Ukrainian farmer visit

Today I gave a short presentation on corn and insect management to a group of Ukrainian farmers.

They are on a tour to learn more about agriculture in the midwest. Mark Licht, ISU Field Agronomist, organized a full day of talks and tours for the group. Roger Elmore, ISU Corn Agronomist, started the day with a review of corn production - a really interesting topic for them! I followed with a brief discussion on how we manage insects in Iowa. They don't have access to GMO's, and they asked lots of questions about our options in corn. European corn borer is the more important pest for them. I think they were surprised by how much a bag of corn could cost! Next Mark was going to review tillage, machinery and general production practices in Iowa and give them a tour of some ISU Research Farms.

It was my third time working with a Ukrainian farmer group. The translators are always great about getting my messages across. They thanked me with a hand-painted plant from the Ukraine!