About AGtivities

AGtivities is a private enterprise owned and operated by Eric and Maria Rund.

Eric Rund produces seed corn, food grade corn, and seed beans on 775 acres near Pesotum, Illinois in Champaign County.

Besides traveling extensively, Eric and wife Maria have entertained and served as interpreters for numerous groups of farmers and agribusiness visitors from other countries over the past 18 years. Eric served as consultant to the Bertini planter factory in Argentina, and he conducted a performance comparison study of their planter on his farm in Illinois.

Based in part on his experiences with South American farming, Eric has moved their Pesotum farm to a 2 years corn – 1 year soybeans rotation, from the normal 50/50. They have also invested in farmland in Brazil.

Utilizing their extensive network of contacts, the Runds organize and guide agriculture related tours, mostly to Argentina and Brazil. In 2005 they organized a trip to Brazil to study the potentially devastating soybean rust fungus. The most recent trip, in January of 2006, was to study Brazil’s programs to become energy self sufficient.

Motivated by the efficiencies of the systems he saw in Brazil, Eric wants to take the idea of generating energy from biomass from the novelty stage to main stream in the Midwest. He is lobbying for a farm bill with incentives for producers and processors to adopt these new yet untested technologies. He is experimenting with growing biomass crops on their farm.

For more information contact Eric & Maria Rund
73 CR 1300 E, Pesotum, IL 61863
(217) 867-2511