At GEAPS Exchange 2026 in Kansas City, John Caupert, CEO of the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS), outlined why the event continues to stand apart in the trade show landscape. With 459 exhibiting companies and nearly 4,000 attendees, Exchange is again setting records while expanding its reach.
New additions like the Grain Merchandising Day and a processing-focused Innovation Station underscore GEAPS’ mission to unite the entire grain and grain processing value chain.
Transcript of interview with John Caupert, CEO of the Grain Elevator and Processing Society (GEAPS):
Elise Schafer, editor, Feed & Grain: Hi everyone, it’s Elise Schafer, editor of Feed & Grain. Today I’m at GEAPS Exchange 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. I’m here talking with industry leaders, equipment manufacturers and suppliers of products and services for the commercial grain handling industry.
Hi, John. If you could give me your name, title and organization.
John Caupert, CEO, GEAPS: Hi, Elise, I'm John Caupert. I'm the chief executive officer of the Grain Elevator and Processing Society, GEAPS.
Schafer: Now, what makes GEAPS Exchange so unique as far as industry trade shows go?
Caupert: Yeah, GEAPS Exchange is a very unique conference and Expo. Well, first of all, it truly represents the entirety of the value and supply chain of all things grain and grain processing. That being said, we are the largest single site, all-under-one-roof conference in the world that is solely dedicated to grain and grain processing. So, it's a gathering place, if you will.
One of my colleagues that's represented here at the conference this year, he says, “I think the most accurate way to describe GEAPS is that from the farmer to the consumer and everybody in between, that's GEAPS.” And they're all gathered here with us today in Kansas City, Missouri, at GEAPS Exchange 2026.
Schafer: Now, tell me about this year's show in terms of trade show space, exhibitor and attendee turnout.
Caupert: We, for the third year in a row, Elise, are shattering records. We had set a goal, a projection of 431 companies here in the Expo. We're at 459! Here we are the first day into our conference and we're already flirting with nearly 4,000 attendees.
Another thing that's very unique about registration at GEAPS Exchange is we take walk-ins. You can show up today, you can show up tomorrow morning and you can get registered.
There's other aspects about Exchange 2026 that's new, as well. One is we're bringing the first-ever Grain Merchandising Day to GEAPS Exchange that's going to focus on the intersection of grain merchandising and grain operations — where do they intersect? These are all new this year.
Schafer: Can you give me a taste of what you'll be discussing at your Processing Leaders Innovation Station, and why it's important to cover this at a show like Exchange?
Caupert: I get very excited about the ‘P’ in GEAPS, the processing portion of it. Having spent 20 years in the biofuel space, the ethanol space, before joining GEAPS, it's been fun. It's been fun to really expand upon that P, meaning processing.
And for GEAPS, our focus is getting into that corn ethanol space or that grain ethanol space, the soy crush space. We're extremely fortunate this year to have Devon Mogler, CEO of National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) joining us for the very first time at GEAPS Exchange. He'll be joining me on my panel at 3:45 this afternoon to talk about what's going on in the soy crush industry.
My very good friend of many years, Robert White, senior vice president of industry relations of Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), he'll be talking about ethanol. He'll be talking about the importance of year-round E15.
And then Robert and Devon, they're going to be complimented by world-renowned researcher, Dr. Kurt Rosentrater of Iowa State University, talking about how his research on co-products marries up to the priorities of the soy crush and ethanol industries.
Schafer: What global factors will have the biggest impact on the grain industry in the next three to five years?
Caupert: You know, there's a number of macro factors and global factors that are certainly impacting the entirety of the grain and grain processing space. I think when one truly thinks about it, though, is that while we're a global industry that feeds and fuels and clothes the world, at the end of the day, we have a shared passion.
Our shared passion is agriculture, with this shared mission of feeding, fueling, and clothing the world — and something that is, again, unique — I choose to use that word a lot because GEAPS, the organization, and Exchange, the conference, they're both unique. We are the conference that brings the global grain and grain processing industries all together as one.
Schafer: John, thank you so much for sitting down with me today.
Caupert: Thank you, Elise. Always a pleasure.
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