AgWired

The Commissioner of Agriculture and Rural Development for the European Economic Union is Mariann Fischer Boel. She was the keynote speaker on the program today here at the World Agricultural Forum.

You can listen to her speech here while she’s finishing up with questions and answers. In her talk she tries to clear up misconceptions about farmers, farming and the policies of the EU. In particular she provides some historic detail on the EU CAP (Common Ag Policy). She says they’re continuing the move to reduce subsidies. One of the key words heard here is sustainability and she does make a point about the care the EU needs to use in moving forward so that their farmers sustain their prosperity.

You can listen to the speech here: world-ag-forum-07-boel.mp3

The flower man from Columbia is Ernesto Velez, Columbian Association of Flower Exporters. He gave us a presentation at our evening reception at the World Agricultural Forum here this evening.

He said that there was a 90+% chance that the dozen carnations I bought Cindy on Sunday came from Columbia.

If you’d like to learn about where a major source of our cut flowers come from here in the United States you might be interested to hear his presentation.

You can listen to the Ernesto Velez presentation here: world-ag-forum-07-velez.mp3

The President and CEO of Bunge North America is Carl Hausmann. He was part of a panel today at the World Agricultural Forum that addressed the needs of food, fuel, fiber and water.

I interviewed Carl after the session and asked what he thought one of the main concerns was that people expressed here. He says that when it comes to biofuels the subject needs to be more than a national issue, that it’s a global issue. He says that when countries individually deal with it through things like subsidies that it tends to distort world trade. He would like to think that this forum will not only be an exchange of ideas among the participants but that they will leave and effect the political debate in their countries. He believes biofuels will be with us well into the future. He also says that the rapid increase in the price of corn has been a shocker to many but that the commodity has been undervalued for years and that the world will become used to $3.50 to $4 corn.

You can listen to my interview with Carl here: world-ag-forum-07-hausmann.mp3

The president of the World Agricultural Forum is Raymond Cesca, pictured here to the left of Leonard Guarraia.

I interviewed Ray in between sessions earlier today about what he hopes to see accomplished. He says the theme of investing in agriculture is meant to be about more than just food and fuel but about successful business models and food production. He says they hope to see agriculture as the economic engine for growth and that investment in agriculture can be the driver for it.

You can listen to my interview with Ray here: world-ag-forum-07-cesca.mp3

Another key figure on the program today at the World Agricultural Forum was the Hon. Dr. Rajashekara Reddy, Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh, India. He participated in the opening session then held a press conference this afternoon.

I recorded his press conference for you. In it he was first asked about the price of seed in India and what he thought about it. You can listen to how he answers that. He basically wondered why seed from Monsanto costs so much in India vs. the United States. I asked him about biofuels production in his country and what it means to the economy there. He says they’ve only just begun the development of “fuel crops” and says it will be several years before it becomes significant but he’d like to see a goal of having biofuels replace at least 5% of their fuel consumption as soon as possible. He also addresses high world dairy prices and the increase in cotton production in India.

You can listen to Dr. Reddy’s press conference here: world-ag-forum-07-reddy.mp3