A farm of two countries

Corn and soybean farmer Rick Kimberley welcomes visitors to his 4,000-acre farm in Maxwell, Iowa. [May Zhou/CHINA DAILY]

Rick Kimberley had to cut short his visit to China in September - it's harvest season and he needed to get back to the soybeans and corn from his 4,000-acre farm in Maxwell, Iowa.

However, despite the busy harvest followed by the holiday season, Kimberley said that he likely will go to China again for the fifth time this year, in December. The China-US Demonstration Farm finally broke ground in Chengde, Hebei province last month, and there is a lot to do.

"We need to make preparations for the demo farm. I will consult them on the way I farm here, the modern techniques and equipment we use. We have to lay out the demo farm area - where to put demonstrations for farming, equipment, seeds and products we will use. A lot needs to be designed and laid out the way we want," Kimberly said from his farm in Iowa.

The idea of a demo farm was originated when President Xi Jinping visited Kimberley's farm in 2012. Xi hoped to modernize China's farming, and believed Kimberley's farm could be a good model for that.

That idea changed Kimberley's life as an ordinary Iowa farmer. Since then, Kimberley has visited China 11 times and has come to view himself as an ambassador of sorts to build a better relationship between the peoples of the two countries.

"I probably visited more than 50 cities all over China. There is quite a difference in different regions," observed Kimberley.

The demo farm will be modeled after Kimberley's, right down to his modest farmhouse along with grain bins and John Deere tractors and combines.

It will first focus on corn and soybeans, the two primary crops on Kimberley's own farm.

"We probably will add other things as we go. We will see what works good in those climates," said Kimberley.

"What is going on in China as far as I can see is that none of the young people are staying on the farm," Kimberley said. "The farmers are in their 50s and getting older. In 10 years, if they don't start to use machinery, the farmers will be too old to farm by hand. There are no young people to take over. China needs to change the way it farms."

Most farmers Kimberley encountered in China farm one to four acres per family.

"The farmers live in the village together and go out to work the land separately. That could change. They can put the farms of the village together and be able to farm 300 to 400 acres together with machinery," Kimberley said.

Kimberley's favorite Chinese city is Shanghai, and spicy food and soup noodles are his favorite Chinese dishes.

Having traversed the vast region of China from Shanghai to Urumqi, from Jilin to Guangdong, Kimberley said the visits have impacted him and his family a lot. His wife and his son joined him on some trips.

"By going to China, it helps us to understand the people and the country. It opened our eyes, feelings and hearts to the people of China. It has made us better," Kimberley said.

"The culture is so different. You can read about it, but until you go there, you don't really understand what they are going through," he said.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com