May 17, 2019
Our morning started at 7:00am when Dr. HN picked Sammy and me up from the Knutsons to bring us to breakfast at Morris’ house. After breakfast we ventured to Jewell, Iowa better known as “A Gem in Friendly Setting” to visit the POET ethanol plant where we were met with Jerry Rabe, who is the plant manager. This biorefining operation consumes locally grown corn and produces ethanol, livestock feed, and feed for dog food producers. POET provides feed for local, national, and international markets. Ethanol is an environmentally friendly alternative fuel source for cars. The importance of ethanol as a fuel source can be illustrated by a specific example of ethanol known as E15. It is a 15% ethanol fuel approved by the EPA for use in 2001 and newer cars, light-duty trucks, SUVs, and all flex fuel-vehicles. This constitutes over 85% of all vehicles on the road today. The impact of this Jewell, Iowa biorefining plant goes beyond just enhancing the local economy.
After, we finished up at the Poet plant half the group went to Lost Lake Farm for the work with Kevin Dietzel. The rest of us headed to the Sweeney farm to help them herd and separate their cows. While helping herd the cows, one of my boots got stuck in the mud. Unfortunately, when I tried to maintain my balance my hands got covered in cow manure. As Ms. Sweeney says, “you never really experienced farming until into you get in with the mud.” Another interesting aspect of this part of the day, was seeing the Sweeneys give antibiotics to a baby calf. Also while we were herding the cows, I kept in mind what we learned about farm safety the day before with Professor Butt– one of the main causes of injury in farming is animals. Mr. Sweeney also emphasized this. He cautioned us not to get too close and to put our hands out since the cows aren’t able to see straight very well.
The day concluded with cheese making at Kevin Dietzel’s Lost Lake Farm and supper at It’s All Good in Radcliffe with Brain Wosepka from Fockler Creek Farms. During our cheese making lesson, we learned about how to aerate cheese by poking holes through it, how to properly cut cheese, package cheese in bags, and place labels on the bags. At It’s All Good we were able to discuss Brain Wosepka’s mission statement and how that relates to core values which as he stated, “more people focus on profit instead of what their company is actually about.” This really stuck with me since I’ve learned about mission statements in my sustainability courses. Brian also gave us a better perspective of what they are about, their core values, and how they engage the community. I was particularly impressed by his perspective that the community needs to be involved in determining the kind of food system it wants; that community needs to voice its concerns.