USING POLITICAL CLOUT TO 'MAKE A DIFFERENCE'. As of April 2023, Robert De Niro's net worth is estimated to be $500 Million, making him one of the richest actors of all time. And then repeat that feat when his next venture, ethanol, would prove another market with a sour cycle? George Clooney. Rastetter has long been known in political circles for his annual summer party, an A-list Republican event complete with pork on a stick that sometimes attracts national conservative figures like Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal. Bruce who brought in $3 million and $5 million Networth Bruce collected most of his earnings from his Yeezy sneakers While he had exaggerated over the years about the size of his business, the money he pulled in from his profession real-enough to rank as one of the biggest celebrity cashouts of all time. He couldn't stop hog and ethanol prices from plummeting, he said, but he could make sure his employees were paid through it all. The party has become a well-heeled annual event. "That would probably be something at one point that I wished had not happened. var _Hasync=_Hasync||[];_Hasync.push(['Histats.start','1,4553220,4,511,95,18,00000000']);_Hasync.push(['Histats.fasi','1']);_Hasync.push(['Histats.track_hits','']);(function(){var hs=document.createElement('script');hs.type='text/javascript';hs.async=true;hs.src=('//s10.histats.com/js15_as.js');(document.getElementsByTagName('head')[0]||document.getElementsByTagName('body')[0]).appendChild(hs);})(); Bruce Rastetter is a well-known figure in the world of media. Its going to make them more substantive in their approach, said Rastetter. Back in 2011, he tried to get Chris Christie in the race, at one point flying a handful of Iowa heavy hitters out to New Jersey to appeal to the governor in person. Embracing change is vital in agriculture to feed a growing population, he said. It wasnt a coincidence: As early as the 1970s Stine, who had taken one business law class at McPherson College, a small liberal arts school in Kansas, was stipulating in contracts the royalties companies had to pay for using his seed and prohibiting them from using the seeds their harvest produced to plant for next season. Chris Christie as a potential presidential candidate. "But I think the experiences I've had in life and people I've met, we've tried to have some fun. Stine Seed was first in line to get its top-performing varieties patented. "The market was right, and he took advantage of it," said Walt Wendland, who founded Golden Grain Energy in Mason City. Hes loathed by liberal community activists who believe hes leveraged his money into political power for personal gain. I OWA CITY, Iowa (AP) Iowa Regent Bruce Rastetter on Thursday defended working with Iowa State University to pursue a large-scale land development in Africa that could . He was raised near Alden, Iowa, on a 320-acre farm that grew corn and soy and raised hogs and cattle. Influencers in American politics are power players who help get candidates elected, put through policy proposals, cause ideological changes, and affect popular perceptions. He maxed out to several top conservative candidates in 2014, including North Carolinas Thom Tillis, Alaskas Dan Sullivan and Iowas Joni Ernst, and gave $50,000 to Karl Roves American Crossroads. He is blunt but can be prickly at perceived slights. Bruce L. Rastetter is an American agribusinessman, agricultural entrepreneur, and former president of the Iowa Board of Regents, which governs the state's three public universities. But they always encouraged him to work hard toward a better life. @MarcoBattaglia Pipe scams end when everyone tells Bruce Rastetter that atmospheric C02 is more abundant than water https://t.co/US30lSmktc. The breeding process grew more advanced and automated, and by the early 1990s the company was testing 150,000 soybean varieties annually and producing the highest-yielding seed on the market. Stine, the 72-year-old founder and owner of Stine Seed, the largest private seed company in the world, built this tower back in 1987 so he could get a good view of his empire, some 15,000 acres of. Buffett left a permanent mark with his music and he began his . Having conquered pork, Rastetter then turned his sights to ethanol. Subscribe. It's a competitive world, but you've got to take time for people around you because life can change in an instant.". Crucially, it also forbade them from using his seeds to breed their own. ", HE WAS 'ALWAYS THE ONE WORKING,' FRIEND SAYS. "What we were doing was more environmentally sound than what we were doing on the small farm I grew up on. I don't give to get access. $50 per post at $10/CPM. Ryan said the agriculture summit was his idea. Get notification with the latest net worth updates for free. By breeding corn seeds genetically predisposed to thrive when planted in high densities, he thinks he can supercharge the engine generating animal feed, biofuels and food for the whole planet. But times called for change. "But the more I thought about it Bruce was one of those people who encouraged and supported me." "If people don't try to start new businesses and do new things and there is risk, we are never going to progress as a society and an economic system that is better for everyone. Bloomberg Daybreak Europe, anchored live from London, tracks breaking news in Europe and around the world. Bruce Rastetter, the "philanthropist", has used money effectively to wield power in politics and the public realm. Justin Kirchhoff President - Summit Ag Investors. William Rastetter owns over 12,375 units of Neurocrine Biosciences stock worth over $4,596,714 and over the last 20 years he sold NBIX stock worth over $1,559,850. And then well negotiate.. "I was going the other direction, and Bruce looked over at me. Heartland Pork is now the fourth largest pork producer in the country. Branstad worked the phones with several of the GOP presidential candidates. Theres always wrinkles in his science and negotiations that catch you off guard, says Monsantos Fraley. With $30 million from J.H. AT CENTER OF THE FIGHT OVER HOG CONFINEMENTS. According to Forbes and industry experts' latest study, Bruce Rastetter estimated net worth is more than a couple of million USD. Some still infringed and faced legal confrontation if caught, but largely the strategy worked. Bruce's brother, Brent Rastetter, who owns a company that constructs hog confinement facilities, gave Branstad an additional $31,000 and was appointed earlier this year to the Iowa Environmental . Many people ask this question about the money Bruce Rastetter makes from Facebook. He attended the University of Iowa, studying political science. When you put him in the room with a bunch of people, hes going to outpace everybody intellectually.. 4,000), the dozen or so companies under Stines umbrella form an unlikely titan at the heart of the market, directly or indirectly generating revenues from almost 50 million acres of crops in the U.S. each year. He said Rastetter held meetings that promised an increased tax base, productions with little smell and a rising price for local farmers' corn. Rastetter's name is synonymous with fights as a leader in three tender subject areas in Iowa large-scale agriculture, ethanol production and education funding. And, of ultimate importance, substantially increasing a farmers harvest. Its a long-running gag hes played on acquaintances, business competitors and even his wife, Molly, who had suffered the misfortune of the elevator actually breaking and had to climb down the ladderin heels. Stine Seed does business with all of the heavyweights and has for more than three decades, primarily because it has something everybody else needs: the best-performing soybean seeds in the business. "One of the reasons I give is to help those candidates be successful. [5] In early 2015, Rastetter, with the help of Iowa governor, Terry Branstad (R), brought Republican presidential candidates Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum, Donald Trump and Mike Huckabee. Terry Branstad was a decade removed from a record 16 years as governor. Small farmers and environmental groups led fights against hog confinements, saying they fouled the air and land and made parts of rural Iowa uninhabitable. He's bringing in young people like Summit President Eric Peterson, 29, who used the same phrase as a longtime employee in voicing appreciation that Rastetter "calls a spade a spade. Your email address will not be published. Click here to contact us for media inquiries, and please donate here to support our continued expansion. While he wants to broaden the discussion, theres no doubt the candidates will still be pressed on where they stand on the Renewable Fuel Standard. I always believe you support industry-wide incentives and the whole industry benefits. Thats good news since the worlds population continues to grow by about 85 million every year, while arable land remains scarce. "If our parents taught us anything growing up on a small farm, we should get better in life, and we should improve in what we do. [2] Hawkeye Renewables was followed by Hawkeye Gold Ethanol Marketing Group in 2008. "It's part of the reason I got into politics," Rastetter said. Rastetter counters that students should be happy. [2], Rastetter is a prolific political donor. But Rastetters moves over the past decade look like a how to guide for becoming a political power player, with far more influence than other wannabe Iowa kingmakers. It takes a minute and a half to learn what there is to learn about plant breeding., At the time public universities dominated breeding, and for good reason: Profits were limited, since intellectual property rights for soybean plants didnt existand wouldnt for another 30 years. As of May 2023, Bruce Springsteen's net worth is roughly $500 Million, making him the 4th richest rock star in the world. Like one of those for your desk? Stine noticed that corn plants hadnt changed much in generations. Though the company also began breeding corn seed genetics, soybeans remained its most profitable niche. It's what our country and our economic system allows," he said. "Bill Knapp is a friend of mine," he said of the influential Democratic donor from Des Moines, "but I don't often see him get written about as a mogul or a real estate baron, compared to an ethanol baron. If you ask political observers in Iowa about Rastetter, the term kingmaker inevitably comes up, but Rastetter and his allies dispute the idea. "He was even quieter back then. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Disclamer: Bruce Rastetter net worth displayed here are calculated based on a combination social factors. "I got really busy and pretty independent, and I kind of do what I want to do," he said. 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But no research thus far has shown that ultrahigh populations combined with narrow rows significantly increased corn yield., It is an interesting story and a great conversation piece, adds Tony Vyn, professor of agronomy at Purdue University, but a sideline to the real drivers of corn yield and economic efficiency gains that are needed most for this decade., For farmers theres a sizable capital risk in switching. They think, How can this be? Find previews and full coverage at DesMoinesRegister.com/AgSummitLive. He started by building agribusiness empires in some of Iowas key sectors including pork and ethanol then built close relationships with Iowas political elite, like Gov. But the joke, conducted amid full view of his empire, serves as a playful reminder: Harry Stine, the dyslexic farm boy turned cunning negotiator, data savant and agriculture visionary, is on top of the world. The contracts Stine drew up prohibited this. After graduating from McPherson in 1963, he did two quarters of graduate work at Iowa State, then went home to work on his fathers modest farm. Long before that, Rastetter had already had a very good day. In 2011, Rastetter jetted off with six other influential Iowa donors and activists to court New Jersey Gov. I think I try to make a difference with what I do and what candidates I support, but I would consider myself more [an influencer] than a kingmaker, Rastetter said. Hes been diagnosed with environmentally-induced asthma and since moved to Colorado, he said. ", 'A TIGER' PUSHING CHANGE ON BOARD OF REGENTS. He's been reserved and quiet forever. As founder of Agrisol Energy Corp., Rastetter pursued a deal with the Tanzanian government that would have used Iowa State University's expertise to develop farmland there and, in the original proposal, would have displaced refugees. if(document.getElementsByClassName("reference").length==0) if(document.getElementById('Footnotes')!==null) document.getElementById('Footnotes').parentNode.style.display = 'none'; What's on my ballot? He said he ended up with 20,000 hogs within four miles of his house and its made him sick literally. Then know this: Rastetter gave $5 million in 2008 toward upgraded Hawkeye football training facilities. By the time it got its 1994 patent Stine had become the largest private seed company in the country, the bulk of its revenues still coming from royalties from licensing its award-winning soybean genetics. Its going to take some time, says Rastetter, who is experimenting with Stines model. [8], In January 2017, shortly before the White House transition, Rastetter voiced his opposition to pending mega-mergers in the agriculture industry, such as those concerning Bayer, Monsanto, Dow Chemical, ChemChina, and Syngenta. All rights reserved. He is quiet but fierce. We have to make sure that not only is the education affordable, but it brings the value for what the students and parents are paying.". And you sit next to me. Stine flipped the conventional wisdom on its head. The family was poor and the work both long and hardrising at 6 a.m. and finishing at 6 p.m. was the norm, except in summer, when the hours were even longer. But after being asked why he never married, he counts it as one regret. Stines business model had been blessed by the highest court in the land. Mr. Rastetter is the founder and CEO of Summit Agricultural Group, a leading agribusiness and renewable energy firm with operations in North and South America. Anchored by Anna Edwards and Mark Cudmore, Bloomberg Markets Europe is a fast-paced hour of news and analysis, building towards the drama and excitement of the start of the cash trade across the continent. He is cautious. RT @JennUWinn84: @SiegelScribe Sounds like a conflict that would have @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds shaking in her corporate puppet strin https://t.co/FcMCag6iME, @SiegelScribe Sounds like a conflict that would have @IAGovernor Kim Reynolds shaking in her corporate puppet strin https://t.co/FcMCag6iME. Those qualities he has have enabled him to do in business what he has done. The agribusiness entrepreneur and president of the Iowa Board of Regents, who has given more than $1.1 million in state political contributions since 2003, is not the sort to chuckle. In 1994 the U.S. government granted its first patents on the full genetic makeup of a soybean. How to run for office | In early 2015, Rastetter brought a number of 2016 Republican presidential candidates to his Iowa Agriculture Summit for face-to-face public interviews. Rastetter pulled a lot of levers to get much of the GOP field to come to his agriculture event. @MarcoBattaglia Everyone needs to start refusing to use ethanol blends. Stines savvy is homegrown. Its an unusually public gig for a donor: Rastetter will chat with each candidate on-stage for 20 minutes before 1,000 Iowans and dozens of media outlets. Aside from whatever financial ties exist, Ryan and Rastetter are close allies. And furthermore, how can this little farm kid out here be doing this?. Rastetter admits he hasn't taken much time to get away from work. Bruce L. Rastetter is a businessperson who founded Hawkeye Renewables LLC and Summit Agricultural Group and who has been at the head of 8 different companies. Once home to his fathers hardscrabble cattle-and-crop farm, Stine has, without attracting any widespread notice, developed some of the most valuable agricultural products on Earth here. Heartland suffered multimillion-dollar losses in three of its last five years before being forced in 2004 to sell to Christensen Farms out of Minnesota. Two large buck heads hang on his office walls, as well as a couple of stuffed ducks. After all, one year he allowed Branstad to take his private jet from a governor's conference in Milwaukee to his summer party, held on his $537,440 country estate near Hubbard. His business ventures at times have become entangled with the universities, touching off controversies about potential conflicts of interest. The svelte and piercingly blue-eyed Rastetter can be enigmatic. So I asked to be appointed to the regents.". Now 35,000 plants and 150 bushels per acre is commonnearly five times the yieldthanks to modern tractors, fertilizers, pesticides and seeds genetically modified to resist insects and herbicides. Even if the process has grown more involved and advanced, the strategy behind breeding has changed little in ten millennia. Last summer, Chris Soules, the current star of The Bachelor who happens to work for Rastetters Summit Group as a real estate broker was reportedly in attendance, rubbing elbows with Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz. [1], In 1994, three years after the birth of his first company, he consolidated his feed management, construction, and swine projects into Heartland Pork Enterprises. 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Meet Bruce Rastetter, the man behind the Iowa Agriculture Summit, which is drawing 11 presidential hopefuls to Iowa March 7. Brent's net worth hovers over $250,000 - $499,999 with a yearly income that's about $200 - 249,999. WE CAME UP SHORT. FORBES estimates that Stines companywhich, among other things, also breeds corn genetics, creates plant traits in its biotech lab and has a small but growing commercial seed sales operationis worth nearly $3 billion. Today 60% of all U.S. soybean acreage is planted using genetics developed by Stines companies, which also have a strong presence in South America and other international markets. At the time Monsantowith Fraley, then president of the companys genomics group, leading the chargehad developed the biotechnology to insert genes into crop seeds, making them resistant to glyphosate, the plant-killing herbicide in the companys dominant weed killer, Roundup. [2][3] In 2000, Rastetter created a wind farm in north central Iowa, which he sold in 2007 to Alliant Energy. Bruce Rastetter, chief executive officer of Summit Agricultural Group, based in north-central Iowa, said this week his ethanol plant in Mato Grosso, Brazil's largest agricultural region, is. With the world adding 800 million to 900 million bushels of corn demand each year, Fraley says corn seed still needs more innovation, and he buys into Stines vision: We absolutely think its possible to double yields.. He launched Hawkeye Energy Holdings, rapidly growing it into the third-largest pure play ethanol company in the country helping to pump billions of gallons of corn-fuel into Americans gas tanks before selling to a Koch Industries subsidiary in 2011. [5], Rastetter is a well-known Republican donor, donating more than $1.5 million to state and federal political campaigns since 2003. With Hawkeye, that was 2006. Bruce Rastetter is not amused by the "kingmaker" label often thrown around by the press. Stine, the 72-year-old founder and owner of Stine Seed, the largest private seed company in the world, built this tower back in 1987 so he could get a good view of his empire, some 15,000 acres of frozen Iowa farmland. Through plant breeding, a roughly 10,000-year-old technique thats not unlike creating Thoroughbred horses or show dogs, Stine has been perfecting the genetic makeup of soybean seedsprimarily used in animal feed and to produce vegetable oilssince the 1960s. Today Summit Agricultural Group is an agriculture and renewable energy business with farmland holdings across in North and South America. https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=Bruce_Rastetter&oldid=8736876, Pages using DynamicPageList3 dplreplace parser function, Conflicts in school board elections, 2021-2022, Special Congressional elections (2023-2024), 2022 Congressional Competitiveness Report, State Executive Competitiveness Report, 2022, State Legislative Competitiveness Report, 2022, Partisanship in 2022 United States local elections, Local knowledge of our professional staff, Surveys of activists, thought leaders and journalists from across the country and political spectrum, Outreach to political journalists in each state who helped refine our lists. Growing up on a 300-acre family farm near Alden, Iowa, Rastetter started his career with his own feed management business. "It came and went so fast. He viewed it as a "legacy project," aimed simply at helping the poor people of Africa. @IowaRegents Going to call bullshit on Ag Communication. The Register political team includes Kathie Obradovich (@KObradovich), Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs), Jason Noble (@JasonNobleDMR), William Petroski (@WilliamPetroski), Brianne Pfannenstiel (@BrianneDMR), Josh Hafner (@JoshHafner), Annah Backstrom (@AnnahBackstrom) and Carol Hunter (@CarolHunter). Rastetter says the media treats people with a double standard. He grew up on a small farm near Buckeye, with three brothers and a sister. Twice. I believe in the whole economic freedom perspective. The event, the Iowa Agriculture Summit, included Rastetter interviewing, on stage and before an audience, each presidential candidate.[5]. Ballotpedia features 408,503 encyclopedic articles written and curated by our professional staff of editors, writers, and researchers. He's clearing the air a bit on a cold February day in his CEO offices of Summit Group, his multinational agriculture, investment and energy corporation near Alden. "One of the things that has always been a challenge for Iowa is being accepting of change. Normally the ad cost for an Instagram ad post is based on the number of followers on the account. It is a good reminder to those tempted to confine innovation solely to the world of Silicon Valley that some of the most impressive and fundamentally important advances on Earth are occurring today in agriculture, and the global epicenter is Americas heartland. Overnight on Wall Street is morning in Europe. Check Background Get Contact Info This Is Me - Edit Knowledge of those diagnoses was all but nonexistent at the time. He got help from Branstad, whom he recruited to run for governor in 2010 and was his top donor. They sold off the jet skis and never went riding again. His term expired in 2017. But, even more, they see Rastetter as a symbol of the intensive, increasingly consolidated agriculture industry that rules and too often pollutes Iowa an issue thats come to a head recently as Des Moines water utility pledged to sue three ag-heavy counties over allegations farm runoff has overloaded the citys water supply with dangerous nitrates. It's one Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz gave him in 2013. On an August day in 1995, they were riding the jet skis down the river with longtime friend Tad Ryan. And when we were after change in policy, he was a tiger.". Aside from a small, glass-walled house, its his only visible indulgence. YOU HAVE 5,000 FOLLOWERS. Efficiency. Previously only asexual plants like rosebushes or apple trees could be patented, not self-pollinating crops like corn and soybeans. On one of the windiest days in recent memory Harry Stine, the richest man in Iowa, cranes his neck to examine the elevator shaft inside the 110-foot steel observation tower next to his garage. But, as a consequence of his learning disabilities, Stine always worked slowly and carefully. When Branstad appointed Rastetter to the Iowa Board of Regents in 2011, Rastetter became an ally of Lang, then the board president.
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