Arvin Donley, editor of World Grain.

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, US — Described by school and government officials as one of the most important days in the history of Kansas State University, the Sept. 18 official opening of the $130 million Western Star Global Grain and Food Center at KSU — the final piece of its $216 million Agriculture Innovation Initiative — was also a seminal moment for the milling industry.

The largest agricultural construction project in the university’s history culminated with a shiny new 178,000-square-foot, three-story building that includes specialized teaching and research laboratories, pilot-scale processing spaces, flexible interdisciplinary research areas, a 236-seat lecture hall and designated collaboration spaces. This state-of-the-art, one-of-a-kind facility will aid in recruiting prospective students to the milling, baking, feed and pet food industries, which are heavily dependent on KSU to fill their skilled labor positions.

Over the years, KSU has supplied them with well-trained graduates who hit the ground running when they enter the workforce. Offering the nation’s only four-year bachelor of science degree in Milling Science and Management through the Department of Grain Science and Industry, KSU serves as a career launching pad for many of those who operate and manage flour mills in North America and other parts of the world.

Even those who enter the industry without going through KSU’s milling science program are often sent by their employers to Manhattan, Kansas, US, for short courses and other continuing education opportunities.

Like many industries, the flour milling sector is dealing with a labor shortage. Not only are milling companies searching for qualified workers to operate their high-tech flour mills, but in places like Europe and the United States a significant portion of their employees are approaching retirement age.

Thus, recruiting has never been a higher priority.

Shiny new facilities are part of an effective recruiting pitch for any university trying to attract prospective students. Replacing aging Shellenberger Hall, which opened in 1966, with the ultra-modern-looking Western Star Grain and Food Center will pay dividends in that regard. The new building, coupled with the Hal Ross Flour Mill, a state-of-the-art pilot-scale mill that contains the same full-scale equipment and control systems found in the commercial flour milling industry, will improve the chances of appealing to prospective students who are undecided on a major.

Troy Anderson, vice president of operations at Ardent Mills and a 1992 graduate of KSU’s milling science program, said he believes the Western Star facility will help recruit students without an agricultural background, calling it “an instant connection point that we are very excited about because we think it’s going to significantly increase the potential for student diversity within the department.”

Enrollment in the milling science program has increased in recent years after hitting a low point in 2021, but maintaining that momentum and maximizing the department’s ability to attract the best and brightest required this type of bricks-and-mortar investment. The Western Star Global Grain and Food Center will pay big dividends to the Department of Grain Science and Industry and the industries it serves.

Arvin Donley is editor of World Grain. He has been at Sosland Publishing Company since 2005, covering the grain, milling and feed industries. He is a 1989 graduate of the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications at the University of Kansas.

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