Attendees of the TFI World Conference in Washington, D.C. Sept. 13-15 were treated to two offsite receptions at national landmarks. One reception was held at the Donald W. Reynolds Center for American Art and Portraiture. The second reception, at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, provided attendees an opportunity to visit the industry-sponsored “Dig It! The Secrets of Soil” exhibit. Major sponsors for the exhibit are TFI, the Nutrients for Life Foundation, and the Soil Science Society of America.

In keeping with the Washington theme, the keynote address was delivered by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. With a nod to the industry, she said that petroleum is not the only strategic resource, that fertilizer is a vital resource. On global trade, she warned against the “trap of protectionism.”

On one issue of concern to the industry – climate change – Albright said the government’s solution must be fair and helpful to the economy and must work. She said President Obama is determined to make a difference, but is pragmatic and knows the market must be the primary engine to get the economy to grow. Despite the movement to new renewable fuels, Albright said that fossil fuels will be the primary fuel for decades. She added that nuclear is also essential in a carbon-constrained future, and that complete energy independence is not realistic.

Albright said the refusal to participate in solving the global warming problem is not a sufficient response from China or any other country.

On various other topics, she offered the following.

Iran: It has no reason to be at odds with its neighbors. Albright said that engagement is not appeasement, and that they cannot deliver tough messages if they do not meet.

Russia: It can do more for itself with integration with the West. Young people are developing a huge distrust of the U.S., partly because they are being taught that the West let them down in World War II.

North Korea: It needs fuel oil and fertilizer, and both are bargaining points. No matter what their policy ideas are, people have to eat.

Pakistan: She said it can be summed up in one word – dangerous. Pakistan has nuclear weapons, terrorism, extremism, corruption, and a weak government. It is more preoccupied with India than fighting the Taliban. One positive is that the country has a middle class.

China: Albright said China is still resource hungry, with an 8 percent growth rate this year. They have major environmental, urban/rural, and ethnic problems. They need to look at a global approach. There is a growing middle class that may demand to be part of the system. They have become semi-capitalist, and she does not foresee an ideological clash with China. Albright said U.S. policy should be to have them as a strategic partner.

Venezuela: Hugo Chavez has an unquenchable lust for power, wanting to be the next Simon Bolivar for South America. Albright said that Chavez acts like a pale version of Fidel Castro. She said democracy has not delivered in some countries, and that is why you have the likes of Hugo Chavez.

Cuba: Albright gave one prediction. Fidel Castro will die. She noted that the U.S. has been making slow attempts at more normal relations with Cuba, but that they have a disingenuous democratic process in Cuba.

Attendance at this year’s event was down only about three percent, to 704 from the year-ago 727, when it was held in Seattle. Considering the intervening global financial collapse, that was not much of a drop. As for tone, while phosphate sources appear to be a little upbeat, most sources noted a lot of concern about the late harvest season and the general reluctance by farmers to buy product.

Dr. Norman Borlaug, agricultural sciences pioneer and acknowledged father of the “Green Revolution,” passed away Sept. 12 at the age of 95. During his lengthy career, Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Gold Medal for his developments in food production, including advances in plant breeding, irrigation, and pesticide and fertilizer use. He has been credited for saving more people on the planet than any other human in history.

Raised on an Iowa farm, Borlaug received a Ph.D. in plant pathology and genetics from the University of Minnesota. His career began in the 1940s at DuPont, and he was a key figure in the transformation to the higher-yield farming practices that began after World War II. One of Borlaug’s initial successes in the 1940s was to help Mexico increase its agricultural development through research on maize and disease-resistant “dwarf” wheat varieties, turning the country from an importer to an exporter of wheat by the mid-1960s.

Borlaug’s success with wheat breeding in Mexico was transplanted to famine-stricken India and Pakistan in the 1960s. The new strains nearly doubled Indian and Pakistani wheat production between 1965 and 1970, increasing production by more than 11 million tons in those two countries. Those successes, achieved at a time when mass famine was widely predicted, spread Borlaug’s fame and his dwarf wheat varieties throughout the world, including Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa.

Borlaug was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his efforts in alleviating world hunger. In later years he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, the country’s two top civilian honors. He was also awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second highest honor, as well as numerous honorary universities degrees from around the world.

“In the death of Norman Borlaug, the world today has lost not only an eminent agriculture scientist but a man dedicated to the cause of humanity,” said Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar of India. “As India moves towards the second Green Revolution, his enduring vision will be a source of inspiration and sustenance for all of us.”

Borlaug had been a professor at Texas A&M University since 1984. He remained a staunch advocate of high-yield farming practices until his death, even as criticism grew among environmental advocates that plant breeding advances, biotechnology, and the overuse of pesticides and fertilizer posed dangers of their own.

Borlaug was a hero of the fertilizer industry, and his words and likeness were featured in several industry public relations campaigns. “This is a basic problem, to feed 6.6 billion people,” he once said. “Without fertilizer, forget it. The game is over.”

“We were saddened to learn of Dr. Borlaug’s passing,” said Ford B. West, president of The Fertilizer Institute. “With energy, empathy and brilliance he delivered the tools of modern food production to the world’s poor. The millions of lives he saved stand as the most fitting legacy of his work.”

The International Plant Nutrition Institute also added its voice to the many Borlaug tributes last week. “In an amazing journey from his Iowa farm roots to world recognition as a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, he never lost sight of the importance of global food security and the power of science through agriculture,” IPNI said in a Sept. 15 statement. “While we are saddened by the loss of this innovative scientist and beloved leader, we believe his vision and accomplishments will serve as inspiration to future generations to continue the quest for world food security.”

The American Seed Trade Association also praised Dr. Borlaug, saying his death “is truly a loss for the plant breeding industry.” ASTA Chairman Jerry Monk of Warner Seeds Inc. in Hereford, Texas, said Borlaug “challenged today’s crop of plant breeders to rise to a new level that would benefit growers globally.”

U.S. Rep. Tom Latham (R-Iowa) has started an effort to memorialize Borlaug with a bronze statue in the U.S. Capitol. Latham asked the state’s six other members of Congress on Sept. 14 to join him in asking Gov. Chet Culver and the Legislature to pass a resolution designating Borlaug. However, a Borlaug statue would have to replace one of two statues – of Samuel Kirkwood and James Harlan – currently representing Iowa in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.

The Idaho Farm Bureau Federation, Food Producers of Idaho, Idaho Grain Producers Association, and Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association have endorsed Monsanto’s proposed Blackfoot Bridge Mine (GM Aug. 17, p. 1), saying it would allow for continued domestic production of specialty herbicides that help farmers produce food more efficiently.

Monsanto’s three-furnace elemental phosphorus plant near Soda Springs helps supply the key ingredient used in the production of its popular Roundup herbicide.

The four agriculture groups said they support the Bureau of Land Management’s “preferred alternative” outlined in BLM’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the mine, which would disturb about 740 acres of private land and 74 acres of BLM land.

The alternative sets strict environmental safeguards and reclamation standards for the mine, including the use of a laminated geosynthetic clay liner to cover and contain waste rock and protect the Blackfoot River from detectable increases in selenium.

The mine would replace Monsanto’s South Rasmussen Ridge Mine, which supplies a million tons of phosphate annually to Monsanto’s Soda Springs plant. Its ore is expected to be exhausted by 2013. The Blackfoot Bridge ore is expected to last 15 years.

According to Idaho Farm Bureau President Frank Priestly, “This is the only source of elemental phosphorus in the United States. Without it, we will have to rely on China. That’s one reason we’re encouraging our members to become familiar with the project and submit comments on the project to the BLM.” Priestly added that Roundup is a valuable tool that helps American farmers feed the world.

On its web site, the Idaho Farm Bureau notes Monsanto is Caribou County’s largest employer, with 375 working directly for the company and 395 working for mine, plant maintenance, security, and other contractors. It paid $29.4 million in annual payroll and benefits in 2006.

Scott Brown, vice president of the Idaho Grain Producers Association, said Monsanto’s Blackfoot Bridge Mine is doubly important in that Monsanto not only provides good-paying jobs and a solid tax base, but its glyphosphate-based herbicides also help farmers stay competitive and efficient.

Brown said that another factor in supporting the project is the fact that the BLM and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality took Monsanto’s mining proposal and upgraded it to ensure selenium is contained and the environment is protected.

“It’s clear Monsanto and the agencies are taking extra measures to protect the environment, and particularly water quality,” he added. “I farm near the mine, so I have a direct stake in its safety.”

The Food Producers of Idaho represents more than 20 Idaho farm organizations. FPI Executive Director Rick Waitley said world population figures will be staggering by 2025 and beyond. “The treasure of the Blackfoot Bridge Mine is key to meeting the food production needs of the future. Agriculture around the world looks to this resource to meet the future food supply need,” Waitley said.

Mark Duffin of the Idaho Sugarbeet Growers Association said the Blackfoot Bridge Mine represents where modern agriculture and environmentally-sound mining intersect to benefit the public. “The old saying that ‘If it can’t be grown, it has to be mined,’ really applies to this project,” Duffin said.