AGRICULTURE: UKRAINIANS SEEK HELP

With the downfall of communism and breakup of the Soviet Union, ex-Soviet countries are trying to adjust to new systems of government, and they are finding some help in Southeast Missouri.

Monday was the first of a 10-day tour of Southeast Missouri by a group of 20 Ukrainian agriculture officials. The tour is part of a program to help the officials learn how to privatize an agricultural system that was once controlled by the government.

The program has been developed and conducted by the Agriculture Management Group in cooperation with Southeast Missouri State University and Lincoln University.

"We're interested in the organization of agriculture in the United States," said Stepan Maksymyuk, deputy head of the Ivano-Frankiusk region in Ukraine. "We know that agriculture in the United States is highly developed, and we want to learn from that system."

He said he can see that privatization of agriculture in the United States is more effective than the system in Ukraine, and that is why Ukraine wants to follow the American system.

Dr. Peter Yaremko, a political science professor at Southeast Missouri State and expert on the Ukrainian government, said the change won't be easy. He said collective farms in Ukraine have 3,000 to 8,000 people on them. "How can you turn these farms private without creating chaos?"

He said the government isn't sure the change will take place, but there are many farms that aren't working and many believe something must change. "This is a part of the reason why they're in Cape," he said.

The program teaches Ukrainian officials different aspects of American agriculture. Lester Goodin, who is coordinating the visit, said the officials are learning about American agriculture from the government's standpoint to that of the farmer.

On Monday at Southeast, which is headquarters for the tour, the group learned about the government's role in agriculture. They listened to presentations by U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson of Missouri's 8th District, a member of the U.S. House Agriculture Committee; U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman, who gave a presentation via satellite; Peter Myers, former U.S. deputy secretary of agriculture; and John Saunders, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture.

"It was interesting to see how different departments are involved," Maksymyuk said of the presentations.

The group will see the system at work when they visit the University of Missouri Delta Agricultural Research Center at Portageville, MFA's Cooperative and Demonstration Site in Chaffee, Clevenger Farm and Swampeast Acres in Charleston, the DeWitt Auction Co. in Sikeston, Farm Credit Services Office in Benton and the Southeast Missouri State University Demonstration Farm near Cape Girardeau.

"We're going to visit farms to show how American agriculture came to be as successful as it is," Goodin said.

After leaving Southeast Missouri, the group will travel to St. Louis to visit the Monsanto Genetic Research Facility before flying to Washington, D.C., the following day.

Goodin said the program, which is being funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development through the Academy for Educational Development, is part of a national commitment toward Ukraine's transition. "It's a painful process," he said.

Maksymyuk said, "It's very nice to know that our American friends are interested in the betterment of our country."