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STRAYER, George M. 1910-1981

STRAYER, MARTIN, UBBEN, MCMAHON

Posted By: K.L. Kittleson
Date: 6/22/2013 at 18:51:29

HUDSON, IOWA - George M. Strayer, 70, who was prominent in the soybean industry and active in community and political affairs, died Friday at Schoitz Memorial Hospital in Waterloo, Iowa.

Services will be 1:30 p.m. Tuesday at Hudson Community Church, with burial Hudson Cemetery. Flagfolding rites will be conducted at the cemetery by Gibson-Mueller American Legion Post No. 599 of Hudson. Friends may call at Locke Funeral Home in Waterloo, after 4 p.m. Sunday, and memorials may be given to the Hudson Community Church, or to Allen Memorial Hospital in Waterloo.

Most recently, Mr. Strayer was president of Agricultural Exports, Inc. He was an organizer and first secretary of Associated Hybrid Producers and vice president of Strayer Seed Farms. Inc. A pioneer on the soybean industry he became secretary and the first employee of the American Soybean Association in 1940. Mr. Strayer founded and edited "The Soybean Digest" in 1940 and the "Soybean Blue Book" in 1947.

In 1949, the government sent him to Europe to study the possibilities of soybean production and use as a source of protein for human food President Dwight Eisenhower appointed him to a trade mission to Northern Europe to study why the United States was losing markets. The Foreign Agricultural Service sent him to Japan in 1955 to study potential markets for U.S. soybeans He established the first overseas market development office.

In 1956, the Foreign Agricultural Service sent him to 10 European countries to do a market survey on possible markets for U.S soybeans. As a result of his findings, The Soybean Council of America was established jointly by the American Soybean Association and the National Soybean Processors Association.

In 1959, Mr. Strayer surveyed soybean market possibilities in the Orient and Middle East. In 1967, Mr. Strayer left the American Soybean Association to devote time to Agricultural Exports. Inc. Among his other numerous activities.

Mr. Strayer was mayor of Hudson from 1970-1978. president of the League of Iowa Municipalities. He served in the U.S. Army during World War II as a public relations officer.

Born on December 7, 1910, in Hudson, Iowa, he was the son of Bert and Velma Martin Strayer. He married Jeanne McMahon on January 24, 1942, in Iowa Falls. His mother and wife survive, as do a brother, Gordon of Hudson, and a sister, Mrs. Carl Ubben of Hudson.

SOURCE: Waterloo Courier, Sun. Nov 9, 1981
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BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION--

Associated Hybrid Producers was formed in Hudson, Iowa, in 1937 to promote the use of hybrid seed corn over the open-pollinated corn that had been used in the past. The association's membership was drawn from medium-sized hybrid corn companies who produced foundation seed stocks cooperatively and did joint promotions at fairs.

George M. Strayer (1910-1981) was its founder and first secretary. He held this office from 1937 until his death in 1981; the collection is largely made up of his office files as secretary.

Strayer graduated from Iowa State University in 1932 with a B.S. in agronomy. After graduation he joined Strayer Seed Farms in Hudson, Iowa, in partnership with his father. The Strayers were among the first in the United States to plant soybeans, and George Strayer was also active in the promotion of soybeans throughout his career. Strayer served as executive secretary of the American Soybean Association from 1940 to 1967 and was founder and first editor of the Soybean Digest.

He was sent to Europe in 1949 by the Economic Cooperation Administration to study the possible production and use of soybeans as human food. In 1955 he spent two months in the Far East surveying the market potential for American soybeans.

Strayer also served as mayor of Hudson, Iowa, from 1970 to 1978. Collection consists of Strayer's Associated Hybrid Producers records, including articles of incorporation, bylaws, financial statements, and correspondence with staff members of the Iowa State University Seed Laboratory. The collection also includes Strayer's correspondence with legislators on the state and national level.

SOURCE: Agricultural Collections Guide - ISU Library

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