By DOUG SCHMITZ
Iowa Correspondent
 
CAMP DODGE, Iowa — Sixty members of the Iowa National Guard’s first-ever 734th Agri-Business Development Team (ADT), two of whom are Iowa farmers, deployed July 1 to Afghanistan in a yearlong mission to help Afghan farmers to better hone their skills.

“Iowa’s farmers and agribusinesses produce the safest, most affordable and abundant food supply in the world, and that was very evident at our Family & Friends Send-Off Picnic,” said Col. Craig Bargfrede, who commands the Iowa ADT, to about 300 family members and friends at the June 30 event.

“As we deploy, we plan to take some of the Iowa ag know-how that made the bounty at our picnic possible and translate that into greater food security for ordinary Afghan families,” added Bargfrede, who has 20 years of experience in agribusiness. Established in 2007, the 734th’s mission is to provide training and advice to Afghan universities, provincial ministries and local farmers with the goal of increasing stability and improving opportunities for Afghanistan’s reemerging agribusiness sector.

As the nation’s first state National Guard to develop an agricultural unit, Iowa’s 734th will be deployed in Kunar Province and return to Iowa sometime next summer. The USDA, as well as the U.S. Agency for International Development, will be partnering in the mission, with Iowa State University staff providing additional agricultural expertise.

Stationed at Camp Dodge in Johnston, the ADT – made up of guard members from the Iowa Army National Guard and Iowa Air National Guard – is a self-contained volunteer unit of about 60 members with backgrounds and expertise in various sectors of agribusiness.

The Iowa Pork Producers Assoc. (IPPA), along with the Iowa Corn Growers Assoc., the Iowa Soybean Assoc., the Midwest Dairy Assoc. and the Polk County Farm Bureau, sponsored the send-off picnic for the ADT. In addition, Roberts Dairy, Anderson Erickson and Swiss Valley Co-op donated food for the event, which was attended by more than 250 ADT members and guard members, held at an area park in Johnston.

The IPPA designed a special banner for the event, which will accompany the team and be displayed throughout the unit’s tour. Upon the team’s return, the banner will go into the Iowa National Guard museum at Camp Dodge.

Among the 60-member ADT are two Iowa pork producers who said they are proud to serve their country and are looking forward to helping rejuvenate Afghan agriculture.

“I believe it’s going to be a very good thing for the Afghan people,” said Spc. Martin Rustvold, an Audubon pork producer and contract grower for the Audubon-Manning Veterinary Clinic. “We’ll bring a lot of knowledge to them and help them out.”

A four-year member of the Iowa National Guard, Rustvold’s primary responsibility will be providing security for the team, along with helping to teach Afghans how to farm, produce and irrigate their crops properly, as well as care for their livestock.

1st Lt. Scott Rottinghaus, who raises corn, soybeans and about 3,000 early wean and finish pigs a year with his father and uncles near Waterloo, has been a guard member for 8.5 years and will be working in pest management in Afghanistan.

“We’re trying to improve the Afghan agribusiness sector so they can provide for themselves and not have to grow opium poppies, or rely on the Taliban or other enemies to feed themselves,” he said. “I think it’s a great experience and I’m looking forward to it.”

Steve Lee, Polk County Farm Bureau president, called his group’s support of the Iowa ADT “a great pleasure and honor” and emphasized his strong belief in the ADT’s mission, which is to protect the people of Afghanistan by improving their food security.

Iowa Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, who presided over the July 1 Community Send-Off ceremony with a standing-room-only crowd of about 1,000 attendees at the Iowa National Guard Freedom Center at Camp Dodge, said Iowa is uniquely suited to fulfill the ADT mission.

“The agricultural expertise you have learned and honed over the years, as well as the new training you have undergone, is critical to food security in the region and an important step toward completion of the overall mission,” she told ADT members. “As your former secretary of agriculture, I know there is no one in the world better prepared to serve.”

Current Iowa Agriculture Secretary Bill Northey agreed. “It’s just so fitting that an Iowa group is going to Afghanistan to help their people with agriculture,” he said. “Everyone connected with Iowa agriculture is behind this team and is paying attention to every bit of news they can get about it.”

Brig. Gen. Timothy Orr, adjutant general of the Iowa National Guard, said the Iowa ADT is historic in another important way because it will be the Guard’s first true joint deployment.

“This is the first time in the history of the Iowa National Guard that we’ve deployed our Army National Guard, our Air National Guard and even U.S. Army Reserve soldiers together on one common mission, which is to make a difference in Afghanistan,” he said.

“This is a big commitment, and anytime you go away for a year, it’s a hardship. I want the soldiers and airmen of the ADT, and especially their families, to know we’re behind them.”