Corn and Khrushchev: A Brief History of Iowa Agriculture

Liz Garst, granddaughter of the famous Iowa farmers and citizen diplomats Roswell and Elizabeth Garst, shares how it came to pass that Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev and his family visited the Garst family farm in 1959. Her talk includes a history of agricultural development in Iowa, including the mid-century explosion of farm productivity, based on the hybrid seeds, machinery, fertilizers and livestock technologies promoted by her grandfather. Liz Garst manages banking and farming interests for the Garst family and is a board member and volunteer for Whiterock Conservancy, a non-profit land trust near Coon Rapids dedicated to finding balance between agriculture, the environment and people.