Career Opportunities in Grain Milling

As an industry whose products are always in demand as essential ingredients in Canada’s food supply chain, the Canadian grain milling industry offers secure, long term employment for experienced skilled workers and individuals just entering the workforce with the interest and aptitude for further training.

The grain milling industry offers a wide range of employment opportunities and enjoys a very low rate of turnover in the work force. In fact, the majority of employees in the industry have chosen long term careers in various positions in production, quality assurance, logistics, procurement, sales, administration and management.

Over the next 10 years, the grain milling industry will need to recruit and train hundreds of new production personnel as many senior workers with 25 to 30 years of experience approach retirement. A number of employment opportunities are described below.

Current Opportunities

To learn more about current employment opportunities in Canada’s grain milling industry, please see our career bulletin board (click here).

Grain Receiving and Cleaning

The grain milling processes begins with the receiving of bulk rail and truck shipments of cereal grain that must be inspected, sampled, weighed and transferred into short term storage bins and silos in the elevator (grain storage) area of the mill. Physical management and blending of grain inventories are responsibilities that can be combined with others under the category of elevator manager. Prior to milling (grinding and particle separation), grain must undergo a cleaning process to remove damaged kernels, seeds of other crop varieties and foreign material. This is a dry mechanical process without the use of solvents or chemicals, requiring the skilled operation of a series of specialized pieces of machinery that are interconnected. These responsibilities of a grain cleaner require a detailed knowledge of the relevant equipment, configuration and controls. A moderate amount of physical activity is required in both interior and outdoor work environments in these milling positions.

Grain Millers

The head miller is the most senior production supervisory position in most grain milling operations. This is a position that is typically acquired after many years of training and operating experience in one or more grain milling establishments. Such training and experience requires strong learning skills and an aptitude for acquiring a detailed knowledge of mill design, engineering, electrical and electronic control systems plus the knowledge of product flow and operating requirements of every piece of processing, transfer and storage equipment in the mill facility. Since each milling facility is essentially unique, some of this knowledge is gained through site-specific experience.

Head millers are responsible for training, direction and supervision of second millers or shift millers who are responsible for all aspects of production during a particular shift. Personal suitability, aptitude and skill requirements for all millers are similar. Much knowledge is acquired through on site training, complemented by correspondence curricula and short courses (please see training and apprenticeship). Modern grain mills are electronically controlled and integrated, requiring millers to use computer equipment while acquiring and retaining a knowledge of the operation and adjustment of all milling equipment.

Miller positions require a moderate to heavy amount of physical activity as most mills are multi-floor buildings and the position responsibilities dictate a great deal of movement throughout the mill for equipment monitoring and adjustment.

Mill Sanitation and Maintenance

Grain mills are food ingredient manufacturing operations that require a high degree of cleanliness and sanitation for worker and food safety reasons. Historically, mill sanitation workers have been designated as sweepers but mill sanitation has become a more important and complex responsibility that can include training and certification in pest control product handling and application. Increasingly, wheat and oat mills employ individuals whose core responsibility is integrated pest management (IPM), the foundation of which is thorough and effective cleaning of the mill structure and processing equipment.

Since grain milling is a manufacturing process that requires the use of many pieces of processing, handling and transfer equipment, most mills employ skilled maintenance personnel that include millwrights, electricians and machinists who operate on-site maintenance and machinery shops.

Mill sanitation and maintenance positions require a moderate to heavy amount of physical activity and knowledge that is gained through a mix of formal and site-specific on the job training.

Bakery Mix Manufacturing

Some wheat flour mills operate bakery mix establishments that are incorporated within or located near mills. These establishments require skilled mix operators to blend a wide range of sweeteners, seasonings, flavourings and additives with various flour types to create bakery mixes for commercial use. Most bakery mixes that are shipped from mills or mix plants require only the addition of water and conditioning or proofing before baking for immediate consumption or freezing for later use.

Some wheat and oat mills are also integrated with other food manufacturing activity such as production of pasta, breakfast cereals and granola mixes and bars. These facilities offer employment opportunities that are similar in knowledge, skill and training requirements.

Bakery mix and other further processing operations meet HACCP or equivalent standards and therefore require a high level of quality assurance and technical customer support that is often integrated with these same functions in the milling process.

Packaging and Logistics Operations

Although the majority of milled cereal grain products are shipped in bulk form in totes, pneumatic truck trailers and rail cars, many mills have packaging equipment designed for bagging of flour in packages ranging from 2 to 40 kilograms. Modern mill packaging lines are not labour intensive, typically requiring one to three packers to operate. Physical activity is moderate to heavy.

Packaged flour and other milled grain products are typically assembled on pallets and shrink-wrapped for shipping. The warehousing and shipping operations require experienced forklift operators whose primary responsibilities are to assemble shipments by moving packaged goods from packing lines to storage and from storage into truck trailers and rail cars.

Bulk deliveries of flour and other processed grain products are predominantly by truck and less frequently by rail car. Bulk loadout operators are responsible for inspection of bulk trailers and rail cars prior to loading, loading of grain products from shipping bins operating various pieces of transfer and weighing equipments, product sampling and related record-keeping. Some bulk loadout operators also carry other responsibilities such as grain receiving and transfer.

Some milling facilities directly employ drivers to operate a truck and trailer fleet that is dedicated to delivery of grain products from only one of two mill locations. Most truck shipments are short to medium haul within a radius of 250 kilometres. Some shipments are longer distances within Canada and continental USA.

Quality Assurance and Laboratory Personnel

Wheat flour and other milled grain products are produced to many different technical specifications that reflect the end use requirements of customers in food processing and food service applications. End use performance is determined by many variables, including grain varieties milled, protein level and strength and particle size.

While much of the end use performance of milled grain products is achieved in the precise operation of milling equipment, all milling operations are supported by in-house quality assurance managers and cereal chemistry laboratory technicians. These personnel are the vital link to customers’ production and quality assurance staff, typically bringing to their positions formal training in food science, cereal chemistry and quality assurance in a food manufacturing environment.

Procurement and Administration

Successful operation of grain mills requires a continuous supply of milling quality grain that is what is required, where it is required and when it is required. Milling companies employ the skills and services of a grain buyer, either as an in-house employee or through the services of a grain company or agent. Other purchasing functions include the supply of bakery mix ingredients and packaging/shipping materials and the contracting for logistics and millwright services.

Purchasing responsibilities are closely integrated with the sales functions of milling establishments that are typically executed to meet customer just-in-time delivery requirements.

All grain milling operations are supported by accounting and accounts receivable/payable personnel. Larger firms often employ human resources specialists and occupational safety and health managers.