Fall of Communism opens the world to Schoper

know as the Fall of Communism,

was a monumental year in world

history that included free-market

economics winning the battle

During a USAID visit to Egypt in 2000, Schoper said a farmer was excited to show
him his sack of U.S. wheat.

between capitalism and communism.

Events had a big impact on

many people, including University of Minnesota

Extension Educator and South Central College

Farm Business Management instructor Wayne

Retired University of Minnesota Extension Educator Wayne Schoper of New Ulm rides a camel with farmers during a 2000 visit to Egypt with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The agency is primarily responsible for administering civilian foreign aid and development assistance to end extreme global poverty and enableresilient, democratic societies around the globe to realize their potential.

Schoper of New Ulm who recently retired after

nearly 40 years in agriculture education.

He said the U.S. Department of Agriculture

and Polish Ministry of Agriculture began working

together in the early 90s after communism and Soviet

domination fell in Poland.

“Farmers working for themselves, creating the

need for record keeping, was a new concept in

many countries formerly under soviet domination,”

Schoper said.

Representing the U.S. Agency for International

Development (USAID), he went to Poland for 6

months with a Penn State extension educator. He

went to Russia in 1995. From 2000 to 2008, he

visited Vietnam, Egypt, Zambia, Malawi, Armenia,

Moldova, Kazakhstan, Lebanon in 2013 and Brazil

a couple times,” Schoper said.

“Once my name was in the USAID system, I

was regularly going on international trips. They

were the highlight of my career. I was off the

beaten path, getting to know real people,” he said.

Schoper said he got along well with Russian

farmers.

“A Russian farmer told me he thought all Americans

were evil. We had a few shots of straight

vodka together after work and got along great. He

changed his mind,” Schoper said.

Schoper said Polish farmers treated him very

well.

“When a guest is in the house, they consider it

like God is in the house. They roll out the red carpet,”

he said.

Schoper said he met a farmer on a visit to Egypt

in 2000 who was very thrilled to have a sack of

U.S. wheat.

“He also had a New York Yankees baseball cap

he was very proud of. Egypt produces cotton for

export,” Schoper said.

“People here complain about a lot things in this

country. They should try living in a third-world

country. Our problems are small compared to

their’s,” he said.

“I’m very fortunate. I picked a job that I liked,”

said Schoper.

Growing up on a farm with corn, soybeans,

alfalfa, cows, hogs, chickens four miles north of

Jeffers, Schoper graduated from the University of

Minnesota Ag school with an agronomy degree in

1977.

“I farmed for eight years with my dad and

brother after college before the farm crisis hit in

the 80s. We had 17% interest rates and $3 corn.

There was no way you could make any money. I

decided to get out of farming and got a job with

the University of Minnesota Extension Service

in 1985. My dad Walter was a World War II U.S.

Navy Vet who went back home to farm after the

war. He and my brother Tom continued to farm.

My dad took his last crop in 1999, ” he said.

Schoper worked with the UM extension service

in Pine County from 1985-1989, in Brown County

from 1989 to 2010 before working as a farm business

management instructor at South Central College

in North Mankato until retiring July 1, 2024.

He now works part-time in farm business management

consulting work with records, cash flow

analysis and tax planning.