Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds was a proud sponsor of the recent Iowa Corn Leadership Enhancement and Development Program’s (I-LEAD) international mission study to Korea and Vietnam. The delegation arrived March 12 in Seoul,

South Korea, and left Vietnam on March 21.

The purpose of this mission was to help develop export markets for four of Iowa’s agricultural products:  corn, soybeans, pork, and beef.

Members of I-LEAD blogged about their experiences through each leg of the journey.  Here are just a few of the many experiences they shared with blog readers:   

* Our first stop: the Agricultural Exhibition Hall. This impressive museum tells the story through the eyes of Korea’s Rural Development Agency. The Hall covered everything from high-density fruit culture to natural antibiotics for livestock and from bee venom to chemical fertilizer reduction technology.

* On Monday we met with officials from the Ag Trade Office of Korea to get a general overview of Korea’s agricultural markets. Then we headed off to meet with the Korean Feed Association and Nonghyup Feed Inc. (NOFI). These grain buyers and grain industry leaders had a lively dialogue with us about the quality of the 2009 corn crop, and we tried to learn more about their grain needs.

*Saturday was spent on the countryside visiting with Vietnamese corn and hog farmers.  The Class enjoyed being able to take time to meet with them and see production practices. An average corn farmer owns about 1-2 acres of land and all the fieldwork is still done by hand. The Class was also able to view a 200-sow, farrow-to-finish hog operation and talk with the farmer. On Saturday, the class was also able to visit a local wet market. 

Congratulations to the members on a trip full of great experiences! Thank you so much for sharing your stories with us. Click here to read the I-LEAD blog.

Saturday was National Ag Day, and we want to celebrate the holiday by thanking all of America’s farmers for helping feed and fuel our world.  

The National Ag Day program was established with the belief every American should:

1. Understand how food, fiber and renewable resource products are produced.
2. Value the essential role of agriculture in maintaining a strong economy.
3. Appreciate the role agriculture plays in providing safe, abundant and affordable products.
4. Acknowledge and consider career opportunities in the agriculture, food, fiber and renewable resource industries.

Below is a video that shares information about Ag Day and why farming is so important to our global community. Thank again for all you do.

National Ag Day Video

What story about your farm do you share with consumers to help educate them about agriculture?

Iowa 4-H hosted the “Keeping it Green” gala Feb. 20 at the Science Center in Des Moines. The gala brought in more than $20,000 for the Iowa State University Extension 4-H Youth Development program.

Latham was a proud sponsor of the gala, and John and I were incredibly impressed with the event. The Science Center was the perfect venue to highlight 4-H’s emphasis on science, engineering and technology. They also had interactive activities throughout the night, from rounds of silent auction items to live bidding for things like week-long stays in Florida or Colorado, to P. Buckley Moss prints.

I was thrilled to partake in the night’s activities with two of my best friends (pictured here). We met as roommates in the dorms our freshman year, served on the state 4-H council together, and have been best friends ever since. We pooled our money to purchase one of the auction items ? a weekend campout at the Iowa 4-H Camping Center ? and are looking forward to experiencing the outing with our husbands and kids.

The event was a win-win, raising money for a great cause and providing a great night of fun for all who attended. We really enjoyed seeing our 4-H friends and meeting new acquaintances. Congratulations to 4-H on a successful event!

About the Iowa 4-H Foundation

The Iowa 4-H Foundation provides the financial resources to develop and deliver quality 4-H youth programs throughout the state of Iowa. The opportunities provided by the Foundation help young people enhance their ability to use critical thinking, leadership, communication and social skills ? tools that will give them a competitive edge in their future endeavors. The Iowa 4-H Foundation is a charitable 501 (c) 3 organization with a governing board of 35 trustees.

Last Friday I attended a public workshop in Ankeny hosted by the Department of Justice and U.S. Department of Agriculture. Several panelists throughout the day addressed various competition issues in agriculture, including the livestock and seed industries.

A group of professors with expertise in antitrust, Intellectual property, public policy, and economics have been following the issue of “seed industry concentration” and blogged live from Friday’s DOJ/USDA workshop. I invite you to visit www.truthonthemarket.com and read their post, “On Seed industry concentration and its claimed effects.”

There are two lines in the aforementioned blog post that really sum up the overriding issue: “… turns out the traits farmers like best were created by one firm. As it happens, the only constraint that I know of on innovation is the willingness and ability to incur the risk and bear the cost of R&D.”

The cost of Research and Development (R&D) is a large one to bare. In fact, Monsanto invested more than $980 million last fiscal year. The company spends nearly $3 million a day on R&D related to new biotech traits, elite germplasm, breeding, new variety and hybrid development, and genomics research. Other R&D projects support Monsanto’s current products, including improved formulations of Roundup herbicide. (http://www.monsanto.com/investors/corporate_profile.asp)

But Monsanto is not the only company investing heavily to create new products that will help provide food and fuel for the world’s growing population. Syngenta, Bayer CropScience, Dow AgroSciences and DuPont also spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually to continually strengthen their own product pipelines. 

Fortunately, Latham Hi‑Tech Seeds has the privilege of working with the industry’s leading technology providers. Through our unique alliances and strategic partnerships, we’re able to offer products with a variety of trait and genetic packages. Our unique position as an independent, family-owned seed company allows us to provide farmers with the choices for products and traits that will best fit their unique farming operations including:

• Corn hybrids with Genuity^TM SmartStax^TM
• Corn hybrids with Genuity^TM VT Triple^TM Pro
• Corn hybrids with YieldGard® VT Triple with Roundup Ready 2 Technology^TM
• Corn hybrids with Herculex® XTRA
• Corn hybrids with Agrisure® 3000GT
• Corn hybrids with LibertyLink^TM
• Soybean brands with Genuity^TM Roundup Ready 2 Yield^TM
• Soybean brands with Roundup® Ready
• Soybean brands with LibertyLink^TM

Today I’m attending the first in a series of workshops hosted by the Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to discuss competition and regulatory issues affecting the agriculture industry. Converging for this hallmark event in Ankeny are sure to be a host of lawyers, PR professionals, members of the media, politicians, seed company representatives, as well as crop farmers and livestock producers.

It could very well be a three-ring circus. One blogger even called today’s public hearing on the seed industry a “Big Ticket, Vegas-style showdown” with a couple of heavyweights (i.e. DuPont and Monsanto) throwing punches and advancing the antitrust issue.

At the end of the day, I’m not hoping for any knockouts or drag downs. The entire agriculture industry will be better served when more “heavyweights” enter the arena.

More technology providers means increased competition, and increased competition means more choices for everyone from seed suppliers to crop producers.

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The American Society of Agronomy on March 9 presented its 2010 Champion of Agronomy Award to Congressman Tom Latham (R-IA-4^th).

Agriculture has always been a very important part of Congressman Latham’s life.  He grew up near the small farming community of Alexander, Iowa, and later served as co-owner of Latham Seed Co.

“It is a great honor to present the American Society of Agronomy’s 2010 Champion of Agriculture Award to Representative Tom Latham,” said ASA Board of Directors Representative Dr. Kathleen Delate of Iowa State University. “As a farmer, Congressman Latham knows the importance of conservation to ensure the long-term productivity of our agricultural lands.”

This is the first year of the Champion of Agronomy Award and Congressman Latham is the inaugural recipient.

“The American Society of Agronomy provides an important forum for the exchange of knowledge and ideas among scientists studying agriculture worldwide,” said Congressman Latham upon receiving the award. “We must continue to make advances in agricultural science and conservation so America’s farmers and ranchers will continue to be able to provide the food, feed, fiber, and fuel crops that we depend on. We’ve taken great strides in this arena in the last several decades, and I know that the coming years will bring even more progress. This is critical work, and I look forward to our continued partnership. I am honored to accept this award.”

We are so proud of Tom and his continued support of the agriculture industry. Congratulations on your honor!

Click here to read the full article.

Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack spoke March 5 at the Commodity Classic in Anaheim, Calif. Vilsack, as reported by Successful Farming, shared his hopes to expand global market access for U.S. farm products with corn, soybean, wheat and sorghum farmers.

Vilsack discussed the USDA’s efforts to reenergize rural economies by promoting U.S. products throughout the world with a different approach than has been used in the past. The USDA previously looked at agricultural trading partners by geographic region. But in a new strategy outlined by Vilsack, the USDA will be looking at countries based on their position on an agricultural market continuum. This new approach will open the door for strategies that can increase exports to each individual market.

“USDA’s continued work to expand trade opportunities for America’s hard-working farmers and ranchers will play an important role in our effort to rebuild rural communities across the country,” said Vilsack. “Increased trade will not only create important income opportunities for producers, but also the off-farm jobs that are so critical for revitalizing rural America.”

What are your thoughts on the USDA’s new approach to export markets?