Training: Food-Grade Grains 101

Welcome to the only online training about growing food-grade grains in the Upper Midwest, developed specifically for farmer advisors. These simple, click-through modules provide the basics of getting seed in the groundp to harvesting and marketing food-grade grains with easy to read slides and questions along the way. Don’t worry, you won’t be graded! But, you will come away with bushels of new information.

Each module will take approximately 30 minutes to complete. After completing each module, you will receive a PDF of the slides via email. What are you waiting for? Knowledge to empower farmers to grow grains for their regional food system are just a few clicks away!

Brought to you by Michigan Agriculture Advancement, Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Artisan Grain Collaborative with funding from the NCR-SARE program.

Module #1: Crops, Varieties, and Market Classes Overview

In this module we cover the different crops, crop varieties, and market classes for food-grade grains most commonly grown in the Upper Midwest. You’ll learn the difference between modern and heirloom varieties, grains that have gluten (gluten vs. gluten-free), and which grains are planted in winter, spring, or summer. Once you complete the training, you will receive a PDF of the slides.

Take Module #1

Module #2: Agronomic Management

Finished with Module #1 and ready for more? This module is all about agronomic management for food-grade grains in the Upper Midwest. You’ll learn about fertility and weed control for small grains and dive into problematic pathogens and what to look out for. Take this module as a stand-alone or in conjunction with Modules 1 and 3.

Take Module #2

Module #3: Harvest and Post-Harvest Handling

The grain is in the ground, a market has been secured, but what happens when it’s time to harvest a food-grade crop? This training module explores storage options, drying, grain quality testing, and an overview of relevant equipment. By the end of this module, in addition to modules 1 and 2, you will have a practical understanding of the requirements for growing food-grade grains in the Upper Midwest.

Take Module #3

Please Cite As:

‍Tautges, N.E., Francis, H.R., Hartman, A., and Doll, J.E. 2025. Food-grade grains training Module #1: Crops, varieties, and market classes overview. Training: Food-Grade Grains 101. Available at: https://www.graincollaborative.com/fggtraining
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Tautges, N.E., Francis, H.R., Hartman, A., and Doll, J.E. 2025. Food-grade grains training Module #2: Agronomic management. Training: Food-Grade Grains 101. Available at: https://www.graincollaborative.com/fggtraining
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Tautges, N.E., Francis, H.R., Hartman, A., and Doll, J.E. 2025. Food-grade grains training Module #3: Harvest and post-harvest handling. Training: Food-Grade Grains 101. Available at: https://www.graincollaborative.com/fggtraining

This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under agreement number 2023-38640-39573 through the North Central Region SARE program under project number ENC23-222. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.