FFA Visits Columbia Grains
 | Author:
Mikayla Kraft, School Correspondent
MT43 News School Correspondent |
FFA Visits Columbia Grains
There are many steps to the farm-table process. Columbia Grain helps farmers through this process by buying grains and pulses from farmers across the country to process and sell to other corporations to further sell that product to the public. Columbia Grain provides products across the world to countries including Russia, India, Germany, Spain, Canada, Brazil, and many more.
I organized a tour of the Columbia Grain facility located in Great Falls with a few other FFA members to get an inside look at what Columbia Grain is doing agriculturally for our producers and consumers in the United States and across the world.
On the Friday of the State FFA Convention, we took a vehicle full of students to tour the facility. Amanda Pesicka, Spencer Braaten, Aiden Kitto, Ashley Sanderson, Kaitlyn Noyes, and I were excited to learn about this.
There is a diligent process to the buying and selling process of grain. When a truck drops off its harvest, a sample is taken to be tested for any signs of treated wheat, fertilizer, and bugs. The grain is examined to ensure that there is little to no damage inflicted on the grain. After this is cleared, protein and moisture content is measured before the grain or pulse can be graded and bought if the harvest holds exceptional quality or more. If the truckload has been bought, it is emptied into a conveyor belt underground by releasing the grain by opening the base of the trailer. The conveyor belt takes the grain and deposits it in the necessary silo to be stored until further processed.
After this, the grain can be shipped to other parts of the country and across the world to be milled into flour and other products. We could not have the ability to access the food we purchase without Columbia Grain and similar companies and recognition needs to be given to these amazing corporations.
Columbia Grain left an amazing impression on Amanda Pesicka, “It was a great experience, and it was awesome to see the next step in the process. The people were amazing and I left with a whole bunch of knowledge…” Spencer Braaten ended up attaining some of that knowledge to take home to his agricultural land saying that, “...the slightest things can ruin a crop and make it completely improper to use.” Each student learned so much and will be able to take this home to their families and the community of Broadwater County.
We thank you for your support. We couldn’t have taken this tour without the Community of Broadwater County.
Save the date for our annual FFA Banquet on April 17th of this year! Dinner will be served, selected businesses will be recognized and awarded, awards and grants will be given to FFA members, the 2022-2023 officers will give their retiring addresses and the 2023-2024 Broadwater FFA officers will be announced.
Thank you Broadwater County!
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PhotoCredit: Mikayla Kraft
Image 1 Caption: Standing in front of the Columbia Grain East Facility in Great Falls (Left to right: Kaitlyn Noyes, Aiden Kitto, Ashley Sanderson, Kayla Kraft, Amanda Pesicka, Spencer Braaten)
