Defining and improving sustainability is important for all of production agriculture around the globe, which is why BASF has taken a keen interest in the subject.
Markus Heldt is president of crop protection for BASF global, located in Germany, a position he took last year after serving for many years as head of crop protection for the company in North America. During a conference on sustainability for ag media in Chicago this week, he said that while the general public trusts farmers, they have little confidence in farming methods. “What we find increasingly disturbing is the disconnect of how the general public views farming operations, especially in the US and in Europe,” Markus said. “A very romantic and idealistic picture of agriculture that is not existing any longer.”
Markus says farmers are taking care of the land and improving the way they do business, but consumers do not understand that and it is a challenge for the entire agriculture industry. “We as a company, as an industry, have to a better job to try and bridge that gap,” he said.
Listen to my interview with Markus in the player below.