Costa Ricans come to Iowa to learn about food

A delegation of college students and professors from Costa Rica will arrive in Iowa today to learn about how we’ve become a world leader in food production. Mark Gleason, a plant pathology professor at Iowa State University, will serve as a tour guide. Gleason says I-S-U’s ag students have been all over the world, including to Costa Rica.but this is the first student group from Costa Rica to come to Iowa — and the first from Central or South America. Gleason says no agricultural “secrets” will be given away. He says Costa Rica is by no means a competitor to Iowa.Gleason says he’ll be escorting the group of 15 Ag students and three professors all around Iowa’s corn and soybean fields — along with many other farms and specialty crop operations.The delegation from the University of Costa Rica will be in Iowa about eight days.