Transatlantic Agricultural Dialogue

The Transatlantic Agricultural Dialogue was an exchange program for German and American farmers. The program provided platforms for professional dialogue and allowed farmers to better understand international markets, exchange practical ideas, and form international contacts and friendships.

Despite living in different countries and farming under different conditions and regulatory frameworks, farmers in America and Germany face surprisingly similar challenges, including public acceptance, regulations, farm succession and changing commodity prices.

Exploring Transatlantic Agricultural Trade with Custom Trips to Germany

We offered turnkey trip packages to Germany for US agricultural organizations. We planned custom trips, connected companies with local farmers and associations, offered translation services, and more. Our study trips allowed organizations to understand international markets better, exchange best practices with farmers in Germany, and build lasting contacts and friendships in both countries. These trips were designed for current and future agricultural decision-makers. This included members and board members from ag commodity groups and other farming associations, as well as agricultural leadership students whose curriculum included a study trip abroad.

Past Programs

Digitalization and automation have become an essential part of many workplaces, farms included. But how will digitalization impact future farming practices? What does this mean for business, the environment and our societies? Discuss with us at the AgriTech Symposium this September in Colorado.

Event details and registration.

The German Embassy in Washington, DC, will host us for our Capstone Forum, where we'll recap our past programs and bring together the transatlantic knowledge we've collected over the past four years.

This includes presentations on agricultural technology and the current state of agricultural trade between the US and Germany.

All past participants are invited to join us and share their stories - you won't want to miss this!
Click here for event details and registration, and contact us to be a presenter at the Forum.

More Past Programs

Direct Marketing

In November 2018, GACC Midwest held roundtable discussions in Des Moines, IA and Bloomington, IL. In April, 2019 we were able to bring 19 American farmers to Southern Germany for one week, where they visited a variety of unique local farms. During the trip, they gathered valuable information and insights to bring home to their farms in the US. It was highlighted that direct marketing lives through - and is driven by - the economic thinking of farmers. Each farmer should consciously search for new opportunities on their farm, in their network, and throughout their region, instead of settling for generic solutions.

Consumer Engagement

GACC Midwest's Consumer Engagement program fostered discussion of best practices for engaging consumers and addressing the public’s questions about food production. We support farmers in improving communication with the consumer, since it is every farmer’s commitment to provide safe, healthy food for every table.

A group of about a dozen German social media-savvy farmers traveled through Illinois, Indiana and Iowa to visit farms and other sites of interest. Three workshops for both German and US farmers took place over the course of the week to discuss how to re-establish agriculture in the midst of our society.

Smart Farming

In recent years, agricultural production processes have fundamentally changed. Intelligent, interlinked farming applications are increasingly prevailing, both in arable and livestock farming. The program Smart Farming Technologies fostered a knowledge exchange between farmers and experts from important technology locations throughout Germany and the US.

In roundtable discussions and during the study trip to Germany, GACC Midwest - along with partners - discussed how smart farming technologies contribute to the future livelihood and of farmers in America and Germany alike.

Future of Family Farms

Developing a succession plan for a family farm operation is not an easy task. Both in the US and Germany, farm families face similar challenges when it comes to maintaining tradition in the long term. Despite different regulations and incentives, it can be equally hard for young farmers to take over an operation and even harder to build one from the ground up.

The Future of Family Farms established a dialogue between farmers from the US and Germany to discuss ways to maintain family farming traditions in both countries. During a series of roundtables and a corresponding study trip to Germany, discussions on how to encourage young people to choose farming as a career.

Organic Food

In partnership with the Organic Trade Association and Organic Valley, with support by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, the roundtables connected farmers and other agribusiness professionals with their counterparts from Germany to discuss the global growing demand for organic trade.

The Farmer's Roundtables were the kick-off events for a transatlantic dialogue between representatives of the American and German organic food industry. The dialogue continued with a trip to Germany focusing on interested organic growers, other agribusiness and trade professionals.

“ The Transatlantic Dialogue offered unprecedented mutual access to German and American agriculture at the highest levels. The conversations, understandings and relationships we developed over several days are critically important in today’s global agricultural market. ”

Lyle Benjamin Treasurer, Montana Grain Growers Association