Chris Stockebrand was the guest speaker at Friday night’s 94th annual meeting of the Allen County Farm Bureau.
Stockebrand is the general manager of the Woodson County Cooperative. He spent 13 years working for the grain giant Cargill in its nutrition and business unit. His tenure included 3½ years in Spain.
Stockebrand talked at length about the experiences he and his young family had adjusting to the foreign country.
He also touched on agricultural differences between Spain and the United States, including that its biggest crop is barley, coming in second in the world in production after Russia.
Spain produces about 330 million bushels of barley a year, and still imports another 5 million bushes, Stockebrand said.
“They use barley like we use corn.”
Secondary crops are corn, sunflowers and wheat.
Spain produces about 220 million bushes of wheat a year, making it 24th in world production. Last year’s wheat crop in Kansas — an exceptional year — was 580 million bushels.
Pork is the most frequently consumed meat in Spain, he said. Fish comes in second, followed by poultry and then beef.
In the United States, beef is the favorite meat, followed by poultry and pork. Fish comes in last as a main course in the U.S.
Though Stockebrand complained about a “manana” attitude among business associates, he admitted the country has some advantages including free education for all children from age 3 up through college, which guaranteed a well-educated work force.
Stockebrand attended Yates Center High School and graduated from Kansas State University in 1998 with a degree in agricultural economics.
He and his wife, Tricia, have five children.
Co-op manager brings world lessons home
