AgWired

With financial markets still stinging after the recent meltdown, it’s no wonder that the financial challenges facing agriculture is part of the first session at the World Agricultural Forum going on in St. Louis, Mo.

The RT Hon. James B. Bolger, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and Chairman of the World Agricultural Forum, pointed out to the group that the world needs to its food policies. He says we need to get out of the idea that the way out of the current financial crisis is not to get the top 1 percent of income earners to spend so much more but to get the portion of the world’s population earning the least amount… 3 billion people in his estimation… to be able to buy more. He says that will raise all fortunes for everyone.

Bolger offered that we can feed the world, and he put it out to the panelists the question of how we do it. Many of the panelists seem to agree that the real need is for political stability in these poorer areas. Once stability is achieved, then investment, technology and the lifting of millions out of poverty will follow.

I’m going to catch up with some of the panelists individually as we go on, but I wanted to give you an idea what is being discussed here at World Agricultural Forum.

World Ag Forum Photo Album

AgWired coverage of the 2009 World Agricultural Forum World Congress is sponsored by:
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In just a few moments, the 2009 World Congress of the World Agricultural Forum will get underway, with opening remarks from World Ag Forum CEO Leonard Guarraia and Congressman Russ Carnahan (D-MO).

We’ve staked out a place about halfway back in the main ballroom at the St. Louis Ballpark Hilton… close enough to get what everyone is talking about but far enough back so we can break away and get interviews.

We’ll be here all week as delegates from around the world discuss the big issues facing agriculture… from food to feed to fuel and more.

I’ll have more in just a bit!

*Post Update*
The Flickr Photo Album for World Ag Forum is now loaded and ready for viewing!

AgWired coverage of the 2009 World Agricultural Forum World Congress is sponsored by:
.

There’s always plenty of cool things to see and do when you follow events for AgWired and the other ZimmComm New Media Web sites, but this evening’s event at the St. Louis Zoo is among the coolest… figuratively and literally!

As part of the opening reception of the World Agricultural Forum, our friends at Novus International sponsored a behind-the-scenes tour of the St. Louis Zoo… truly one of the world’s greatest zoos. I’m posting a few pictures here, and I hope to win my battle with Flickr to post more at that site soon.

As I said, it was indeed a cool tour, as we started out seeing what goes on with the penguins and puffins. These two guys were more than glad to pose for pictures… a common theme for many of the animals at the zoo!

If these guys look all cute and cuddly as your pet cat, keep in mind that not only would a cheetah, able to run about 70 mph, easily chase you down, but it would also kill you and eat you. Come to think of it, if your cat got big enough, it probably would, too!

This guy’s another pretty tough character. Looked like we interrupted his nap… or his lunch. Look at those eyes… without that pit and fence between us, I have a feeling I would be the next lunch.

It only makes sense that the folks at Novus, who are so dedicated to animal nutrition, would be one of the benefactors of the zoo’s animal nutrition program. These folks at the zoo are doing some pretty important work, making sure these magnificent beasts are well taken care of.

I thought this one was too funny! At the end of our animal nutrition facility tour, we all got (well, at least we all were offered) biscuits designed for the primates. As most of us who tried it would agree (and, yes, I did eat one… proving that once again that broadcasters and news people will eat ANYTHING they’re offered for free!), it wasn’t bad. It wasn’t GOOD… but it wasn’t bad.

World Ag Forum photo set

I had such a good time the last time I covered an event that our friends at Novus International sponsored (the Undergraduate Networking Day back in April), that I just couldn’t wait to see what they had in store for us at the World Agricultural Forum. Well, they did not disappoint as they provided those who took the bus ride over to the St. Louis Zoo a behind-the-scenes tour of the world famous St. Louis Zoo. I’ve been there a couple of times, but this time I got to see some of what goes on to make this great institution run, including a look at the penguin and puffin exhibit and a look at the zoo’s animal nutrition lab where they mix up the daily meals for the hundreds of animals that make the zoo their home.

Before we took off on our tour, I caught up with Novus CEO and President Thad Simons. While his company was sponsoring the reception and tour, it was also part of the bigger conversation at World Ag Forum of how to meet the challenges of feeding the world. He says the world’s population right now is about 6.5 billion people… and all of them are not being fed properly. He says the challenge becomes even more daunting when you consider the population is expecting to explode to more than 9 billion by the year 2050. But he believes ag technology is up to the task ahead.

“We know the technologies are there. It can be done if we can find ways to work together across the world.” That’s why he says an international forum like this is so important.

Simons adds that it is imperative that we come up with solutions to the agricultural issues facing the world today, because no agriculture means no food; no food means no hope.

Listen to all of my conversation with Thad here: ThadSimons1.mp3

World Ag Forum photo set

Hello for St. Louis, Mo. where the World Agricultural Forum is getting underway! We’ll be here all week covering the events and conversations that impact ag producers, not just in this country, but globally as well.

Tonight, delegates from countries around the world were welcomed to this year’s events with a reception and behind-the-scenes tour of the famous St. Louis Zoo sponosred by our friends at Novus International (I’ll have more about that tour later).

Before everything got kicked off, I caught up with Dr. Leonard J. Guarraia, Chairman and CEO of the World Ag Forum. He says the major issues facing agriculture today are water availability, credit availability, production levels and the ability to provide the foodstuffs and feedstocks to feed and fuel the planet. He says a meeting such as this one give people from divergent backgrounds a place to discuss their concerns and plan for what might be next down the pike.

“The focus of this meeting is not on what’s happened in the past but what do we see happeneing one two three years down the road. Because it’s extremely easy to say what’s happened; it’s extremely difficult, but far more important, to look at what’s going to happen in the future.”

Guarraia says out of all the issues facing agriculture water is the most serious. He says 65 percent of the world’s population live in water-short areas. He even points to China where’s there’s talk about moving the capital of Beijing because of a water shortage. He says this gathering of ag leaders and decision makers from around the world should generate enough ideas that some solutions will be found. He says they’ve got the major food producers, the major financiers (the bankers), the processors, the shippers… the whole food chain… so at least they’ve got all the right people in place.

Guarraia hopes the ag credit pinch around the world will start to lessen and more money will flow. But he says the uncertainty of too many areas, especially in some of the developing countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa, still makes some ag investments a risky proposition. But he remains optimistic a solution will be found.

“This is agriculture, and agriculture is always sunny. There are solutions, absolutely, and these people can come up with them because it’s in everyone’s vested interest to do so. We have to solve the problems because of the societal and social consequences of not solving the problems.”

You can hear all of my conversation with Guarraia here: Guarraia1.mp3

World Ag Forum photo set