Emerging Leaders Class 7 completes second phase

Two participants of the Emerging Leaders Academy’s seventh class completed the second phase of the program, which is a tour of agricultural and commodity-relevant companies in a selected region of the state.

Luke Bellar, Mound Valley, and Erica Schlender, Halstead, visited a number of businesses in Topeka and Kansas City on their tour. Kansas Soybean Association staff Meghan Bechard, Jancey Hall and Amanda Manville also participated in the trip.

It all kicked off at Frito Lay in Topeka, where the group learned about the ingredients and process used to make potato and tortilla chips. The tour then headed to the Cargill soybean processing facility in Kansas City to see firsthand the entire soybean crush process from seed to end product.

The second day of Phase Two began at The DeLong Company, a grain container shipping entity. The DeLong Company and Kansas Soybean have long had a complementary relationship in moving soybean product. Next, the group met at the Mexican Consulate to discuss various aspects of the consulate. The day concluded at the Kansas University Biodiesel Initiative led by Dr. Susan Williams, where participants toured the lab where student recycle campus cooking oil into biodiesel and glycerine by-products.