NGFA Partners with Universities on Feed Education, Training
The National Grain and Feed Association (NGFA) is partnering with Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, and Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kan., in offering two education and training programs for the commercial feed industry.
Established in 1896, the NGFA consists of 900 member companies from all sectors of the grain, feed, processing and exporting business that operate about 6,000 facilities nationwide and handle more than 70 percent of all U.S. grains and oilseeds. With more than 350 member companies that operate commercial feed mills, feed ingredient manufacturers, and integrated livestock and poultry feed manufacturing operations, the NGFA is the largest organization in North America representing feed interests.
The two education and training courses are as follows:
Texas A&M University HACCP Training Course:
The NGFA is collaborating with Texas A&M University in offering a Web-based hazard analysis and critical control point (HACCP) training course designed for participants from all sectors of the feed industry.
Scheduled to begin Sept. 4, 2007, the 15-week course will emphasize a science-based risk-management approach to identifying and controlling potential hazards in feed ingredients and finished feeds through the use of HACCP principles.
The course also addresses the roles of quality-management system principles and regulatory standards in enhancing feed safety. Texas A&M will deliver the course content via a 100 percent distance-learning format, using a course website, email, discussion boards, mail and compact disc.
Texas A&M students enrolled in the course will receive two graduate-level credits upon successful completion. Participating industry representatives are eligible to receive three continuing education units from the university. The course also is accredited by the International HACCP Alliance.
Online registration for the course will be available by July 16. The registration fee is $476, and includes the course textbook and other required materials.
Brochure (PDF)
NGFA HACCP Guide:
Feed and ingredient manufacturers interested in the Texas A&M course or in evaluating whether to incorporate HACCP principles into their feed quality-assurance programs are reminded that the NGFA has developed a comprehensive guide concerning the principles and concepts that comprise a HACCP approach to feed safety. The NGFA’s copyrighted, 50-page booklet contains:
An overview of existing laws and regulations that apply to the animal feed and feed ingredient sectors.
Current feed safety initiatives underway within the Food and Drug Administration and the Association of American Feed Control Officials.
A discussion of the background of HACCP and its seven principles.
The steps involved in implementing a HACCP approach in feed mills.
A discussion of what’s involved in HACCP certification, as well as references to additional resources.
The NGFA’s publication also contains process-flow diagrams for each step of the feed manufacturing process – purchasing, order entry, product receiving, grinding, mixing, pelleting, bagging, warehousing and delivery – each of which is a component of a HACCP plan. In addition, it includes sample standard operating procedures for mills; a hazard-evaluation grid; sample product-description forms and templates; sample hazard critical control point procedure forms and templates; and a critical control point procedure decision tree.
Contact NGFA Director of Feed Services Dave Fairfield at dfairfield@ngfa.org for more information.
NGFA Co-Sponsors Feed Industry Profitability Workshop:
The NGFA and Wisconsin Agri-Service Association are cooperating with instructors from Kansas State University and Texas A&M University to conduct a Feed Industry Profitability Workshop on Aug. 7-9 in Green Bay, Wis. The workshop is designed to equip participants to:
1) perform capital budgeting, including preparation of detailed cash-flow statements and assigning rates-of-return based upon projected risk;
2) interpret financial statements and assess feed mill competitiveness through the application of financial ratios and benchmarking;
3) perform cost analysis using enterprise/cost-center budgeting;
4) analyze and manage variability using statistical techniques that improve feed quality, operating efficiency and profitability;
5) assess optimal operating conditions and economic efficiencies; and
6) utilize financial planning techniques to examine growth strategies.
The workshop includes lectures, case examples and in-class problems to help participants learn skills. Also included is training on the use of Excel® financial and statistical functions, use of pivot tables in data management and instruction on how to perform an optimization analysis.
The workshop registration fee is $750, including course materials, lunch, breaks, computer software and use of the university’s computer laboratory.
Brochure (PDF).
For questions on the workshop’s curriculum and schedule, contact Dr. Tim Herrman, workshop coordinator, at +1 (979) 845-1121.
The NGFA’s membership encompasses country, terminal and export elevators; feed and feed ingredient manufacturers; cash grain and feed merchants; end users of grain and grain products, including processors, flour millers, and livestock and poultry integrators; commodity futures brokers and commission merchants; and allied industries. The NGFA also consists of 35 affiliated state and regional U.S. grain and feed associations, as well as two international affiliated associations. In addition, the NGFA has strategic alliances with the Grain Elevator and Processing Society, North American Export Grain Association and Pet Food Institute.
