Western Courier

Issue date: 9/23/05 Section: News

John Carlson (left) has made 26 trips to Russia. He will be taking Western students back to Ryazan next March.

Western Illinois University's agriculture professor John Carlson said he did not foresee making multiple trips to Russia.

"I grew up during the Cold War. The idea of being in Russia was so scary when I was growing up. It was really fascinating to be able to go there," Carlson said.

Carlson has participated in the Farmer to Farmer project, which provides short-term assistance to farmers in need. Such assistance ranges from management, business planning and improving production to the processing and marketing of agriculture products.

Upon arriving in Russia, he met hospitable and friendly people who were having some farming problems.

"They were so receptive to the suggestions that I made and they kept telling me 'Oh, you have to come back!' They kept asking me to come back and I kept going."

He said the more frequently he goes to Russia the more he becomes familiar with its culture and language, which makes him feel more attached to the country. Since 1994 Carlson has visited Russia 26 times, with a trip planned for next March.

Carlson said his perspective has changed a lot since he has started to build relationships with Russians. His expertise in swine and sheep has helped Russian farmers with their current technology and his marketing knowledge. He said the swine and sheep businesses in Russia had gone through some difficult times after the collapse of communism and inflation in 1990s.

"When I was there in '96, '97, the inflation was crazy. Some years 200 percent (inflation) per year, it was discouraging to talk to a farmer."

Carlson said unstable economics were a factor in not being able to improve their agricultural systems for the first several years since his initial visit.

"Now things are really changing," he said. "The interest rate is considerably lower, farmers are doing some investments. There are some investments by banks, some oil companies and the other investors in Russia now start to invest in agriculture. Some of the farms are getting the equipments and are remodeling facilities."

Carlson said the future of swine and sheep businesses in Russia is not desolate due to the fact that a lot of farms are currently coming out of the economic depression of the late 1990s.

Continued...

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