ground (bus) transportation during the course. Do not purchase airfare for this course until the minimum number of registrations has been received. Participants will fly into Fargo International Airport (FAR) on May 11 for five days of training, and then to Portland International Airport (PDX) on May 18 for additional tours in the PNW region, and then fly to their home countries out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on May 21 after conclusion of the course. Participants choosing to not participate in the PNW tours will depart Fargo International Airport (FAR) on May 17.
Cancellation Policies:
Requests to cancel a registration must be received on or before April 15, 2025 to receive a full refund. Requests to cancel a registration on or after April 16, 2025 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 3 days before the course begins. To read our full Event Refund & Cancelation Policy, click here.
General Information.
Northern Crops Institute
NDSU Dept. 7400
P.O. Box 6050
Fargo, ND 58108-6050 USA
Phone: 701-231-7736
Fax: 701-231-7235
Email: ndsu.nci@ndsu.edu
Website: www.northern-crops.com
About the Northern Crops Institute.
Northern Crops Institute is an international center for meeting and learning about crops produced in the four-state region of North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Montana. Situated on the campus of North Dakota State University, Northern Crops Institute exists as a forum to bring together customers, commodity traders, technical experts, processors and producers from all points of the globe for discussion, education and technical service programs. Since 1983, the Institute has hosted visitors from more than 135 countries.
North Dakota State University is an Equal Opportunity Institution. This publication will be made available in alternative formats upon request (701-231-7736).