Today, Monday, May 13, was a fantastic hands-on day! Beau, Caroline and I were at a neighbor’s cattle farm assisting with rounding up cows to inject them with medicine for health and fertilization reasons. It was fascinating to see how the farmers and their assistants handled the cows: very calm and generally no contact. From my perspective, cows are thought of as docile, dumb creatures – not the case for cow number 1018. She has a reputation for being quite ornery and mean, which will lead to her soon being sold to protect everyone who works on the farm. I never thought of a cow as mean-spirited or dangerous, only as happy, like the Happy Cows’ commercial for California milk.  I wanted to come to Iowa to broaden my experience and my perspective. Readings and movies can only teach so much – actually working and learning from the people who do the work is the best way to form one’s own opinion and understanding.  I have learned that food and agriculture policies are incredibly contentious! Lots of people with lots of opinions, and all of them think they are right.  They all hold a golden key that unlocks a door to truth.  But my trip to Iowa has demonstrated that it is important to listen to all of these people and to work side-by-side with folks of all stripes so that I can form my own opinion, my own synthesis, after weighing the evidence that each side (and those in-between) have presented.

After the cows received their shots, local farmers in the area helped truck the farmer’s 75 cows to 170 acres of luscious grass pasture on which the cows grazed. Their beautiful pasture looks like an edited Instagram photo found on the cover of magazines. Afterwards, we helped another farmer round up in cows to put inside his corral. The farmers saddled horses for the round up, including one for Caroline (fellow member of Farm), and together they steered cows into his corral! Real cowboys in Iowa – never would have thought! Wonderful hands-on experiences like today are why I wanted to come up to Iowa.   This trip has allowed me to meet people who are authentic and who tell stories without a filter.  One farmer, Denny, worked as a cowboy in a traveling rodeo.   Getting first-hand experiences from these farmers results in an unparalleled experience.