For the audio version, visit kswheat.com.
Ever wonder what happens to the bushels of wheat delivered to the local elevator? Or about what it took to produce the latest and greatest wheat varieties? The 2025 Kansas Wheat Leadership Program did more than simply answer these questions; the program provided a behind-the-scenes look at the complex, interconnected world of wheat from breeding programs to flour milling to grain quality.
“Farmers focus on growing their seed, harvesting their crop and finding the best basis when marketing their grain,” said Shayna DeGroot, Kansas Wheat director of membership and government affairs. “The Kansas Wheat Leadership Program intends to show participants what goes into everything before and after they purchase their seed – essentially an overview of the whole wheat industry.”
Attendees this year ranged from young wheat farmers to a social media blogger/farm wife to agribusiness professionals. This year’s program took place in Manhattan at the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center on March 5 and 6. The Farm Credit Associations of Kansas sponsored the event, making it free for all attendees. All were left with a new appreciation for the journey a kernel of wheat undertakes from seed development to the final loaf on the shelf at the grocery store.
“There are so many factors to the process that farmers are often unaware of, like what quality characteristics millers are looking for and encouraging the industry to target,” DeGroot said. “We hope this gives them a better insight into what it takes to get a seed to their farm to grow and what happens with their kernels after they send them to the elevator.”
The first morning kicked off with a Wheat 101 presentation by Aaron Harries, Kansas Wheat vice president of research and operations, followed by a tour of the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center. Asif Mohammad, chief scientist with Heartland Plant Innovations, conducted a hands-on demonstration of wheat emasculation — the process by which scientists remove the upper part of a wheat floret to better facilitate pollination. This process is an important part of developing double haploids — HPI’s technical specialty that substantially reduces the time and cost of developing new wheat varieties.
After lunch, leadership program participants received more technical information, including the “birds and the bees” of wheat breeding from K-State wheat breeder Allan Fritz. Kansas Wheat CEO Justin Gilpin shared insights on global wheat supply and demand while DeGroot discussed farm policy issues related to the wheat industry. Switching back to wheat breeding, Romulo Lollato, K-State associate professor of wheat and forage production, provided information on how yield and protein are set in a wheat crop.
Finally, Marsha Boswell, Kansas Wheat vice president of communications, rounded out the day by imparting the importance of sharing the farmers’ story and discussing the consumer-focused site EatWheat.org.
Day two of the program focused on wheat milling, with an introduction to the topic given by Shawn Thiele, associate director and the flour milling and grain processing specialist for the International Grains Program Institute (IGP), followed by a tour of K-State’s Hal Ross Flour Mill. Kathy Brower, lab manager of Grain Craft’s Innovation & Quality Lab, located in the Kansas Wheat Innovation Center, discussed the process that takes grain to flour.
After two days, attendees left with a much larger appreciation for all of the steps in the wheat supply chain beyond their operations and how much support Kansas wheat farmers provide through their checkoff dollars to keep the pipeline running efficiently and effectively.
“The best compliment I got from an attendee this year was how he never knew so many people were working in so many different areas to help advance technology for farmers in the many facets of the wheat industry,” DeGroot said.
If you are interested in participating in the 2026 Kansas Wheat Leadership Program, please e-mail Shayna DeGroot at [email protected]. But even before next year’s program, visit https://kswheat.com/kawg to join KAWG and keep on top of the latest developments and opportunities in the Kansas wheat industry.
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Written by Julia Debes for Kansas Wheat.