Saturday, May 18

This past weekend was filled with a mixed bag of activities, though they are revolved around farm activities.. On Saturday, we started our day by speaking with two crop insurance agents. We learned about the government programs that supplement crop insurers. Interestingly enough, one of the agents referred to hail as the “white combine” due to it shredding any crops unlucky enough to be in its path.

Afterwards, we moved to meeting with the mastermind behind Nutty Farmer Chestnuts. Heath Stolee, the cousin of one of our hosts. While his operation has yet to turn a profit, as chestnut trees take 10-12 years to start consistently producing the $5-a-pound nuts, a farmer growing anything other than corn or soybeans is rare in Iowa which is why Heath’s dive into chestnuts is notable.

The final item on the docket was worming goats. Now, we were not really giving goats worms. Instead, we were giving them tetanus shots and medicine which gets rid of worms. So the practice really should be referred to as deworming.

Sunday, May 19

Sunday was the first day in a long time where we were able to sleep in. We got to wake up at 9! The first item on the docket was meeting with Mark Tintjer, a local beekeeper and nature enthusiast. He taught us all about the different types of honey, what it takes to maintain a beehive and how to win the most prizes at the Iowa State Fair.
Our afternoon was mainly spent inside but a few of us were lucky enough to head over to Neubauer Family Farms and talk to our Professor’s brother about all things farming. Mainly we were educated about his extensive collection of tractors, and Denny was more than willing to answer our novice questions about farms, farming, and tractor pulling.