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.
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).
At the Alltech Animal Health & Nutrition Symposium you get your day started with a little “fun run.” I’m not sure everyone would think of a 6:30am run as fun but it really is.
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.
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.
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.
This evening we had a wonderful dinner courtesy of Alltech and Dr. Pearse Lyons. He got our international dinner started tonight by introducing our entertainment which included the singing voices of the Alltech competition which is managed by Dr. Everett McCorvey, Professor of Voice, 
On of the performers was Julie who sang, “I Could Have Danced All Night.” She was just one of the wonderful voices we heard at dinner. I think this is one of the most memorable events at the Alltech Symposium.
Hello from Lexington, KY and the Alltech International Animal Health & Nutrition Symposium. Actually I have just arrived and am getting ready to attend the International Dinner this evening which will be held across the street at the Lexington Convention Center. 
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Kendal Frazier with the 
Kendal says there are two ways the industry can use new media tools such as blogging, podcasting, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook. “Number one is to deliver a proactive message through a different channel. The other way is to correct misinformation that is out there. We have to be participating on the Internet and we can do that on both a proactive and a reactive basis,” Kendal said.