Today was a very varied day. We had a large variety of activities: we ate breakfast, we toured the Monsanto Huxley Learning Center, we met with Iowa corn, and we split into groups to make cheese, artificially inseminate cows, or ride along with planting/cultivating.

At Monsanto, we discussed a variety of agriculture techniques and planting. They’re currently focusing on merging science and data science to maximize returns for farmers. I felt that the presentation was very high on the marketing end and low on the data. They had a variety of stations with focus areas, including seed science, genetics, traits, agronomy, and research. These stations focused on the seed science, while their other hallway focused on precision engineering, including variable rate planting, singulation, and depth.

Following Monsanto, we visited Iowa Corn, and met with three people there, including Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, T.J. Page, and Dr. David Ertl. Iowa Corn two wings, the corn promotion board and the corn growers’ organization. Iowa Corn has federal priorities, including environment, ethanol, trade, and safety net. They also have state priorities, including conservation/water quality, livestock, renewable fuels, research, and taxes. Iowa Corn also has a PAC, funded separately from the Corn Promotion Board and Corn Growers Association.

After Iowa Corn, we drove back to Radcliffe and split into different groups. One group went to Lost Lake Farm, where they milked cows and made cheese (I wasn’t a part of that, so I’ll let them expand). The other group rode along with farmers who were planting and field cultivating, including Denny Neubauer, Denny Friest, Brent Friest, and Glen Hodnefield. I went with Denny Neubauer, and we field cultivated for Caleb Knutson, who had broken down in his field. Following this, Sophie Friis and I participated in artificial insemination of cows with a local farmer.