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K-State Today

July 18, 2016

Confucius Institute associate director invited to join 2016 Kansas Wheat Tour

Submitted by Mary K. Pyle

Shijun Yan, associate director of the K-State Confucius Institute, recently joined the 2016 Wheat Tour as an independent observer to learn about the importance of wheat and the size of the industry in the state of Kansas.

Yan summarized his experiences both in Chinese and English in the article, "The U. S. Wheat Tour in the Perspective of a Chinese." He intends to publish them in journals related to agriculture or agribusiness.

"It was most fortunate for me to be invited to participate on this tour to discover many differences in the culture and operation of agribusiness between America and China," Yan said. "Since the K-State Confucius Institute is also a multicultural organization, it is exciting that I can be an important part of moving forward information, exchanges and cooperation for future collaborations."

"I learned how America works to improve agribusiness techniques with data, quality and efficiency of production, shared information by participants and marketing of its wheat industry and I was impressed with the tour because it demonstrated the close cooperation between American agribusiness industries," he said. 

"This experience extends Shijun's responsibilities as the associate director of the K-State Confucius Institute to promote mutual collaboration between American and Chinese communities and institutes," said Max Lu, director of the Confucius Institute. 

Steven Graham, assistant to the dean and director of the College of Agriculture and K-State Research and Extension, explained that the Wheat Tour is an annual event organized and coordinated by the Wheat Quality Council, Kansas Wheat Association and the U. S. Department of Agriculture to evaluate the yield of the Kansas wheat crop.

"The addition of Shijun Yan to the delegation added to the diversity of the tour and his article will serve to educate those in the agriculture community beyond the state of Kansas," Graham said. 

This is the 59th tour and 82 individuals ranging from farmers, bankers, millers, bakers, government, grain elevator managers and associations/institutes and government agencies participated in this year's tour.