NCI Hosts INTSOY: Introduction to Soybean Course August 12-16, 2024

The Northern Crops Institute (NCI) hosted its INTSOY: Introduction to Soybean course on August 12-16, 2024. This course covered a variety of topics around soybean basics including quality, nutrition, and utilization of soybeans in human and animal foods. Participants engaged with soybean producers and industry experts through lectures, demonstrations, farm visits, and plant tours. This course was conducted in-person at locations within North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota with 40 participants from 18 countries: the United States, Singapore, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, France, Ethiopia, Burundi, Rwanda, Cambodia, Myanmar, Kazakhstan, Sri Lanka, Guatemala, El Salvador, Costa Rica, and Dominican Republic.

The course began in Fargo, ND, at the Northern Crops Institute in the new Peltier Complex. Linda Funk of the Soyfoods Council presented and engaged with the participants via a soy foods tasting demonstration. Then the discussion shifted to texturized vegetable proteins with Brian Plattner of Wenger Manufacturing. A pilot-scale extrusion demonstration was done in the NCI Instructional Classroom. Lastly, NDSU’s Minwei Xu presented on the basics of soybean chemistry.

Day two of the course started out at the NCI Feed Production Center with a tour and Insta-Pro extruder demonstration by NCI Feedmill Manager Shane Mueller. Next, Bob Sinner gave a short lecture on soybean quality before the group went to the labs again. There they participated in a pilot-scale demonstration of soymilk and tofu production with NCI’s Edil Vidal Torres and a tempeh demo with NCI’s Dr. Fatemeh Zare. The afternoon saw some travel. The group headed to SB&B Foods in Casselton, ND, for a tour. Lastly, they visited a farm in Arco, MN.

The third day was spent in Brookings, SD, first at the Animal Science Complex on the campus of South Dakota State University. Leila Venzor of Archer Daniels Midland presented and gave a demo titled “Functional Soy Proteins in Processed Meat Applications.” Next, the group toured Davis Dairy Plant and heard from Steve Beckman of the Institute of Dairy Ingredient Processing at SDSU. The last tour of the day was at Prairie AquaTech with Brandon White.

Day four started out with a tour of South Dakota Soybean Processors Plant with Kari Vander Wal. This concluded the South Dakota portion, and the bus headed for Minnesota. By the afternoon, they arrived and toured the Grain Millers, Inc. facility, hearing from Craig Tomera, Lloyd Trullinger, and Andy Trullinger.

The last day started out at the University of Minnesota. There, Dr. Seth Naeve presented and gave the group a tour of the soybean research field plots. The remainder of the presentations were given by MN Soybean Research and Promotion Council’s Kim Nill. He presented on soybean plant growth stages, soybean crush process and products, and an overview of the benefits of high oleic soybean oil.

NCI would like to extend a thank you to all the participants, presenters, sponsors, and staff members who made this course possible. A certificate of completion was awarded to all the attendees who participated in this course at the course banquet in Fargo, ND. To view and register for NCI’s upcoming courses, visit www.northern-crops.com/courses.