Today’s guest is Dr. Amrita Ray.  She is a Milling Specialist at the Northern Crops Institute at North Dakota State University in Fargo, North Dakota, USA. Her work encompasses milling and fractionation of grains, with a special emphasis on stone milling.  We had a fantastic discussion about grains and milling.  If you are interested in her work, more information can be found at NCI’s website.

Her publications can be found at her Google Scholar profile.

And, here is a link to the story we discussed about new research that deletes genes for alpha-gliadins.  If you are interested in the actual journal article, you can find it here.

Thank you, Amrita for a great conversation!

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.

Welcome to 2025!  Food, nutrition, science, education, and communication.  All of these are critical to being an effective food scientist, cereal scientist, and food engineer.

Today’s guest is Dr. Marina Mefleh.  She is a Professor of Food Studies at The American University of Rome. Her work encompasses sustainability and biodiversity of ancient and old wheats and their suitability in the production of bread, as well as development of sustainable plant-based foods using various alternative sources of protein.  If you are interested in her work, more information can be found at her department’s website.

Her publications can be found at her ORCID profile as well as her Google Scholar page.  

And, here is a link to her review article comparing ancient to modern durum.  If you have a few minutes, I think you will find this a fascinating discussion.

Thank you, Marina for a great conversation!

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.

So what?  Who cares?  As scientists, a key component of our jobs to publish our results in peer-reviewed journals.  But many of us also publish books and use other means of communication for our science.

Our guest this week is Dr. Ram Ramakrishna from Bay State Milling, one of the oldest and largest grain milling companies in the USA.  We discuss the importance of creativity, communication, and publishing scientific results.  More about his research and publications can be found at his Google Scholar website.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

When you think of insects, what comes to mind?   Mosquitos?  Spiders?  What about weevils and other grain storage pests?   In the world of cereal grains these can have huge impacts no matter which country you are talking about.

Our guest this week is Dr. Tom Phillips from Kansas State University.  We discuss storage insects and a variety of other topics.  More about his research can be found at his faculty website.

Globally we still have much work to do in order to reduce insect damage during storage.  Hopefully you find our discussions insightful towards that end.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

How do we save the world?  Does it really need saving?  What problems do we need to address?  What role do food and agriculture play?  And, where do we begin?

In this episode I have a conversation with one of my classes at Iowa State.  This Honors course is focused on answering these questions, using the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as a framework for discussion.  As you will see, the situation is different in every country.

If you are interested in the SDGs, more information can be found at the UN website. 

Thank you  ISU students for being willing to share your thoughts.  Let's all try to do our part to make the future better.

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

As corn and soybean harvest progresses in the USA (almost all of the wheat crop has already been harvested), we have to consider grain quality and preservation.  Drying and aeration is important due to the potential of mold and insect infestation.  This episode is part 2 of a mini-series on preservation.  Our guest today is Dr. Graham Thorpe.  He has worked for many years to improve moisture control of grain in storage.  In fact, he even contributed a chapter to my recent book.  

If you are interested, his chapter on alternative and emerging storage technologies can be found here. 

More about Graham and is work can be found at his faculty website at Victoria University and at the Institute for Sustainable Industries and Liveable Cities. 

He can be contacted at [email protected].  Thank you, Graham, for a great conversation about grain storage! 

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

Corn and soybean harvest has begun in central Iowa.  As harvest progresses, make sure to watch out for farm equipment during your commute each day.  In addition to physical safety, it is important to consider grain quality and preservation.  Here in the U.S. we control quality by drying and aeration of the grain.  Our guest today is Dr. Ken Hellevang.  He has worked for many years to improve moisture control of grain in storage.  In fact, he even contributed a chapter on grain aeration to my recent book.  

If you are interested, his chapter on grain aeration can be found here.

More about Ken and is work can be found at his faculty website at North Dakota State University.

He can be contacted at [email protected].  Thank you, Ken for a great conversation!

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.

Hopefully everyone is staying safe out there!  The grain industry can be a dangerous place to work!  Whether you are working with grain storage, drying, handling, or processing, there are always things that can go wrong.  On this week’s episode, we continue the theme of safety in the grain industry.  It is a privilege to have as our guest Dr. Carol Jones from Oklahoma State University.  She works to improve safety in the grain industry, and has an extensive background in the grain and agriculture sectors.  She has worked for many years to make these safer places to work.  In fact, she even contributed two chapters on these topics to my recent book.  

If you are interested, her chapter on dust control can be found here.
Her chapter on fumigation can be found here.

More about Carol and her work can be found at her faculty website at Oklahoma State University as well as her LinkedIn page:

She can be contacted at [email protected].  Thank you, Carol for a great conversation!

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.

Have you ever slipped on the ice?  Or twisted your ankle?  What about being engulfed in grain?  Working in the grain industry can be dangerous, even fatal.  Whether we consider what happens on the farm or at the factory, safety is critical.  And agriculture is one of the most dangerous professions to work in.  Thankfully there are people working to improve the safety of these systems.  Today’s guest is Dr. Gretchen Mosher from Iowa State University.  She works to improve safety, human interactions, and decision-making processes in the grain and feed industries.  In fact, she even contributed a chapter on this topic to my recent book.  If you are interested, it can be found here.

More about Gretchen and her work can be found at her faculty website at Iowa State University.   She can be contacted at [email protected].  Thank you, Gretchen for a great conversation! 

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay. 

Have you noticed that the word “sustainability” has been used a lot in recent years?  What about “climate smart” or “regenerative agriculture”?  What do these actually mean?  Actually, the agriculture and food industries have been working on these topics for decades, even though we may not have been using these specific words.  These topics are becoming more important to consumers, companies, and even government policy makers.  Today’s guest is Lara Moody from IFEEDER, which is an organization that aims to improve the sustainability of livestock feed and feed ingredient manufacturers.  Their efforts include a variety of grain-based ingredients.  More about Lara and IFEEDER can be found at their website:  www.ifeeder.org.  Lara can be contacted at [email protected].  Thank you Lara for a great conversation!

Our music is Inspiring Cinematic Asia by Lexin Music, which is available at Pixabay.