Seeds of Diplomacy
Iowa Corn Field (The Kinnick Project, N.d.)
An Editorial Surprise
In February 1955, a New York Times article reported that Khrushchev, while addressing the USSR Central Committee about plans to massively expand corn production through planting hybrid corn, stated that the answers for struggling Soviet agriculture could be found by studying the west.
"It is known that the United States has achieved an increase in the total production of grain mainly as a result of expanding corn planting. There it is the most productive crop."
-Khrushchev's address to the USSR (The New York Times, 4 Feb. 1955)
(The New York Times, 4 Feb. 1955)
In response, Lauren Soth, editor of the Des Moines Register, published "If the Russians Want More Meat...," an editorial that challenged Khrushchev to do just that by participating in an agricultural exchange with Iowa.
"We have no diplomatic authority of any kind but we hereby extend an invitation to any delegation Khrushchev wants to select to come to Iowa...[and] we would be glad to go to Russia with a delegation of Iowa farmers."
(Headline/Quote: The Des Moines Register, 10 Feb. 1955)
In a surprise announcement, Khrushchev promptly agreed to exchange delegations once arrangements could be made.
1955 Diplomatic Exchanges
In March, when asked if a Soviet visit to Iowa farms should be allowed, President Eisenhower said the USSR didn't want war anymore than the U.S. and such a diplomatic exchange could be beneficial. Although concerned, the state department authorized a summer exchange, coordinated by Iowa State University, for a Soviet delegation to visit Iowa while a U.S. group visited the USSR.
Vladimir Matskevich, Soviet Deputy Agricultural Minister, visited the Long farm in Mt. Ayr, Iowa. (Long, 28 July, 1955)
(Mount Ayr Record News, 28 July 1955)
Sharon Long discusses the 1955 Russian visit to her family farm. (Personal interview, 14 Nov. 2021)
Although the Soviets were impressed by the productivity of the small southwestern Iowa farms they visited, Soviet Deputy Agricultural Minister Vladimir Matskevich was even more awed by an unplanned side tour of Garst's much larger farm with its advanced technology and agricultural methods. As a result, upon returning home, Matskevich paved the path to greater diplomacy by insisting Khrushchev invite Garst to the USSR.
-Liz Garst discusses Khrushchev's invitation. (Personal interview, 3 Jan. 2022)
"American delegates examine corn at a Soviet farm." (Brown, The Annals of Iowa, 2013, p. 49)
"This exchange of delegations is the beginning of stronger friendship and an interchange of ideas between our two great countries."
-W.V. Lambert, Head of U.S. delegation (Brown, The Annals of Iowa, 2013, p. 44)