Europeans Visit NCGA to Discuss Organization’s Positions (9-21-06)

NCGA Director of Biotechnology Paul Bertels (left) discusses coexistence with German television and radio reporter Ulrich Detsch in St. Louis on Tuesday.

The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) hosted a German reporter and Croatian agricultural researchers this week in St. Louis to detail the organization’s goals and positions.

Ulrich Detsch, a German television and radio reporter, visited with NCGA Director of Biotechnology Paul Bertels. Detsch came to Illinois to learn more about U.S. agriculture and compare it with production in Bavaria. Bertels and Detsch discussed U.S. policies regarding biotech crops, coexistence between organic and conventional farmers and marketing grain from biotech crops.

Zlatko Svecnjak and Zeljko Jucit met with NCGA Director of Ethanol and Business Development Geoff Cooper and NCGA Director of Research and Business Development Nathan Fields and Bertels, to learn more about U.S. corn production. The two researchers were most interested in comparing corn production, costs and markets between the United States and Croatia. Croatian corn growers are projected to produce 92.5 million bushels of corn in 2006.

Bertels said hosting the visitors is one more way to promote the U.S. corn industry.

“It says a lot about NCGA and its grower members when groups like these come to St. Louis just to visit NCGA staff and learn more about our organization and what our positions are on various issues,” Bertels said.