Now that Bill Northey is officially heading to his new job at USDA, Iowa soybean farmer Ray Gaesser can now officially get on with his campaign to be the next Iowa Secretary of Agriculture.

Last week at Commodity Classic, the former American Soybean Association (ASA) president from Corning, Iowa received the organization’s Distinguished Leadership Award for his years of service to the industry on the state and national level. Gaesser also participated in a grower perspective panel at the Bayer AgVocacy Forum, where he talked about the importance of advocating for agriculture. “One of the ways is to really share what we’re doing on the farm,” he said. “Folks want to know more about their food and how we grow it.”

Gaesser shared the panel with farmers Kyle Tom of Indiana; Nancy Kavazanjian from Wisconsin; Jacob Wagers, Golden Grain Farms in Colorado; Vince Restucci with R.D. Offutt Company in North Dakota; and Meagan Kaiser, PAL Farm Management LLC, Missouri.

During an interview at the forum, Gaesser talked about why he is running for Iowa agriculture secretary. “I’m really passionate about agriculture, it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do,” said Gaesser. “I just want to be able to give back from all the benefits I’ve had as a farmer for 40 years in Iowa.” Gaesser has been on some 50 trade missions to help promote agricultural exports, which are vitally important for Iowa farmers. “Those relationships that you build are really important in these times when there’s lots of competition.”

Listen to that interview here: Interview with Ray Gaesser, Iowa farmer

Listen to the panel from the Agvocacy forum here: Grower Perspectives Panel

2018 Bayer AgVocacy and Commodity Classic Photo Album

Photos, video, and audio interviews from Bayer at Commodity Classic