Iowa was an experience. I think that’s the best way to describe it. It also was a lot—a lot of fun, a lot of food, and a lot of traveling (3700 miles). It’s also an experience that I will treasure and that has more fully shaped my views of agriculture. I know a whole lot more than on May 10 when we flew out.

I also made friends that I never would have made otherwise. Going into this trip, I knew only two people who were going, and not very well. Today, I have eight new friends, friends that I never would have made without Farm. For some reason, 4500 miles in a van can be a great bonding experience!

The real highlights of this trip are the people and the experiences, and they’re very unique to this trip in particular. For one, we stayed with host families. Morris, my host, was wonderful. He opened up his house to us, hosting our daily meals and chatting with us every night when we came back. Staci and Diane, who cooked for us, were also integral to our Iowa experience. They’re some of the nicest women that I have EVER met, and they fed us well. Some might even say too well. They also chatted with us about what we were learning, and they offered up their experiences with whatever subject we were talking about. Staci even planned our trip to the FSA office, where she works. The experiences were also unique to this trip, and they made it all the better. Where else can you meet with a Monsanto lobbyist, make farm fresh cheese, kiss a llama, and hunt morel mushrooms?

One of the things that made this trip different is that I graduated. HN likes to say that we could be in Helsinki or Italy, but we chose Iowa. For me and Hagen, the other graduate, we also could have been anywhere else. I have friends who went to Spain, or spent weeks traveling through California and Oregon, but I chose Iowa.

I chose Iowa because I knew that it would be more important and more useful than a traditional post-graduation trip. I’m very glad I did. Instead of eating and drinking my way through vacation, I learned a lot. I learned that the divide between “conventional” and “sustainable” farmers is incredibly wide, with few working to bridge the gap. I learned that there are several strategies to farm highly erodible land. I learned what highly erodible land even is. I learned that to make mozzarella you stretch the cheese for approximately forever. I learned what a CAFO is. I even went inside one. I learned that ag law is an important and growing field. I learned that sustainable means different things to everyone. Perhaps most importantly, I learned that water quality is a BIG deal and what the Des Moines Waterworks lawsuit was all about.

I wouldn’t change these experiences for the world, and I am grateful for everyone who was involved in this trip, from HN to our hosts and the people we met with. Thanks for making this happen, and maybe I’ll be back one day.