The Cereal Grain Café

Today’s guest is Kaylee Kleitsch.  She is Programs and Engagement Manager at CAST (The Council for Agricultural Science and Technology) , effective June 2025.  Kaylee joined CAST in early 2024 as a part-time Communications Assistant while completing her master’s degree in Sustainable Agriculture at Iowa State University. Over the past year and a half, she has played a vital role in communications...

 Today’s guest is Dr. Paige Brown Jarreau.  She is based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA. She’s been pursuing science communication full-time since 2011, when she moved across the country to enroll in a mass communication Ph. D. program. She completed her Ph. D. at the LSU Manship School in 2015, focusing in science communication (SciComm). Her research focuses on the intersection of science commun...

 Ballet and barley?  Today’s guest is Tanya Trombly.  She is a professional ballet dancer based in New York City.  She dances freelance around the U.S., and is the founder of a fitness and nutrition company in NYC.  For the past several years she has been a guest artist in the Iowa State Center’s performance of The Nutcracker, where she also dances in a STEM-focused performance.  This version of T...

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 . He...

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 producti...

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 p...

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 hi...

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,...

  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 con...

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 moist...

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...

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 gue...

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...

Are you a fan of Game of Thrones?  Did you know that it was filmed in Croatia?   When I envision Croatia, I think about agriculture, farming, and landscapes.  But I’m a big fan of cereal grains, as many of you know.  Join me for a conversation with my friends Dr. Ana Matin and Dr. Mateja Grubor , who are from the University of Zagreb.  We discuss research and teaching of agricultural and food syst...

Over the past year, we’ve spent a lot of time talking about grains, their history, their processing, and their use.  But, we have not yet spent time talking about grain production.  We need to talk about these aspects. So, in today’s episode we will spend time talking about the importance of soil to crop production.  Our guest is Dr. Amber Anderson from Iowa State University.  She is a faculty mem...

How did you start your day?  Did you eat breakfast? If so, what did you eat?  Do you ever eat breakfast cereal? Personally, I eat cereal any time of day – it is a perfect snack for me! Breakfast cereal has a long and suprising history.  Today’s guest is Dr. Kathryn Dolan, who has recently published Breakfast Cereal – A Global History .  You can find her book at Reaktion Books .  More about her can...

Did you know that Russia and the U.S.  have been competing to feed the world as far back as the late 1700s? Today's guest is Dr. Scott Reynolds Nelson, who's book Oceans of Grain describes how the flow of wheat has been a maker or breaker of empires since ancient times.   More about him can be found on his University of Georgia faculty webpage . If you would like an update on the grain s...

Whole grains?  Organic foods?  Recipes?  History? This week we talk with Marlene Bumgarner about all of these topics.  She is the author of The New Book of Whole Grains (and several other books as well) in which she weaves a tapestry of deliciousness and practicality.  I highly recommend checking out her books and blog .  She has had a fascinating journey, one which I think you will enjoy learning...

Have you ever eaten Pharoah's Bread (I found this in Paris, of all places!)?  Or heard of King Tut Wheat?  In this episode we talk to Dr. Liz Carlisle about her journey into the world of Kamut - an ancient Egyptian wheat, and her path into deeper understandings of the intersections between humans and agriculture.   She is an Associate Professor at the University of California Santa Barbara, w...

Welcome to the first episode of Season 2!  Have you ever wondered what students think about the things that they are learning?  I decided it was time to hear their thoughts.  Join me as we discuss what we have been learning in a graduate course devoted to Agroecosystems Analysis, the current state of farming and grain production, and the future of agriculture.  I think you will find our discussion...

Have you eaten corn recently?  Have you filled your car with ethanol this week?  How did the simple grass teosinte evolve to become corn, one of the most important cereal grains on the planet?  Join me for our last interview of 2023 as we talk to Professor Michael Blake from the University of British Columbia to learn about the origins and spread of maize.  We discuss the history, anthropology, an...

How long have humans been storing grain?  If you listened to the last episode you may recall that it has been at least 11,000 years.  This episode is the second element of a duet which is focused on history.  It was an honor to talk with Dr. Ian Kuijt from the University of Notre Dame about his excavation work in Jordan, archaeology, as well as other aspects of history.  More about his work can be...

The ways that we do things today have been informed by the ways that humans have done them throughout our history.  How long have humans been cultivating, harvesting, storing, and eating grain?  Can you believe that the archaeological record shows that humans have been storing and processing cereals for more than 11,000 years?  It was an honor to talk about grain archaeology with Dr. Bill Finlayso...

Have you ever driven through the countryside and seen large steel or concrete structures in the distance?  Alas, they are probably not castles.  Although some people do refer to these the "castles of the prairies".  They are likely grain storage elevators. These facilities play a critical role in the cereal grain supply chain, although most people are not aware of their functions.  Today...

Rashid Suleiman is a Lecturer and Head of the Department of Food Science and Agroprocessing at Sokoine University of Agriculture where he is responsible for leading the department, and teaching food science and biological systems subjects. He serves as a chairperson of Agriculture and Food Standards Division Committee (AFDC) of Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) which oversees over 29 different Ag...