DES MOINES - Sen. Charles Grassley kicked off his growing ''ambassadors tour'' Monday with diplomats from more than 60 countries joining him to build some business relationships with the state, and to get a handle on Iowa's key role in America's politics.

''What I'd like to get is an even better feeling of what makes America tick,'' said Christopher Eichhorn, a political aide in the German Embassy. ''Why people vote the way they vote and why people come up with the comments they make on things like health care and agriculture.''

''It's not always the place you go first when you are posted in Washington,'' said Pierre Vimont, the ambassador from France. ''You get to know a little bit more about its economy, its culture and, yes, its politics.''

Grassley has hosted the tour for 24 years. It began with representatives from about 30 nations; this year's tour features diplomats from more than 60 countries.

They'll spend five days touring businesses and farms in the state, sleeping in private homes and building relationships in the state.

''Our guests get a glimpse as to why there is no better place than Iowa to live, work and play,'' Grassley said.

There are rare occasions where an actual business deal is struck during the tour. One year, officials signed a deal to deliver 40 million bushels of soybeans to Colombia, but the real value of the trip is to build relationships, Grassley said.

''I thought one way to do that was to get people acquainted with Iowa, to bring ambassadors from Washington to Iowa for five days to find out what Iowa is all about,'' said Grassley. ''That's so when a business person from country X goes to the embassy of country X and says they want to do business in the United States, they know about Iowa.''

It doesn't hurt that Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses in the presidential campaign mean that the state is a very familiar presence on the national political agenda, and some of the visitors conceded that was a very good reason to get to know the state a little better.

In addition, some said with candor, Grassley himself is a potent senator with key positions on the Senate Finance Committee.

''We have lots of business with Congress, so we meet the senator in Washington,'' said Eichhorn. ''I'm looking forward to getting to know him a little better and the same is true of Iowa.''

The schedule was hectic, as busloads of diplomats rumbled around the state. They opened with a lunch at Principal Financial in Des Moines, then headed to Huxley for a tour of the Monsanto Corp. plant, and were dropping by a winery that they will tour in Carroll, where they will spend the night.

They are in the state until Friday, when they will cap the tour with a visit to the Iowa State Fair. Grassley always times the visit to coincide with the fair, with is an Iowa icon.

The trip is financed by local businesses and development groups, and Grassley said one sign that it's valuable is those groups keep coming up with the money every other year.

''The fact that the embassies keep coming back to Iowa shows it's of value to them,'' said Grassley. ''The in-kind stuff that's put up by Iowa and the actual money that's put up by Iowa businesses, I don't think they'd contribute that if it didn't do some good.''

Accompanying the group were state Department of Economic Development officials and local development workers.

''It's their job to follow up and make that business come,'' said Grassley. ''It has worked.''