Welcome to the Boyhood Farm
Welcome to the Boyhood Farm. Norm moved to this farm with his family in 1922. Visit his home (a kit house purchased from Sears), the iconic barn and New Oregon School #8 that Norm attended.
Small Town Boy
"From the day he was born in 1914, Norman Borlaug has been an enigma. How could a child of the Iowa prairie, who attended a one-teacher, one-room school; who flunked the university entrance exam; and whose highest ambition was to be a high school science teacher and coach, ultimately achieve the distinction as one of the one hundred most influential persons of the twentieth century? And receive the Nobel Peace Prize for averting hunger and famine? And eventually be hailed as the man who saved hundreds of millions from starvation—more than any other person in history." (p.3)
Hesser, Leon. The Man Who Fed the World : Nobel Peace Prize laureate Norman Borlaug and his battle to end world hunger : an authorized biography, Durban House Pub. Co., 2006.
Words of Wisdom
Three Major Awards: The Nobel Peace Prize, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Congressional Medal of Honor. Others who have all three are: Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, and Elie Wiesel. Dr. Borlaug is considered the Father of the Green Revolution. He is the man who has saved more lives than any other person who has ever lived. He was named one of the 100 most influential individuals of the 20th Century.
Food for Thought from Dr. Borlaug: Just as his Grandfather Nels, whom he admired greatly, gave him words of wisdom by which Norm could guide his life, Dr. Borlaug has left us with a rich legacy of words of wisdom by which we can guide our lives.
“The first essential component of social justice is adequate food for mankind.”
“You cannot build peace on empty stomachs.”
“A hungry man is like a hungry beast.”
“Too many people are satisfied with mediocrity. They never try to obtain their maximum potential. They don’t reach for the stars. If they did, there would be more people with stardust on their hands.”
Additional Resources
Norm began his wheat research in Mexico. He would spend the rest of his life trying to improve food security for people around the globe.
"Borlaug spent 20 years working with wheat producers in Mexico, where he eventually developed high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties and a double-season production system that defied conventional wisdom of the time. As a result, Mexico produced six times more wheat than before and went from an importer nation to a wheat exporter in 1963." (USDA)
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An Interview with Dr. Borlaug
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A 2008 interview with the Father of the Green Revolution (from Academy of Achievement) Learn More
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Borlaug and Africa
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In the 1980s Dr. Borlaug began working to improve agriculture in Africa through the Sasakawa Africa Foundation. Learn More