Roswell Garst
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Roswell Garst (June 13, 1898 - November 4, 1977) was an American farmer and seed company executive. He developed hybrid corn seed in 1930 that allowed greater crop yields than open-pollinated corn. He was perhaps most well known for hosting Nikita Khrushchev on his farm in Coon Rapids, Iowa on September 23, 1959. He sold hybrid seed to the Soviet Union beginning in 1955 and played a role in improving US-Soviet communication.
Roswell Garst's parents were Edward Garst and Bertha Goodwin. He married Elizabeth Henak on January 31, 1921. Garst was a large man with a larger-than-life personality. He was diagnosed with cancer of the voice box in 1963. Garst was founder of Garst & Thomas Co., which became one of the world's largest producers of hybrid seed corn. In the 1930s, Garst traveled around the Midwest convincing farmers of the benefits of hybrid seed corn. As an international agriculturalist, he encouraged modern farming methods to improve food production in many nations, including the Soviet Union, Chile, Hungary, Germany, and France. Garst was famous for offering (sometimes unsolicited) advice. When Khrushchev visited Coon Rapids, Garst could not help but discuss the US-Soviet political situation, and told Khrushchev, `You know, for a peasant, you're a damned poor horse trader.' Garst made six trips to the Soviet Union to teach about hybrid seed and farm mechanization. He also sent his sons, including David Garst, on similar trips. Garst, in his view, was not only an agriculturalist, but also a goodwill ambassador promoting peace during the Cold War.
Historian Lee Winningham has been reevaluating the interesting period from 1955-59, when Garst and others were promoting a US-USSR agricultural exchange, seemingly against the wishes of various government officials.
[edit] References
Lee, Harold. Roswell Garst: A Biography. Ames: Iowa State University Press, 1984.
Lowitt, Richard and Harold Lee, eds. Letters from an American Farmer: The Eastern European and Russian Correspondence of Roswell Garst. Dekalb, Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 1987.
