We met first thing with the Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection.  They shared with us their structure, how they spend their budget and some statistical information on German agriculture.   Their focus however is mainly on the area of consumer protection, which seems to be very prevalent within the German government.  They not only focus on the safety of the product or its health or environmental benefits, they look at the process on how it was created.  This can lead to new products being derailed for non-scientific reasons and once you are started down that path it is difficult to retrace your steps.
We then toured the Reichstag where the German parliament meets to discuss laws and scrutinize the government.  The buidling has a facinating and rich history of war, separation and reunification.  There are over a million bullet holes in the building with much of the destruction being left to help reconnect to the tattered past.  The architecture is also amazing as new features were added after reunification to update the building and carry a message of transparency in government.
We followed the tour by meeting with the Foreign Ag Service at the U.S. Embassy.  There we were breifed on trade with the EU and Germany.  We also talked about hot topics like GMOs and cloning.  We also talked about the recent German ban on nuclear energy.  It surprised us to learn that one third of their corn silage production is used to produce methane for energy production.
In the evening we had dinner at a traditional Rhineland restaurant and watched some soccer with Thomas Huschle, Vice President of the German Rural Youth Association. Which is much like our YFR program, but it adds other rural trades to their membership.  They are the official youth program of the DVB.

We started the day at the DVB, which is a farmers organizaiton similar to Farm Bureau.  The DVB staff were holding their weekly staff meeting to discuss current issues, DVB political decisions and activities.
We then met with the CDU (largest party, conservative), FDP (3rd largest party, conservative) and the green party (furthest left, and newest, fastest growing party).  We gained a better understanding of the complicated German political system, which mixes mulitple paty control, with a parliament government. And, talked about various agricultural issuess, such as animal housing standards, animal welfare, direct payments to farmers and genetically enhanced crops, to name a few.  
We had the opportunity to have lunch with Dr. Born, the General Secretary (Executive Director) of the DVB and learn more about their governance.  It is very similar to our Farm Bureau structure, with an emphasis on local farmer input.  However, their political system is vastly different and requires a different kind of lobbying.  When a bill is introduced from the government it can be amended, but not killed.  So some consensus must be met on the issue.  Dr. Bond also told us about people wanting to get into agriculture can enter an apprecticeship like program, where they gain practical knowlege on the farm at the same time they do classwork.  Then they go on to the university if they wish.  There are appriximately 50% of the workforce going into agriculture, that does not come from a farm. I enjoyed a traditional German dish of ground pork wrapped and cooked in cabbage with potatoes.
We spend the afternoon with Tiffanie Stephani, who works for the DBV in the Brussels office.  She works on policy issues dealing with the EU and its legal authority.  She gave us a better understanding of CAP or the Common Agricultural Policy which is the EU subsidy program.  In order to particicpate as a farmer you must meet 19 different environmental and production standards.  The EU has decoupled payments in recent years, tying the subsidy to the amount of land owned rather than a production based standard.  In the EU, 40% of farmers income is being derived from subsidies, with approximately 10% less than that coming from direct payments. The interesting thing is that high direct payments and subsidies has helped increase production.  The EU has become a self-sufficient agricultural state, and measures its self-sufficiency annuall. Finally, like in America, there are fewer farmers today, they too are producing more food and fiber than there were 10, 20 or more years ago.
We ended the day with some free time, which several of us chose to go to the Neues Museum. The museum has a vast collection of Egyptian and papyrus artifacts.  It also has the second most beautiful woman in the world (first is reserved for Garin), Queen Nefertiti.  It was one of the most stunning things I have ever seen.  The bust of Nefertiti was in pristine condition, despite being over 3350 years old.  AND, it was only a scupltors model for making other replications.

I left the US (Omaha) on Saturday at 10:40 am changing planes in Chicago, and then Newark, where I met the other three McCloy fellows.  Shane Otley a hay and cattle producer from eastern Oregon, Katherine Harrison a goat producer and packer from Ohio (near Columbus) and Tracy Grondine from AFBF.We landed after 8 am in Berlin, quickly got our bags and went through customs.  Brigitte Wenzel from Deutscher Bauernverband (DBV) met us at the airport and invited us to her home for a German breakfast and shepherded us around town for some sight seeing throughout the day.  We did a boat tour along the river in Berlin, seeing several sights, got to see a section of the wall and tour a new building/exhibit that was just opened.  The building was the main interchange between the east and west prior to reunificattion, known as the “Palace of Tears” for the heart wrenching moments where families living in the West Germany and the German Democratic Republic (GDR) had to part ways.  We also got to see the Berlin marathon which we were told is the 5th best marathon in the world and a runner from Kenya broke the world record.  It is facinating to see the runners at a pace for 26 miles that is probably faster than I can sprint.  We ended the day with a home cooked meal and beer at Brigitte’s home, with her daughter Marta.

Daddy: does your throat hurt?
Em: yeah kiss it

Mommy: are you hungry?
Em: Mommy, banana, go get it

Further bossing mommy as she’s standing in the door
Em: Mommy sit down!

Emlyn realizes daddy doesn’t have a shirt on
Em: daddy’s  shirt, oh no!

And finally “do you want to go back to bed”
Em: “night, night, I sleep now”

Its no fun when your baby doesn’t feel good, but you know everything’s ok when she still has the ability to make you smile.