07/12/2009 - Under the topic “the opportunity of Argentina as a rich country”, the Open Gates Workshop reached its XX series with an outstanding audience.

Organized by CREA Roque Pérez – Saladillo Group, AAPRESID Saladillo Regional Unit, AACREA and AAPRESID, the XX Open Gates Workshop was carried out at the “San Miguel" Farm in Saladillo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday 27 November.

“With the feet on the ground but not in the mud… With the eyes on the sky but not in the clouds" was the slogan proposed to go beyond the short-them goals and the current situation. The workshop was developed on the basis of the “opportunity” our country has as one of the main producers of staple products and the fact that the world will continue demanding them more and more.

The President of Crea, Alberto Garré, opened the event by summarising the twenty Open Gates workshops carried out so far -with more and more participants every year. Then came the words of the mayor of Saladillo, Carlos Gorosito.

More than 1,400 people attended the workshop this year including agricultural producers, professionals of the sector, NGOs' representatives, university students and agricultural school pupils, among others; luckily accompanied by good weather.

During the morning three modules were developed. The first one “Opportunity: Future Vision of the Sector worldwide and in Argentina”, Alejandro Bustamante, of El Tejar, talked about the opportunities around the world, and Guillermo Bernaudo, of AACREA, enumerated the possibilities of meeting them from the agriculture sector.

The second module "What does Argentina need to convert this Opportunity into a country for everybody?", was presented by Carlos March, who set the conceptual framework, while Lalo Kreus (Leader of the Class-conscious and Combative Movement of La Matanza) and Héctor Toti Flores (National Representative and founder of la Juanita Cooperative) talked about the possibility of building a country for everybody, integrating all the sectors of society. It was the highlight of the day, which ended up in a huge applause of a standing audience.

To conclude the morning section, the third module: "How do us, as companies, prepare ourselves for this moment?", Germán Weiss (CREA America, former AACREA president and recently awarded with the agricultural entrepreneur prize in the farmer category) acted as moderator and, together with Cristian Porticelli (rural contractor) and Diego Galleta (rural contractor and producer), explained to the audience how can the companies contribute to build values, generate culture and provide development within the communities where they operate.

In the afternoon, there was a visit to four stations headed by the technical representatives of companies that are members of the CREA Roque Pérez Saladillo Group accompanied by INTA Anguil representatives.

_Corn: “High production management”, “Environmental Management Program Agro Eco Index”. Agric. Eng. Juan Pablo Monzón (El Tejar) and Natural Resources Engineers Federico Frank and Jonatan Clatt (INTA Anguil).

_Barley: “Fertilization influence and its residual effect on soy second crop”. Agric. Eng. Ignacio Negri (El Tejar) and Agric. Eng. Marcos Crocce (CREA Gral. Belgrano Consultant Eng.).

_Colza: “Colza role in rotation”. Agric. Eng. Dabel Valsecchi (El Tejar – Central Region) and Agric. Eng. Pablo Calviño (El Tejar – Technology Director).

_Soybean: “Farming management in different environments”. Agric. Eng. Gonzalo Ropero (CREA Roque Pérez – Saladillo Consultant Eng.), Agric. Eng. Carlos Bruno (Technical Resp. Manolo Gaucho S.A.), Agric. Eng. Pastor (Semillero Nidera S.A.) and Agric. Eng. De Luca (Don Mario S.A.).

Lunch was prepared by and in aid of Schools Nº10 of Saladillo and Nº2 of Paraje Blas Durañona, 25 de Mayo.

At the XX Open Gates Workshop there were more than 40 stands of sponsor companies (banks, input suppliers, service companies, consultants, car concessionaires, etc.) as well as of several social organizations which took the opportunity to show their projects and the products they manufacture.

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