Farmers from around the globe gathered in Des Moines this week to participate in the 2009 Global Farmer-to-Farmer Roundtable, which is held in conjunction with the World Food Prize and hosted by Truth About Trade and Technology.

The group honored one of their own today with the 2009 Kleckner Trade & Technology Advancement Award which recognizes a farmer for “exemplary leadership, vision and resolve in advancing the rights of all farmers to choose the technology and tools that will improve the quality, quantity and availability of agricultural products around the world.”

This year’s honoree is Jim McCarthy, a farm manager from Ireland whose agricultural interests span three continents – Europe, South America and North America. He says it is frustrating that he is unable to use biotechnology-based crops in his farming operation in Ireland, but can in other areas. “The environmental benefit of GM (genetically modified) crops is staggering,” he said, as he made comparisons between the farm operations he’s involved with in Ireland and Argentina. He says wildlife numbers are much higher in the South America farm operation because fewer pesticides are used because of Bt traits in the crops. “We’re not using huge amounts of organophosphates, so the food chain is not being interrupted for the wildlife,” he said.

Closer to home, McCarthy is one of a group of farmers that invested in a grass-based dairy in southern Missouri. He is the third recipient of the Kleckner Trade and Technology Advancement Award, which was established in 2007 in honor of Dean Kleckner, the founder and chairman of Truth About Trade and Technology.