Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
Larry Nees has served as state seed regulatory official for Indiana in his role as Seed Administrator of the Office of Indiana State Chemist and Seed Commissioner at Purdue University. Larry has served in that capacity for the past 27 years and has over 32 years of experience working for the office. His primary duties are to administer and enforce the Indiana Seed Law and supervise the state seed testing laboratory. Nees also has responsibilities for administration of the Indiana Seed Arbitration law, the Indiana Seed Contracts law and the Indiana Legume Inoculants and Plant Growth Substances law. He has held offices in national organizations related to seed control and testing and continues to serve on the Boards of organizations for seed research and the Indiana Certified Crop Advisor program.
Larry is a native hoosier with roots in Clay County Indiana. Born and raised in an agribusiness family he values the importance of maintaining a healthy business climate for agribusiness in Indiana. He holds a BS degree in Agronomy from Purdue University. He and his wife Vicki currently reside in West Lafayette and remain active in university activities. They have two daughters, both Purdue graduates now living in the Indianapolis area.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
Graham Head is the Global Insect Resistance Management lead for Monsanto Company. In that capacity, he is responsible for the design and implementation of suitable insect resistance management strategies for Monsanto’s biotech insect-protected products throughout the world. Graham has been with Monsanto for 10 years, initially working on the corn product pipeline and later on the ecological impacts of biotech crops. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from Monash University in Australia, and a Ph.D. degree in ecology from Princeton University. He llives with his wife and son and four dogs in St Louis.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
Bart Baudler is a 20-year veteran in the agricultural industry. He currently is the Marketing Directory, for Pioneer H-Bred, a DuPont business, responsible for out-licensing traits and germplasm. Bart’s been with DuPont since 2000, beginning his career with the company has the Global Business Manager for corn and soybean herbicides. In 2002, Bart shifted his work from crop protection products to seed, and joined Pioneer to lead the soybean marketing efforts in a director role. He also served as the Optimum GAT trait champion before assuming his current duties.
Before coming to DuPont, Bart held several marketing roles with Monsanto and also has sales and marketing experience with American Cyanamid and Sandoz Crop Protection. Bart holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Agronomy from Iowa State University.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
Al Carlson is the Northern Seed Business Manager for UAP Distribution, Inc. He has been with UAP for 17 years serving in various roles including sales, marketing and operations. In his current role, Al is responsible for strategic direction for all crops across the Northern U.S. with emphasis on market development of the Dyna-Gro Brand. His key focus areas are product management, production, marketing and distribution.
Al grew up on a grain farm in southwest Minnesota. His personal interests include golf, hunting and traveling. He currently resides in Westfield, IN with his wife, Carrie. They have been married for 21 years and have two children, Jordan 19; and Samantha 15.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: News
Text of Governor Mitch Daniels’ property tax plan announcement October 23, 2007
Good evening.
For the last few months, no subject has been on my mind, or the mind of most Hoosiers, as much as property taxes. In almost every county, some homeowners were hit with huge increases; in some counties, it seemed almost everyone got a big jump. Assessments were inconsistent and often grossly unfair. It is not acceptable that any citizen cannot afford to keep the home they may have worked all their lives to buy. The status quo is not tolerable and we must act to fix it.
Several causes combined to produce this situation. Back in the ‘90s, courts ordered a change to assessments based on market prices. In 2002, the legislature repealed the inventory property tax on business, and switched from reassessment once a decade to once a year, or “trending”. And, the biggest factor of all, total local spending on schools, libraries, school construction, and other services has continued growing faster than taxpayers’ incomes. When that happens, property taxes can only go up.
We’ve been here before. Repeatedly over the last 35 years, state government has tried to help out. State taxes have been raised and the money used to subsidize local budgets and reduce property taxes. By now, 85% of school operating costs are paid for by our state taxes, not our property taxes. Half the sales tax, 3 cents out of 6, is sent back to support local government, or your property taxes would be far higher than they already are.
What we do next must learn from this history, because the old approach has not worked. In every case, a few years later our state taxes were higher and our property taxes were, too. It only took 5 years this time.
I have looked at every option for change. I have talked with Hoosiers all over the state. I have studied Indiana’s past approaches to this issue and the attempts of other states to deal with their own problems. When Indiana acts this time, and act we must, our steps must be fair, far-reaching, and final.
I have prepared and will recommend to the legislature a proposal to cut every homeowner’s property taxes sharply and cap them forever, at no more than one per cent of a home’s true value. This last provision must be added to the state’s constitution to ensure its permanence, and guarantee that no Hoosier ever again pays more than a penny on the dollar of their home’s value.
We can lower the average Hoosier property tax bill by more than a third by removing forever the rest of school operating costs, and the cost of protecting abused and neglected children, from the local to the state level. Immediate relief should be provided to every homeowner on the May ’08 bills, and the full 1% ceiling protection put in place by 2009.
We can fund this reform through a one-cent increase in the sales tax, and by using a small share of the surplus we have restored to the state budget these last three years.
Before settling on the cut and cap approach, I looked hard at the idea of totally eliminating property taxes in our state. Much as I would like to have taken that route, the risks to our schools, to small business, and to our economy generally, dissuaded me. In particular, I could not support the large increase in personal income taxes, paid by every Hoosier worker and most small businesses, which would be necessary for total elimination.
Any plan that makes a real difference in property taxation will have to go to its root cause, and that is excessive spending. Total local spending on school construction, libraries, fire departments, and all other local services simply cannot keep rising faster than Hoosier incomes.
To achieve better discipline while preserving local control, we must have single-point accountability for spending. Today, no one is responsible; each local taxing district sets its budget and sends you its part of the bill, which is only added up when it hits your mailbox. The County Tax Board in each county must accept the duty of reviewing the total of local spending plans and trimming those budgets as needed to keep our taxes down.
As further protection against overspending, we should strengthen taxpayers’ direct say in local decisions, especially the borrowing for new schools and other construction which has been the biggest driver of property tax increases. I will propose that any significant new capital project, or any spending in excess of the growth in local income, must be approved by voter referendum.
Next, we must protect other property taxpayers from being exploited. I will propose hard ceilings, with no exceptions and no loopholes, of 2% for rental properties and 3% for other businesses, also written into our constitution.
Finally, our unfair and unfixable assessment system must go. I will propose the elimination of all political assessors and the appointment by each County Council of a single, qualified and certified assessor to oversee trained professionals in conducting future appraisals.
Immediate relief for every homeowner; a one per cent permanent cap on every homeowner’s taxes; an end to unfair and inaccurate assessments; real limits on local spending. As bold as these changes would be, I am very optimistic of achieving them, especially if you will help.
In the last 3 years, we have already solved problems like the state government deficit and the state highway shortfall that people said would take years or were simply impossible. We can solve this one, too, and open a new era of opportunity in which Indiana is the nation’s leader in defending and promoting the American dream of home ownership.
Thank you and good night.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
David Anderson is Vice President of Production for AgReliant Genetics in Westfield, Indiana. In this capacity, he is responsible for Corn Production, Foundation Corn Production, Logistics and Quality Assurance for the company’s products. Before joining AgReliant Genetics in 2000, David enjoyed a productive career in agricultural economics following his graduation from Purdue University in 1986. From June, 1986 until late 1990, he was District Sales Manager in eastern Indiana for Akin Seed Company/Agri Gold. From November of 1990 through October of 1996, he was Location Manager of the company’s seed corn production facility in Aroma Park, Illinois. In 1996 he became Vice President, Production for Akin-Callahan Seed Company in Westfield, a position he held until 2000 when he assumed his current position.
David grew up on a livestock and grain farm in west central Indiana. He currently resides in Carmel, IN with his wife and three children.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
American Seed Trade Association * Advanced Milling Systems, Inc. * Ag Printers
BayerCropScience * Becker Underwood * BioDiagnostics, Inc.* Blackhawk Automation
Bozell Industrial *Bratney Companies * Fumigation Service & Supply
GreenLeaf Genetics * Greif Paper Packaging & Services * H&S Forest Products
Indiana Crop Improvement * KeyBank Food & Agribusiness Team * Krauter Solutions
LMC Mfg * Mid-West Seed Services * Monsanto – Corn States Hybrid Service LLC * O’Mara Ag Services, Inc.
OXBO International * Rich Connell AGRI-SEARCH * Syngenta * Zeltex, Inc.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: Uncategorized
Mike Peterson is President of Peterson Genetics, Inc. based in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Peterson Genetics, Inc. is primarily engaged in the licensing of improved soybean genetics to retail seed companies throughout the United States.
A graduate of Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Business, Peterson is also a past president of the Iowa Seed Association, and past Chairman of the Soybean Division of the ASTA. In addition to numerous local volunteer boards, he is currently serving on the Iowa State University Research Foundation (ISURF) board of directors.
He enjoys spending time with his 5 children, and also loves to golf and run marathons.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
Ronald L. Meeusen, Ph.D.
Ron has 26 years of experience in bringing new technologies and products to market. During this time he has led research and development for major corporations in agricultural chemicals, field crop and vegetable genetics and breeding, animal health, novel foods and industrial materials. His successful projects include planning and conducting the world’s first field trial of a genetically engineered crop trait in 1986, development and launch of one of the first insect and herbicide resistant corn hybrids in 1995, introduction of a trans-fat free canola oil, and development of dozens of new varieties of field and vegetable crops on three continents. Ron has been a frequent speaker at conferences, a consultant to Federal policy on regulatory issues, and active in industry trade groups on key issues such as European acceptance of new food technologies.
Prior to forming MidPoint Ron spent two years as an executive-on-loan writing an economic development plan which the State of Indiana adopted for its food and agricultural sectors. During the previous six years as Global Leader of Biotechnology at Dow AgroSciences, Ron led the expansion of its biotechnology research and development program.
Filed under: 2007 Corn Belt Seed Conference
Bob Waltz currently serves as the Indiana State Chemist and Seed Commissioner at Purdue University. His primary duties are to serve as an administrator and regulatory official for the Office of Indiana State Chemist overseeing programs in feeds, seed, fertilizers, and pesticides. Prior to coming to Purdue, Bob served for nineteen years as the Indiana State Entomologist and State Plant Regulatory Official in the Department of Natural Resources where he held administrative responsibilities for the jointly administered federal and state phytosanitary/plant export program, nursery inspections, and regulation of pests, pathogens, and invasive species affecting plants and plant commodities.
Bob worked for nine years at the Hayes Regional Arboretum in Richmond, Indiana where he managed Indiana’s first actively-heated solar greenhouse. He was curator of the native woody plant collection, a living collection of woody plant species native to southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio, his duties included plant propagation, educational development, and procurement of native woody plant species and he served as Senior Resident Naturalist.
Bob is a native hoosier with roots in Richmond, Indiana. He obtained his BS, MS, and Ph.D. degrees at Purdue University in West Lafayette, where he and his wife now reside. He has two children; one of whom has graduated from a large University in the southern part of the state, and the second is now attending the same cream and crimson school.
Sam Turpin
Indiana Seed Trade Association
