June 5^th, 2019

Over the past three weeks we’ve covered lots of ground. We traveled to Storm Lake in the northwest, Decorah in the northeast, and made a lot of stops in between. We examined agricultural practices that can damage, restore, and sustain the environment. We discussed conventional, sustainable, and precision agricultural production methods and the controversies they prompt. We learned Iowa’s state facts and read books and articles discussing topics from immigration to pesticide drift, and the politics of obesity to farm subsidies and trade tariffs. We worked on farms and spoke directly to farmers; we talked to environmental advocates, agriculture researchers, farm bureau representatives, Ag policy experts, and even a seed historian; we met the Poet Laureate of Iowa, a member of the Iowa House of Representatives, and a Pulitzer Prize winner; we herded cows, bottle-fed calves, made cheese, pulled weeds, and artificially inseminated sows…a lot of cutting-edge stuff is happening in Iowa.

Aside from my first-hand encounter with manure, one memorable experience for me was being able to see various types of confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) at Dennis Liljedahl’s farm, Brent Friest’s farm, and Gary and Clint’s Welsh’s organic farm. At the Liljedahl and Friest farms they used similar practices, both keeping their hogs in gestation crates with little space to move. The Welsh’s farm however, had their hogs outdoors in separate and open areas. Other key takeaways were working at and seeing multiple farms and organizations throughout the trip, especially the Meskwaki Settlement in Tama, the Whiterock Conservancy, and Seed Savers. At these different places, we learned about the various jobs they perform including pulling weeds, removing an invasive species (known as Dame’s Rocket), and spading out the omnipresent thistle. Also, discussions about water quality and pesticide drift stuck with me. In regards to water quality, many places, including Iowa Soybean Association, Agribusiness Association of Iowa, Iowa Environmental Council, and specifically Connie Mutel, a retired plant ecologist at University of Iowa, discussed the issue of nitrogen and phosphorous runoff from farms entering the Mississippi River and later the Gulf of Mexico causing dead zones or hypoxia, for example.  After this trip, whenever I hear or read about the Gulf of Mexico, the terms “runoff and “dead zone” will pop into my head. We were also able to meet with Mary Skopec, also known as the “queen of the water,” at the Lakeside Laboratory. We performed water quality testing, measuring dissolved oxygen and nitrogen levels and also the water’s turbidity. This was especially fun for me, since it is an activity I am very familiar with, performing similar tests throughout my coursework as a sustainability science major. When discussing pesticide drift at Practical Farmers of Iowa, Mark Tintjer’s bee farm, and Grinnell Heritage Farm, we learned that products, such as dicamba, when applied can “drift” or spread from one farm one to another, killing crops and causing legal disputes. These are all places that deal with assisting farmers with pesticide drift problems, but also places that have been personally affected by such drift. Understanding the on-the-ground reality of pesticide drift is one example of how the Farm experience changed the way I think about food production. There is more to farming than just yields.

All in all, this Iowa journey has been a very enriching educational opportunity; loaded with information, experiences, and memories I will never forget. I am sure I will find my way back to the Hawkeye State at some point, but until then… peace out Iowa!

June 2^nd, 2019

“It is easier to talk to your kids about sex than talk about land transition.”

 ~ An anonymous farmer

After a long day of driving and a bit of relaxation we traveled to Garden City, Iowa to see a production of Map of My Kingdom.  Professor Mary Swander, Iowa’s Poet Laureate from 2009-2019, wrote the play.

The play was commissioned by Practical Farmers of Iowa, which wanted the play to focus on the issue of land transition in farming, also known as succession planning. People over 65 years old own much of the farmland in Iowa. The purpose of the play is to get the conversation started about issues like who’s going to get the farm, how the farm can stay intact and if inheritance plans will lead to family peace or strife. Swander emphasizes discussing these issues openly.  The topic is portrayed through different farmers’ perspectives on how they tackled the problem. For instance, one daughter was so fearful of her family, including her husband, that she had all the guns removed from the house. Another story covered how non-farming members want to sell their portion while the farming members want to keep the land intact. You are left with a better sense of how complicated land transition can really be for family relationships. It was interesting that Practical Farmers of Iowa commissioned this play especially since this issue is so different from the discussions we had with them about topics like pesticide drift and crop protection. Another personal takeaway for me from the play was that before this trip I never really perceived farming to be a family business.  The play provided me with a different perspective of farming and the struggles farmland owners face with transferring land from one generation to the next.

After the performance there was a short intermission, followed by a talk back with Professor Swander and a panel discussion with the Reverend. Dr. Matthew Rueger, lawyer Ron Pepples, and Chris Brinkmeyer, a banker at Central State Bank.

June 3^rd, 2019

To start off our last week in Iowa, some of the group went to the Brent Friest Farm to slide into the driver’s seat of a tractor, see their pig operation, and learn how to artificially inseminate their pigs. The tractor is equipped with precision farming technology, including touchscreens and remote steering that has become an important part of farm management. Earlier in the trip we talked about precision agriculture and how farmers use GPS to map their farms and make sure seeds are planted in the right place, with proper spacing and depth. After our brief tour of one of their tractors, we headed into their pig confinements to feed them. After the pigs were fed we learned about the process of artificial insemination (AI) and proceeded to inseminate five of them. To entice the sows, a boar is brought in. After the pigs notice the boar is present, they are ready to be inseminated. This involves sticking the tube into the rear off the pig at an upward angle.  The AI took about five minutes. After the process was finished, I was happy to text my mom that I officially got a pig pregnant.

Today we also went to the University of Iowa’s Hydraulic Laboratory to meet with Connie Mutel, who is a retired plant ecologist and science writer. For 30 years, she worked at Iowa’s Hydroscience and Engineering Laboratory. Mutel’s discussion covered climate change and the history of Iowa’s natural environment. She mentioned that there is little nature land left as a result of the most rapid land transition in the last generation. In the past, 80% of Iowa’s landscape was prairie grass and now most of the state has become agricultural land. Regarding the future, Mutel thinks that the major environmental issues are water in regard to quality and quantity, climate change, soil erosion, and pollution. In her opinion, if we don’t change our current ways of dealing with climate change, by 2100 temperature rise will increase by 3-5 degrees, carbon dioxide will increase to above 800 ppm, and the melting of Antarctic ice melts will cause sea levels to rise by 200 feet. While she mentioned these issues, she also mentioned different solutions. Mutel proposes letting our temperature increase then level off and start declining by 2040. She also recognizes the importance of restoring Iowa’s landscape to prairies since they are more sustainable and capture carbon as well as energy, whereas cornfields require fossil fuels and are considered less sustainable.  Lastly, to become carbon neutral Mutel supports the switch to renewable energy. Another anectode she mentioned was the issue about runoff of phosphorus and nitrogen from Iowa farms into the Mississippi River that create dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico. This has been a recurring issue mentioned at many different organizations throughout this trip, including the Iowa Environmental Council.

To end our day, we had a dinner at Orchard Green in Iowa City with Rep. Mary Mascher (D-Iowa City), a member of the Iowa House of Representatives.  During dinner we discussed what we have been doing in Iowa, our favorite parts of the trip and our views on the current presidential candidates. Although it was a long day, the presentations and activities were very interesting.

June 1, 2019

We’ve spent the last two days in Storm Lake, a city of diverse cultures, and today, a Pulitzer Prize winner was added to the list of Iowans we have met: Art Cullen. He is the editor of The Storm Lake Times and author of the book Storm Lake. His writing covers the issues facing small, rural areas, describing how agriculture, the environment, and immigration play a big role in heartland communities.

Cullen began our talk with how his book Storm Lake got its start. He mentioned that the water levels of the lake in Storm Lake has been rapidly decreasing, falling from 26 feet to 7 feet over the last couple years, likely due to new agricultural practices being used to adapt to climate change. After he discussed the background of his book, he talked about various issues relating to water quality, including how agricultural runoff pollutes the Raccoon River which affects the Des Moines water supply and eentually finds its way to The Gulf of Mexico resulting in the dead zones, with a devastating impact on the shrimping industry. Cullen opined that in the 1980s everyone thought that Practical Farmers of Iowa (PFI) were crazy people, since their ideas about pollution and their toxic environmental effects seemed so far-fetched. However, now the issues that Practical Farmers talked about way back when are becoming more apparent and thousands of people are coming to the organizatiom’s Field Days. This is a huge difference from years ago, as only ~30 people used to attend. We visited the Practical Farmers of Iowa earlier this trip, where we were able to learn about many concepts such as pesticide drift, which people didn’t understand as much in the past. These were interesting things to hear Cullen talk about, especially since we were later able to go the Des Moines Water Works to learn about that organization’s general water processes, how they control water quality, and visit their filtration station. At the Water Works, we learned more about the issue of nutrient runoff into The Gulf of Mexico, which we had previously discussed with different organizations, one of which being the Iowa Soybean Association. The Association promotes and taught us about nutrient reduction strategies to combat runoff. It was nice to have a refresher for these issues and to be able to relate new information to issues discussed at other places we have visited.

To end our day, we drove to the Lakeside Laboratory in Milford Iowa to meet with Mary Skopec. Skopec is the executive director of the Laboratory and also a member of the National Water Quality Monitoring Council and the National Advisory Committee on Water. While at the Laboratory, she discussed the history of the facility and she showed us how to do water quality tests, such as calculating oxygen and nitrite and nitrate levels in water samples and measuring the clarity of water. This was a fun way for me to end the day, since water quality testing is something I have had a lot of experience with throughout my major coursework.

May 31, 2019

After our long venture from Radcliffe to Storm Lake, we met with Mark Prosser, the city’s Public Safety Director and Chief of Police, to discuss immigration. Mark was born and raised in East St. Louis where he worked on its police force before coming to Storm Lake in October of 1989. He expected to go back to policing in a metro area but ended up staying in Storm Lake for 30 years. In addition to his police career, he has taught college classes for 19 years and also went back to school to study theology to become an ordained deacon in the Catholic church. He briefly discussed how his parents were missionaries in Guatemala.

The discussion covered various topics including languages, the challenge of representation for immigrants, an organization known as Salud, gang issues, congressional immigration issues, and a 1990 raid on a meatpacking plant that Prosser himself helped orchestrate. The meatpacking industry’s reliance on immigrant labor has increased Storm Lake’s ethnic diversity. Between 24 and 48 languages are spoken among children and 30+ languages are spoken among adults. Police officers often face language barriers when making contact with community residents. Prosser also talked about an organization that advocates for immigrants known as Salud, which means health in Spanish. Salud focuses on the underrepresented by providing community support programs and through hosting events. It was interesting to hear that the immigrants in Storm Lake are advocating for themselves as opposed to just falling into the background, which often occurs for minority populations. Prosser also mentioned gang issues in relation to how people coming into Storm Lake were associated with gangs from their previous place of residence. They think being part of a gang is their only safety net, when in reality, it’s not necessary in Storm Lake. The police have to address these issues quickly to reduce gang violence or gang-related crimes. Toward the end of the discussion Prosser added that Congress has always been wishy-washy about immigration issues, such as DACA or temporary protective status (TPS). This creates fear in undocumented immigrants, since they don’t what is going to happen next, but it also shows that Congress needs to address these issues. Prosser then brought up how he orchestrated a raid in the 1990s in Storm Lake. Looking back on it, he swore he would never do anything like that again since he saw first-hand how it tore families and communities apart, as well as how it doesn’t actually get to the root of solving any immigration problems. This was an interesting story to hear since we learned about a similar raid situation in Postville, Iowa and read so much about the immigration issues in the book, Storm Lake.

To wrap up the day, we meet with Councilor Jose Ibarra of the Storm Lake City Council. Ibarra’s family came to Storm Lake in 1999 when he was 12. His main reason for running for City Council was due to the lack of diversity on the council; he wanted immigrants to feel that they don’t have to be rich or white to be heard, but rather that you should be involved and active in the community to try to make your concerns a priority. In addition to this, Ibarra also discussed how Storm Lake is an example of what America will probably look like in 25 years: with people of all different ethnic and religious backgrounds living together. He also mentioned that biggest problem while he has been on the City Council has been the image of Storm Lake, due to it being seen as an immigrant town.  Whenever an immigrant commits a crime, it gets blown out of proportion, whereas if someone who isn’t an immigrant commits a crime, they get minimal attention.

Today was an interesting day since we were able to hear two different perspectives on immigration – one from law enforcement, and one from an immigrant’s perspective. The discussions highlighted the social concerns that communities face related to immigration.

May 30, 2019

Our Thursday morning started off differently than the norm of board meetings and presentations. We were able to help Koby Jeschkeit-Hagen and her field crew work in the fields at Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah, Iowa. Seed Savers Exchange was founded in 1975 and as a nonprofit its aim is to “conserve and promote America’s culturally diverse but endangered garden and food crop heritage for future generations by collecting, growing, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants.” Once we finished assisting the field team with weeding, we headed to the Oneonta community food coop where we had lunch and a quick tour.

After lunch and our tour of the coop, we headed back to Seed Savers Exchange to get a tour from Jeanine Scheffert.  We were shown two different gardens; one being their display garden which features varieties from their collection and catalog and Diane’s garden which is designed and maintained by co-founder Diane Ott Whealy. We were also able to see where they keep their ducks (who have their own swimming pool), their turkeys, and their chickens. This was interesting since earlier in the trip at the Amish and Welsh’s farm we were able to see chicken operations that were comparatively very different. The Amish farm was very similar to what we saw today at Seed Savers Exchange– a hen house that allowed the chickens to move in and out of with ease. The chickens at the Welsh farm were constrained inside with very little space to move around.

 After our tour, we meet with Phil Kauth of the preservation division. He showed where us they keep their various seeds in refrigerators and a seed vault. They are safeguarded to protect the history of the seeds that have been passed down from generation to generation and the biodiversity of the food system. He also explained to us that they ship some of their seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway as a backup. This vault is a global seed storage facility that houses duplicate seeds from all over the world. I first heard about the existence of this vault in a sustainability class so it was really interesting to see first hand how a U.S. seed bank works with it to save thousands of seeds from extinction. The seeds sent there by the Seed Savers Exchange can be withdrawn from the Vault at any time, but only by their organization. We then meet with Sarah, Seed Savers Exchange’s historian, who researches the story of each variety and documents its history and the lives of the people who brought it to the collection.

To end the day, we met with Lindsay Lee, an orchardist, who showed us his apple orchard and the different types of apples they have on their property. It was interesting to visit the Seed Savers Exchange after we meet with Steve Carlson from Practical Farmers of Iowa who used to work there and told us much about their practices.

Learning about the preservation of these heirloom seeds makes you wonder if, in the future, genetically engineered seeds will be stored in the vaults in Norway.

To start off our morning the group was given a tour of the Kruse’s farm which was a second take for Luke and me, but still good to get another recap. After the tour and breakfast, we crossed state lines made our way to Cashton, Wisconsin to visit Jim Wedeberg at the Organic Valley Cooperative headquarters. Our host family’s farm works in conjunction with the cooperative. Organic Valley is not a corporation; it’s a cooperative of over 2000 farmers from across the country. Their goal is to provide organic food throughout the country. Organic is a method of food production where is food produced without any human made (synthetic) fertilizers, pesticides or preservatives.

At the beginning of the tour, we were shown where all the dairy products are kept, where products are processed, where it gets shipped out, and where the magic happens behind the marketing ideas. After the product tour, we had a discussion about the background of Organic Valley, which started with a handful of Midwest family farmers. It all began in 1988 with the mission to change the way people think about food. They started with organic vegetables and pooled their crops, which they sold in local communities, and then more and more farmers became interested in joining the cooperative. Organic Valley evolved into the nations’ leading producer of organic dairy. Food Politics discussed that most individual farms in the organic sector are still small and “highly specialized” but only make up 7% of all organic sales, which may be why farmers were interested in joining the Organic Valley cooperative.

We also covered the different sustainable practices they incorporated into their building in their pursuit to use 100% renewable energy to become carbon neutral. Their commitment to protect the environment also includes hosting a solar farm, wind turbines, and their administration building, which was certified LEED Gold.. This was interesting to learn about, since Furman has a solar farm that is used to power different parts of campus and also has the first gold LEED efficient building in South Carolina–Hipp Hall. We also were able to see solar panels yesterday at the Welsh organic farm, which are used to power their hen operation and provide shade while the hens are outside.  This is similar to the Furman solar farm where they have sheep that camp under the solar panels and also eat the grass underneath the panels.

Organic Valley’s label is recognizable nationwide. Whenever I see the Organic Valley label, I’ll be reminded of the people behind the brand.

May 28, 2019

After almost wrapping up our second week in Iowa, today’s foray into farming started off in an unexpected way.  We are currently staying at an organic dairy farm in Lansing, Iowa.  Since Luke and I woke up early, Mr. Kruse, one of our hosts, showed Luke and I where he milks his cows, where they graze in paddocks, where he feeds the cows grain, and where they keep the cows during the winter. The overview of the operation was interesting, but my favorite part of the morning was feeding milk to baby cows. We filled the bottles with milk and as soon as the calves saw us with the bottles they came running toward us and stuck their mouth on the bottle. We were told to make sure to remember which calf you gave milk to because if they are fed twice it will give them diarrhea.

Once we finished feeding the calves, we had a quick breakfast and made our way to an Amish Farmstead in Waukon, Iowa. We saw the Paint Creek Bulk Food Store and Bakery, and their dairy cows.  The food store and bakery sold various products such as chocolate, gum, pies, cakes, doughnuts, and bread. We also saw where they set up their cows for milking and where their cows graze. While they were grazing, we were able to see some of the kids and their dog chase one of the cows who got separated from the herd. It was cool to see kids knowing how to react and what to do in this situation–a skill I never learned as a kid.

Our next venture of the day was to Jeremy Peake’s organic grass-fed diary operation. On our drive into the farm, we noticed a sign on front stating that they are members of the Practical Farmers of Iowa. While on their farm we headed out to the pasture and were able to see how they herd their cattle and interact with them.

At the end of the day we headed back to Lansing to visit the Welsh Family Organic Farm. It is an organic beef, hog, and chicken operation. This was a great stop since two days ago we saw a very differently run hog operation. On Sunday, we were able to see a hog operation where they were kept in much more confined areas in crates whereas today’s operation the hogs were kept in different outside sections based on weight with much more space to move around and be free. We were also able to experience what a hen operation looked like from the inside, something we have yet to see on this trip. Overall, it was nice to have a comparison of the animal practices of different operations.

May 26, 2019

After a week’s worth of early wake up calls, we were able to sleep in before we left the Whiterock Conservancy and headed to Essex, Iowa. On the way to Essex we made a brief pit stop to see Albert the Bull-the world’s largest bull. The giant concrete icon is a tribute to the area’s cattle raising history. The towering roadside attraction was worth the stop and a fun look at another a side of Iowa’s culture.

After the detour we met with Dennis Liljedahl of Liljedahl Farms, who is a member of the Iowa Pork Producers Board of Directors. Dennis started the presentation with some background on how his farm got started and the farm’s practices. Their farm is a three-generation family farm that his father started in 1957. Farming back then was a lot different than today’s type of farming. Dennis discussed a program known as crop share where the landowner supplies the land, the farmer supplies the machinery as well as the labor, and they split the profit 50/50. Today the typical farmer farms their own land or rents land to someone else to farm; both programs that Liljedahl Farms now operates.

Dennis also discussed his opinion on water quality issues regarding confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs). His ideas were very different from what we have heard so far on this trip. He stressed that the odor associated with the animal waste CAFOs generate is more of a problem people should be concerned with as opposed to the water itself being contaminated from the runoff. It was interesting to hear his perspective on the runoff issue, which was different than the Des Moines Water Works take. Their main focus is on making sure the water quality is clean for their customers. I did research last year on CAFOs and found that even though federal laws regulate CAFOs, no laws specifically address odors. This is one aspect I have enjoyed about this trip-being able to hear different perspectives and opinions on various topics.

After our discussion, he brought us to see his swine operations to see how pigs are handled on their farm. The pigs were all placed in separate crates with little space for them to move around. This separation method is used to prevent piglet deaths from sows sitting on their piglets. This is also enforced so that other pigs wouldn’t pick on pigs that were considered to be “lower on the pecking order” and kill them for being considered weak. To finish off the trip, we saw one of their many grain bins and how they get corn into them from a GSI (a drying) machine. It was interesting to see an Iowa swine operation since nearly one-third of the nation’s hogs are raised in Iowa.

May 25, 2019

Stewardship Day at Whiterock Conservancy felt like a throwback to what we called workdays in my high school Enviro class. During the course of the year we would grab our work gloves and head outdoors to tackle the buckthorn or other invasive species in one of six Open Lands nature preserves in my hometown. The Open Lands Association in my hometown maintains over 800 acres of highly diverse native landspace, minor in comparison to Whiterock Conservancy’s 5,500-acre spread.

The Whiterock Conservancy is a land trust dedicated to conserving and protecting Iowa’s natural resources and engaging the public with the environment through outdoor recreation and education.  This mission is consistent with what I know about the Open Lands association back home. Whiterock’s three-part mission is to protect and restore the area’s natural resources and wild beauty; to provide people of all ages with safe, meaningful and unique outdoor recreation and education experiences; and to demonstrate and promote sustainable agriculture practices that respect the land, clean the water, and improve the soil.

Our stewardship work at Whiterock Conservancy involved pulling out an invasive plant species known as Dame’s rocket and shoveling out a colorful yet deceptively prickly and stubborn weed known as thistle, which can inhibit the growth of other plants. We were also able to see their goats, which are guarded by their very aggressive guard donkey Rafi, who cuts in between you and the goats if he thinks you are getting too close. Goats are useful in rotational grazing and restoring and maintaining a sustainable habitat. Today’s workday was a refreshing change of pace–it was great to be outdoors.

Once we finished our stewardship activities, we met with Liz Garst, Whiterock Conservancy’s treasurer, who provided background on the land trust. Part of her discussion covered how farmers are using precision agriculture technology, like GPS, to improve their crop production.  This reminded me of how the Open Lands staff back home uses drone technology to identify invasive species to direct the work volunteers. Technology is improving many agricultural processes. We also discussed soil runoff issues and the leaking of nitrogen and phosphorus, the impact of runoff on water quality and solutions to runoff. Liz emphasized that more enforcement of existing regulations is needed to prevent nitrogen and phosphorus runoff into the rivers. This issue has become a common theme in many of our discussions throughout the last week.