Were willing to give Stine the benefit of the doubt for a simple reason. Its a long-running gag hes played on acquaintances, business competitors and even his wife, Molly, who had suffered the misfortune of the elevator actually breaking and had to climb down the ladderin heels. FORBES estimates that Stines companywhich, among other things, also breeds corn genetics, creates plant traits in its biotech lab and has a small but growing commercial seed sales operationis worth nearly $3 billion. The estimated Net Worth of William H Rastetter is at least $6.83 Milione dollars as of 19 April 2023. A highly-courted donor, Rastetter has steadily and strategically built his personal and political brand over the past several years. Thats good news since the worlds population continues to grow by about 85 million every year, while arable land remains scarce. [8], In January 2017, shortly before the White House transition, Rastetter voiced his opposition to pending mega-mergers in the agriculture industry, such as those concerning Bayer, Monsanto, Dow Chemical, ChemChina, and Syngenta. Aside from whatever financial ties exist, Ryan and Rastetter are close allies. About the time Heartland was sold, investors at Whitney called to ask him if he wanted to work with ethanol. "One of the things that has always been a challenge for Iowa is being accepting of change. [3], Rastetter, in 2011, founded the Midwestern Summit Ag Fund, which is a farm acquisition and leasing fund. A dozen potential Republican presidential candidates are about to sit down, one by one, with the biggest GOP donor in Iowa a multimillionaire few people outside the state have ever heard of. Tad had turned around on a dime, and the accident happened.". Rastetter describes what happened next as the best day of his life. Rastetter says the media treats people with a double standard. Bruce Rastetter is the CEO and founder of the Summit Agricultural Group, an agribusiness based in Iowa. You work around good people, and it's not work. He donated more than $160,000 to Gov. News coverage has rarely featured his private life. The agribusiness entrepreneur and president of the Iowa Board of Regents, who has given more than $1.1 million in state political contributions since 2003, is not the sort to chuckle. He has the right combination of everything, says son Myron, who has worked alongside his father at the company for 20 years. "A guy looks back on things and wishes he would have done this or that thing, or taken more time and not worked so hard," Rastetter said. Small farmers and environmental groups led fights against hog confinements, saying they fouled the air and land and made parts of rural Iowa uninhabitable. In 2015, Ballotpedia identified Bruce Rastetter as a top influencer by state. RT @JennUWinn84: @SiegelScribe Sounds like a conflict that would have @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds shaking in her corporate puppet strin https://t.co/FcMCag6iME, @SiegelScribe Sounds like a conflict that would have @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds shaking in her corporate puppet strin https://t.co/FcMCag6iME. Hog confinements and their smelly manure spread around Iowa while Rastetter built wealth, said Hugh Espey, executive director of Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, which owes much of its growth as a nonprofit activist group to burgeoning opposition to hog confinements. But he does open up about two events that changed his life the death of a dear friend in a tragic accident in which he was involved, and a business deal that helped him earn enough money to start giving it away. I could smell the stench from them all the time, no matter which way the wind blew.. "That would probably be something at one point that I wished had not happened. [4] He serves on governing and advisory boards of a variety of organizations, including Cultivation Corridor, AltEnergy LLC, Rural American Fund, American Agriculture and Energy Council, Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, and the college of agriculture at Iowa State. He said he really wants a serious policy discussion rather than stump speeches, which in past couple of presidential cycles have only really addressed ethanol. Investment Team. Rastetter, 58, can engage deeply on business issues, but rips through his childhood background quickly during an interview. It was the summer of 2009. If he wanted to make money on land, he said, he had better places to do that. "It was a life-changing event for me," he said. Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement filed an ethics complaint alleging a conflict of interests, citing his line of work and the fact that both Rastetters were major Branstad donors. Stine will only say he receives a cut from his companys contributions to Roundup Ready soybeans, and its relationship with Monsanto extends well into the future. We identified top influencers across the country through several means, including the following: The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms BruceRastetter. Growing up on a 300-acre family farm near Alden, Iowa, Rastetter started his career with his own feed management business. $35 per post at $7/CPM. @MarcoBattaglia Everyone needs to start refusing to use ethanol blends. The acquisition comes after Telepharm in 2014 closed a $2.5 million venture capital fundraising campaign led by Iowa Board of Regents President and agribusiness pioneer Bruce Rastetter; Adam. For now, Rastetter is not endorsing a candidate he says he wants to be a neutral host at his summit. And also embracing success and encouraging people to try.". As of May 2023, Bruce Springsteen's net worth is roughly $500 Million, making him the 4th richest rock star in the world. He is cautious. Rastetter counters that students should be happy. ", Later in life, Rastetter supported Sweeney's run for office in the Iowa Legislature against fellow Republican Pat Grassley, grandson of U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, who consistently tops polls as Iowa's most popular politician. The National Journal recently wrote about him with the headline, "When This Man Calls, Republicans Come Running," accompanied by a photograph of a herd of elephants. After all, one year he allowed Branstad to take his private jet from a governor's conference in Milwaukee to his summer party, held on his $537,440 country estate near Hubbard. In addition to making more money each day, Bruce Rastetter is becoming more and more well-known by the day. $50 per post at $10/CPM. He launched Hawkeye Energy Holdings, rapidly growing it into the third-largest pure play ethanol company in the country helping to pump billions of gallons of corn-fuel into Americans gas tanks before selling to a Koch Industries subsidiary in 2011. Meet Bruce Rastetter, the man behind the Iowa Agriculture Summit, which is drawing 11 presidential hopefuls to Iowa March 7. "If people don't try to start new businesses and do new things and there is risk, we are never going to progress as a society and an economic system that is better for everyone. According to internet, Bruce Rastetter's height is 1.75m. Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee will enter the agriculture policy ring, too. But they always encouraged him to work hard toward a better life. "This isn't K-12 where everything is alike. If it works out, it wont be the first time this farm kid, unknown outside his industry, has changed the world. Two large buck heads hang on his office walls, as well as a couple of stuffed ducks. Its an unusually public gig for a donor: Rastetter will chat with each candidate on-stage for 20 minutes before 1,000 Iowans and dozens of media outlets. A prolific political donor, Rastetter has spent millions on federal, state, and local politics over the past two decades. After learning about some anomalous soybean plants with extra seeds in a nearby field, Stine became obsessed with breeding higher-yielding seeds to boost profits. A leaner, more efficient plant. In the early 1930s, prior to the Dust Bowl, 7,000 corn plants per acre were grown in the U.S., yielding about 27 bushels per acre. "Professors even discouraged us from talking about it because it was too sensitive," said Angie Carter, a graduate student in sustainable agriculture. Are public universities being used by corporate interests or are they for the benefit of the people?". "But the more I thought about it Bruce was one of those people who encouraged and supported me." And apparently a lot of people working in the same industry cant see that. I see a ton of activists who don't give significant dollars that still have a great impact," he said. How to vote | "What we were doing was more environmentally sound than what we were doing on the small farm I grew up on. The cables look awfully frayed. On it are printed the scores of wins against Nebraska and Michigan. "People who aren't successful don't," Rastetter said. "Dollars you contributed help those people get elected, which is what our system is. Hawkeye went on to build two more plants in Menlo and Shell Rock, and Rastetter maintained his management team. But while genetic modificationusing biotechnology to insert a genetic trait into a seedgrabs headlines (and stokes health fears, despite overwhelming scientific evidence of safety), traditional breeding programs by seed developers have done just as much to raise yields. Terry Branstad was a decade removed from a record 16 years as governor. Future changes in production practices could favor narrow rows at some point, says Mark Jeschke, DuPont Pioneers agronomy research manager. Efficiency. Hes upped his disclosed political and philanthropic giving, including more than $2 million to Iowa State University to found an eponymous professorship and entrepreneurship center, $1 million to the state fairgrounds to land his name on the 4-H building and $5 million to the University of Iowas football facilities. Today 60% of all U.S. soybean acreage is planted using genetics developed by Stines companies, which also have a strong presence in South America and other international markets. The agribusiness entrepreneur and president of the Iowa Board of Regents, who has given more than $1.1. They sold off the jet skis and never went riding again. Bruce Rastetter talks about why he is hosting the Agriculture Summit among presidential hopefuls. The farm crisis of the 1980s was tough. But the joke, conducted amid full view of his empire, serves as a playful reminder: Harry Stine, the dyslexic farm boy turned cunning negotiator, data savant and agriculture visionary, is on top of the world. Meet Bruce Rastetter, the man behind the Ia Ag Summit. The Stine network of 1,700 dealers was selling Stine soybean products in 15 states under 160 brands. Rastetter took all the business leaders out to dinner at the country club in Bloomfield, Iowa, to help sell pork expansion as a great thing for the community, he said, but Davis County remains among the poorest in the state. He also has given money to the University of Iowa and University of Northern Iowa, and has an exhibit building named after him after a $1 million contribution to the Iowa State Fair. Bruce Rastetter, a major Republican donor in Iowa, and Kip Tom, a farmer who ran for Congress in Indiana this year but was defeated in the primary, are also among those being considered,. his Basic income source is mostly from Normally the ad cost for an Instagram ad post is based on the number of followers on the account. The company supports capital investments with strategic private equity partnerships and manages agricultural assets, including extensive beef, pork and grain production facilities. [6] In 2015 Rastetter announced the inaugural Iowa Agriculture Summit to address the political initiatives and interests of farmers and agriculture in the state, such as GMO's, nutrition labeling, food waste, and biotechnology. Asked about the potential perception that he failed at two industries and still came out ahead, he scoffs. Those qualities he has have enabled him to do in business what he has done. Among them was Garry Klicker, whose land was adjacent to some of Heartland's confinements in Davis County. "It doesn't mean you ought not try. "The alternative is you don't do anything. The secret to Stines golden corn? He is blunt but can be prickly at perceived slights. He formed a management company and jumped headlong into an idea that had taken hold in North Carolina large-scale hog confinement operations. Ryan said the agriculture summit was his idea. Celebrities more often then not want to keep their love affairs secret, if you happen to know the name of Bruce Rastetter's partner, please leave a comment in the section below. State and local courts | You take good parents, and you make lots of offspring, says Stine, who learned the basics in under an hour from an Iowa State technician. Stine, the 72-year-old founder and owner of Stine Seed, the largest private seed company in the world, built this tower back in 1987 so he could get a good view of his empire, some 15,000 acres of frozen Iowa farmland. He declined to discuss undisclosed giving to other political causes. But at the very bottom of it all, he has made a huge difference in the industry and hes done it in his very unique and special way., As we stand high atop his tower, the wind streaking into us, unique and special seems a vast understatement. $140 per post at $7/CPM. While he wants to broaden the discussion, theres no doubt the candidates will still be pressed on where they stand on the Renewable Fuel Standard. [2], Rastetter is a prolific political donor. He was raised near Alden, Iowa, on a 320-acre farm that grew corn and soy and raised hogs and cattle. Agribusiness leaders point to Rastetter as the quintessential Iowa farm boy success story, but as hes ascended, hes also become a controversial figure in the state. At almost every location they plant them, he says, his seeds outperform any other variety. He's somebody whose opinions I value greatly. But times called for change. Last summer, Chris Soules, the current star of The Bachelor who happens to work for Rastetters Summit Group as a real estate broker was reportedly in attendance, rubbing elbows with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. In the coming days, Rastetter will be narrowing down what questions hell ask the candidates on March 7. Stine noticed that corn plants hadnt changed much in generations. But a fancy biotech trait offered limited value if the genetic base of the seed was inferior and overall yields suffered. We have to make sure that not only is the education affordable, but it brings the value for what the students and parents are paying.". Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Summit Agricultural Group | All Rights Reserved. ICCI plans to protest Rastetters corporate ag summit next week. "No matter what endeavors, Bruce always supports his friends.". Rastetter knew all along that their plans would displace 160,000 people, despite repeated insistence that the refugee camps in the affected area were abandoned. Whitney and other investors, Heartland Pork Enterprises Inc. became the fastest-growing hog operation in Iowa and the United States and the 12th-largest pork producer. Bruce Rastetter got $480,000 in loans from ISU Ryan J. Foley Associated Press View Comments 0:05 0:56 The agribusiness owned by Board of Regents President Bruce Rastetter was awarded. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; What's on my ballot? These results are automatically generated from Google. Ill sit here, he says, perched on the top bar of the guardrail, unfazed by the steep plummet behind him or the violent gusts. Harrys breeding for it, says Van Wiebe, an agronomist with Hefty Seed in Buhl, Idaho, who has seen a 30% difference between Stines seed and those of his rivals in his experimental fields. At the time Monsantowith Fraley, then president of the companys genomics group, leading the chargehad developed the biotechnology to insert genes into crop seeds, making them resistant to glyphosate, the plant-killing herbicide in the companys dominant weed killer, Roundup. "One of the reasons I give is to help those candidates be successful. "It's part of the reason I got into politics," Rastetter said. Bruce Rastetter is not amused by the "kingmaker" label often thrown around by the press. On one of the windiest days in recent memory Harry Stine, the richest man in Iowa, cranes his neck to examine the elevator shaft inside the 110-foot steel observation tower next to his garage.
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