American Seed Trade Association (ASTA) chairman Craig Newman of AgReliant Genetics is pleased with the turnout and the mood of at the 131st ASTA annual convention this week in his home town of Indianapolis.
“First time it’s ever been in Indianapolis and this is kind of the crossroads of America, plus it’s the crossroads of American Seed Trade Association because a number of our members are within driving distance,” said Newman. That drove the idea of having an educational program leading up to the convention this week.
“So we partnered with Purdue and came up with the ASTA-Purdue Seed Leadership program and we had about 85 participants from all the seed industry to help enhance the educational opportunity for future and current seed people,” he said.
That was Monday through Wednesday and the official convention program actually kicked off on Thursday morning. Newman says the main issues being discussed are protecting intellectual property, phyto-sanitary trade barriers, and GMO labeling.
Listen to my interview with Craig here: [wpaudio url=”http://www.zimmcomm.biz/asta/asta14-craig-newman.mp3″ text=”Interview with Craig Newman, ASTA Chairman”]