Today was interesting, to say the least. At 8:45 this morning we hopped in the mini-van and took a short drive to Iowa Falls, Iowa. Our visit to Ellsworth Community College was absolutely highlighted by the colorful personality of professor Kevin Butt. He is the quintessential Iowan. However, he was very informative on tractor safety and safety in hog pens. I learned that manure pits are a very dangerous place due to how easy it is to get stuck in them and basically suffocate from lack of oxygen. I also learned all about the necessary equipment to actually be in a hog barn. I enjoyed the various stories from Mr. Butt—he was especially insightful in the practice of precision agriculture. Precision agriculture is the future of farming. It involves almost no work on behalf of the farmers. With precision agriculture, to my understanding, all that is necessary is very expensive GPS equipment and a tractor suited for the job. I found that very interesting, as most people (including myself) saw farming as extremely physical rigorous work that required hard labor. Now, it is apparent to me that none of that is going to be necessary. We even watched a commercial recently released by John Deere that showed their “forward vision” of farming. That was cool. After we finished our delightful stay with Mr. Butt, we headed home for a delightful casserole prepared by Mrs. Nancy. Following that, we watched Ocean Frontiers. Essentially, the film covered the massive impact humans have on the environment. In relation to Iowa, the film covered how the nitrogen used in fields by farmers actually negatively impacts many other states in the Union, and even more, the Gulf of Mexico. The runoff of nitrogen from excessive rain that enters the streams and creeks of the Iowan water system eventually end up in the great Mississippi, which in turn enters the Gulf of Mexico. These buildups of nitrogen create a “dead zone” in the Gulf. Who knew Iowan farms had such a national impact on the environment? I sure didn’t. We also finally got to meet Denny Freist, who participated in the Iowan part Ocean Frontiers. He gave a great description of the nitrogen and phosphorus problem in Iowa, and what he’s doing to help reduce his environmental footprint. I’m excited about getting to work with him in the coming weeks.