Moroccan and Tunisian agricultural leaders visited Minnesota in 2017 via the USDA Cochran Fellowship Program. University of Minnesota Extension’s John Vreyens, Jochum Wiersma and Edward Usset organized a tour so the visitors could learn about Minnesota’s wheat industry. The tour included a stop at a barge loading facility in Savage. Barges are loaded on the Minnesota River and shipped to Louisiana, where grains are transferred to ocean-going vessels for export.
“A special relationship between the University of Minnesota and Morocco going back to the 1970s has long involved agricultural development, and we can expand on this connection for mutual benefit,” says Vreyens, Extension director of global initiatives. Many Moroccan scientists who studied at the University of Minnesota lead and teach today at Moroccan institutes of agricultural higher education and research.
