May 19, 2019
Before I get into the day’s activities, shout out to my sister who graduated from college today on the National Mall in Washington D.C.!
Since I’m posting this on Sunday I want to add that farmers don’t get weekends off. Every day animals need to be fed and there is always something that needs to be done in the field. Our Sunday started off with a phone call Dr. HN made to the local beekeeper Mark Tintjer, to get the all clear for us to go visit his farm and learn about his bees. We saw the frames of the bee hives, and learned about and saw a queen bee. We were offered to taste part of the drones and the honey that the bees produce. Mark discussed how pesticide drift from nearby farms affects his bees by moving into the apiary (where bees are stored) or onto crops attractive to bees. The drift is a common cause of bee poisoning. Just as Heath Stolee discussed crop insurance programs for his chestnut trees, we learned that there is no program for honey producers, only a price support program when honey prices fall below a certain threshold, but it appears that the 2018 farm bill eliminated this program.
Later in the day we made our way to Neubauer Farm to meet with HN’s brother Denny Neubauer. He discussed their farm operation and the 22 tractors they own. Some of the tractors date back to 1948 and the newer ones were made in 2004. Some of the older ones are still used to run their farm today. We discussed their general farm process and how they use their acreage to grow mainly corn and soybeans. Iowa ranked 1st in corn and 2nd in soybean production in the U.S. in 2017. During this session we saw one of their 6 combines used in the field. It is a massive piece of equipment that has GPS, which makes navigating the fields easier. Our tour ended with a barrage of videos about Denny’s numerous tractor pulling competitions.