We had a pleasantly late start this morning, meeting for a breakfast of egg and ham sandwiches at about 10:20 am. HN held seminar at the table, discussing our visit with Kelvin Leibold at the NRCS office. He reminded us to look past the rough edges and recognize the importance of Kelvin’s discussion to understanding the economic goals and incentives of farmers and farm operations. In preparation for our visit with Monsanto we talked about our concerns and questions surrounding GMOs, relating them back to the section on Paarlberg on the limited international trade of GMOs as well as the idea that the staple GM crops (especially corn) contribute largely to processed foods filled with salt, fat and sugar that increase obesity and compromise human health. We wrapped up discussion with ideas on whether or not GM crops can feed with world (especially with new technology like golden rice with added beta carotene) and left for Monsanto in Ankeny just after twelve noon.

Director and lobbyist Dave Tierney welcomed us at Monsanto and introduced the goals and political activities of the corporation. He said that one of their biggest endeavors has been in working to pass preemption, or the regulation of farm inputs by state and federal government rather than control by local municipalities. His rationale for this was that regulatory decisions take years to pass by the USDA and EPA and that localities shouldn’t have the ability to uproot these decisions in a fraction of that timeframe. We also discussed the future of GMO labeling and Dave confirmed that legislation will require it in the coming years although it won’t have to be displayed directly on the package. Monsanto employees then took us on tours of the labs, from the chipping machines to the gene extraction robots to sequencing. Downstairs we were shown labs that tested for soy oil stability, corn fermentability and soil quality.

After visiting Monsanto we met with Matt Russell, Resilient Agriculture Coordinator, and Neil Hamilton, Director of the Agricultural Law Center at Drake University. Hamilton spoke with some of the prospective law school students in the group about law school and careers in environmental and agricultural law. Both Russell and Hamilton discussed with us the prospect of cap and trade schemes and carbon markets in agriculture and how difficult these markets are to kickstart. He also discussed market trends (including the increasing demand for cage free eggs and California’s boycott against Iowan caged eggs) and the future of the Farm Bill, which he was convinced wouldn’t be passed by its 2018 timeline.

Dinner at the Wallace house followed our conversations with Russell and Hamilton, and included farm-fresh vegetables from the Wallace Center of Iowa farm, lamb and vegetable meatballs, and rhubarb strawberry crisp with rhubarb ice cream for dessert. Iowa’s finest, just as Diane Weiland promised.