While Laura is heading back from Chicagoland, I am heading off to Deutschland – Germany, that is. Just getting in the mood. I mean, who calls it Deutschland anyway, except the people who live there?

The trip is a ag media tour of BASF with about six other American ag journalists. We will be flying in to Frankfort and visiting in an around Limburgerhof, where the BASF headquarters is located. Later in the week, the group will be going to Brussels, Belgium to visit with EU ag officials at the European Parliament.

I started getting in the mood for the BASF trip last week at the National Institute for Animal Agriculture ID/INFO Expo in Kansas City where traceability was the topic and one of the presenters was Cristian Barcan with BASF’s traceability project. He spoke on Quantifiable Food Safety and Measurable Sustainability with the Help of a Whole-Chain Traceability Network and why that is important to a company like BASF which makes ingredients for fish and livestock feed, among many other things.

Listen to my interview with Cristian here:
niaa-expo-07-barcan.mp3

I do leave on September 10 and scheduled to arrive in Frankfurt on 9-11, so I was happy that the German authorities were on their toes and caught those alleged terrorists with plans to bomb that airport!