May 24, 2019

We started our day at the Grinnell Heritage Farm in Grinnell, Iowa and met with Andy Dunham, and one of his staff members, Eric. They shared their very strong view about agricultural in Iowa and their commitment to organic farming and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). CSA’s provide a direct link between the producers and consumers of food. They showed us different aspects of the farm, specifically the impact pesticide drift had on their asparagus. Unfortunately the crop was affected by pesticide drift from a nearby farm that took the organic label off the product for three years. This was a first- hand account of our discussion at The Practical Farmers of Iowa about various problems and prevention methods regarding pesticide drift.  They also showed us a species of bird known as the Red-Winged blackbird, which has an important role in protecting their farm. The birds scare off any crows (which have been known to peck holes in the drip lines that provide water to the vegetables) that cross into their land and drive them off the property by pushing them away from one side to the other. This is an example of the importance of biodiversity on farmland.

After we left the Grinnell Heritage Farm, we met with Adam Ledvina at Red Earth Gardens at the Meskawai Settlement in Tama, Iowa. This part of the day was a refreshing change of pace from our normal meetings which have taken place inside presentation rooms due to be being sidelined by the rain. We were able to help Adam pick weeds in the fields of his farm which was a good way to get our hands dirty, help him with his farm, and get immersed in the environment.  As a sustainability major I really enjoyed this experience and felt like I was in my element. After we assisted Adam with the weeds, he showed us their greenhouse where they keep their plants and do composting with worms. As Sammy, Adare, Hannah, and I just learned about composting at the Wheatsfield Cooperative in Ames, it was good to see worm farm composting in action. After a rainy morning, it was a fun to be outdoors with the plants.

May 23, 2019

For a little background on my title, I based it off the chorus of the song Drift Away by Dobie Gray. I thought it was a fitting title for today’s topic since we’ve discussed various solutions to nutrient runoff and the singer focuses on drifting away from his problems in the song. Our day started with an early wake up call, to get on the road to visit Jenny Terry, the Executive Director at the Iowa Environmental Council. She started off the discussion by covering the Council’s mission statement and provided background information on the organization. Their mission is to create a safe, healthy environment and sustainable future for Iowa. The Council is a 501c3 nonprofit that was founded 24 years ago. There are 500 independent members and 15 member organizations, including The Practical Farmers of Iowa and The Iowa Soybean Association. The director talked about an array of environmental issues, one of them being nutrient runoff. 88% of Iowa’s agricultural runoff contributes to the growing dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico. Loose topsoil containing nitrogen-rich fertilizers comes from farm runoffs, which are transported through the river system during heavy rainfalls and empty into the Gulf of Mexico. This reminded me of our discussion at the Iowa Soybean Association which also talked about similar issues relating to nutrient runoff but offered a more strategic approach to addressing the problem as opposed to just identifying there is a problem. An example of this is watershed planning with artificial subsurface draining that helps deal with excess water nutrients.

After we finished up with the Iowa Environmental Council, we met with Omar de Kok-Mercado, the STRIPS Program Manager at Iowa State. The STRIPS project is located in The Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa. Before seeing the prairie strips, however, Rachel, one of the interns at the Refuge, which is operated by the Fish and Wildlife Service, showed us one of the Refuge’s two greenhouses that holds their its lab and talked to us about different strategies relating to restoring the prairie at the Refuge. Then, we moved onto see the Prairie strips project with Omar. Today’s reading covered different prairie strip strategies. They include having strips strategically sown into row crops to slow the movement of water, which create plant diversity to support habitat that fosters conservation of native communities for plants, birds, pollinators, and other beneficial insects. Prairie strips also support several species of insect predators, such as lady beetles, that help control corn and soybean products. Prairie strips can reduce the negative impacts of neonicotinoids, an important class of pesticides, on non-target species, a topic that was also mentioned at our presentation at Bayer CropScience. Planting prairie strips is an effective and relatively low cost conservation practice.

 Once our presentation finished up, we left the refuge and drove through the auto tour route to see the small herd of bison they keep in a 700-acre enclosure. A very cool way to end this day on our Iowa journey.

Today marked the end of our first week in Iowa. The day began with a trip to Practical Farmers of Iowa in Ames. Liz Kolbe the Horticulture and Habitat Programs Manager and Steve Carlson the Next Generation Coordinator met with us. The organization was founded in 1985 by a group of farmers who were dissatisfied with the agricultural information they were receiving, so they conducted their own on-farm research and started sharing research on field days. Today, it is still farmer led with 8 farmers and 2 non farmers on its Board of Directors. After Liz discussed the background of the organization, she went into detail about pesticide drift, crop protection, and prevention. Pesticide drift is when a pesticide drifts off target from one farm to a neighboring one and contaminates the crops that are non-resistant to this pesticide. Although all pesticides are prone to drift, dicamba presents a bigger problem because it can become re-airborne hours or days after it is applied. Location is important factor in this issue because if your farm is located downwind to another farm on a windy day, the herbicide drift will damage or even kill crops. It is also difficult to tie it back to where it came from since it can travel for more than two miles, which causes legal issues and disputes because no one is held responsible. Dicamba also has an effect on animals and humans not just crops. Products that contain dicamba are controversial because of their strength. Similar to our discussion at Corteva, Liz explained a different program for protecting crops, the 2015 USDA Whole Farm Revenue Protection plan. The insurance allows farms to protect all their crops at once instead of one crop at a time. This is a good way to support more crop diversity on farms. Whereas our discussion at Corteva covered crop protection products like herbicides for weeds, insecticides, and fungicides, farmers must also invest in crop insurance. Liz finished up with a discussion of prevention methods such as a website known as Drift Watch where applicators can post information when they are using pesticides such as Dicamba to notify other farmers.

Steve Carlson began his career with the organization working the Beginning Farmers Program and is now their Next Generation Coordinator. Two programs that he mentioned included the Savings Incentive Program and the Soil and Water Conservation Districts. The saving incentives programs is a two-year program for farmers who have been farming under five years and are just getting started. It is a three-step process. First, they are given $100 every month to put into their saving account and at the end of the two-year program, the money doubles to $5,000 so they can use it to invest a new asset for the farm. They also get networking or mentorship support from more experienced farmers who are doing similar practices as them. Lastly, they work on business planning and marketing to figure out who their market is, identify their goals, prepare a mission statement, and work on spreadsheets or enterprise budgets to track their progress. The goal is to help build a profitable Farm.  Steve also described how each of Iowa’s 99 have their own soil and water conservation district. There are five elected officials in each county, who each serve a four-year term and meet monthly in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) service center in each county. During their monthly meetings they decide how to allocate funding for different conservation practices based on topography, engagement, and population. Funding goes to projects such as windbreak, cover crops, and rotational grazing. Another responsibility of a commissioner is to provide outreach and education. The organization seems committed to helping farmers run more sustainable farms.

To end our day, we went to Bayer CropScience in Huxley, Iowa to meet with David Tierney. While we were there, we discussed dicamba issues, similar to what we heard earlier in the day. The focus of his discussion was more on solutions to the issue. He described efforts to combat dicamba from drifting to other fields citing Arkansas as being the most restrictive state. In Arkansas, farmers are limited to spraying 45 days after planting and cannot spray after May 20^th in order to stop farmers from using the pesticide as much or not at all. Another example is Minnesota where there would be no spray allowed after June 20th. It was good to hear the dicamba drift issue discussed from both a company and farmers’ perspective.

For supper I was given the task to make my one of our family’s favorite recipes (Foil Packet Salsa Chicken, Rice and Veggies) for the group after our long day. I am happy to say everyone liked and praised it.

May 20, 2019

To begin our day we ventured from Morris’ house to Johnston, Iowa for a tour of Corteva AgriScience. Kevin Diehl, Regulatory Platform Director of Global Seed, led the tour and discussion. One interesting aspect of his presentation was that he gave us a different perspective of crop insurance when he talked about crop protection products. When using this term in the seed business, it refers to the following products: herbicide for weeds, insecticide for insects, and fungicide for controlling diseases. Although these pest, weed, and disease control products help protect crop yields, they can have a negative impact on the environment due to runoff affecting water quality. He also discussed new innovations in genetic editing, specially CRISPR. By using CRISPR, plant geneticists can more easily find the part of the genome that they wish to delete, edit, or replace. CRISPR allows plant scientists (among others) to work more quickly to breed plants, but also it also allows plant scientists to bring GMOs to the market more quickly as well. It’s molecular scissors can quickly locate a target phase sequence. These technologies are helping farmers increase their farm’s productivity. Corteva AgriScience is working on ways to meet the increasing worldwide demand for food.

Later we made our way to the Iowa Soybean Association in Ankeny, Iowa. We met with Michael Dolch, director of Public affairs, Chris Hay, Senior Environmental Scientist, and Grant Kimberley, Director of Market Development. During the presentation, Chris Hay took us to his water lab and the work the association does to monitor water quality and how it deals with nutrient reduction strategies. He discussed how communities as far away as the Gulf of Mexico could be affected by this nutrient runoff. Dead zones caused by nutrient runoff are created in rivers that travel downstream. Iowa is a leading producer of soybeans in the U. S. so the work done by this association is important to farmers. While soybeans do not require farmers to add additional nitrogen to their crops (soybeans fix nitrogen), ISA sees that soybeans are in a rotation with corn, which does require nitrogen, so the association sees the nitrogen-reduction problem as a system issue, not one that is limited to corn production.

Speaking of corn, we also visited the Iowa Corn Growers Association. We met with Rod Williamson, Director of Research and Development and Kevin Studer who is a Federal Policy Advisor. The presentation reinforced what was covered in one of our readings about the farm lobby. The farm lobby promotes subsidies included in the Farm Bill. They discussed how the Iowa Corn Growers Association lobbies for its corn farmers on state and federal issues taking their agenda from its grassroots members–the farmers. This agenda then shapes ICGA’s policy positions. At present, the association has formulated a long-term water quality funding effort and also focused on transportation issues, including infrastructure maintenance and upgrades to the inland waterways system.  The grassroots meetings that are facilitated by Iowa Corn to its members influence the importance of the lobbying work these organizations are making to farmers.

To conclude our day we were fortunate to meet with Dr. Angela Franklin, President of Des Moines University, who is a Furman alum. She discussed her Furman career, her career advancement to Iowa, and her role as Des Moines University President. She has had an impressive post-Furman career. On our journey back to Radcliffe, I was given the responsibility of selecting music to make our ride a little more enjoyable, not an easy task I must say.

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 1^st in corn and 2^nd 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.

May 18, 2019

This morning, after enjoying a later wakeup call, we made our way to Mitch Meyer’s Ackley farm, and received a briefing on Federal Crop Insurance from Meyer and his partner, Ranae Zoske of the RZA agency. Federal Crop Insurance is a way for farmers to insure their crops from Mother Nature’s fury such as drought, excessive moisture, disease, and hail. We learned a lot of acronyms: AIPs, Approved Insurance Providers (AIPs), FCIC, The Federal Crop Insurance Corporation, and USDA, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). The wet spring Iowa is experiencing in 2019 highlights the value of investing in crop insurance.

After a relaxing lunch at Morris’ house we arrived at Nutty Farmer Chestnuts Farm in Radcliffe. A chestnut farm was not what I expected to find in the middle of corn and soybean country. The 25-acre farm is run by Heath Stolee who wanted to improve the habitat on the land. He wanted to diversify with a crop that didn’t need as much equipment costs to produce like corn or soybeans. In addition to being a chestnut tree farmer, Heath works at the National Animal Disease Centers in Ames; he is an Army vet who completed tours in Kuwait and Iraq. Unfortunately, rain kept us from planting chestnut trees; however, Heath talked us through the chestnut planting process. The trees were planted using a form of precision agriculture since Heath used GPS to line up every tree. Another interesting part of his presentation related to our crop insurance discussion earlier in the day. Heath discussed the crop insurance programs available for chestnut growers. First, there is tree crop insurance or TAP. Another program, Noninusured Crop Disaster Assistance Program (NAP), which he mentioned that he could use in six to seven years when his trees mature and are producing crops. Since it takes 15 years for chestnut trees to finally generate income, crop insurance is important coverage for tree farmers like Heath.

To finish off the day, we went to the Fiscus farm and met Franklin and Mike Fiscus to learn about goat worming and actually practice our hand at it. We gave the goats antibiotics in the mouth and also shots in the side.  The goats had to be marked in order to keep track which ones had the shot. This was a fun way to end our fourth day in Iowa.

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.

May 15, 2019

Instead of taking the usual route of flying as my peers did, my trek to the Hawkeye state began along Interstate 80 at the Mississippi River. Before I even reached the Iowa/Illinois border, I noticed farmers on their tractors farming in the dark, a spectacle that I did not expect to see at that time of night. Once we finally crossed the border the first thing to catch my eye was a road sign promoting the Buffalo Bill Museum, unquestionably an unexpected image. The majority of I-80 runs through farmland; this is extremely different than the Illinois side of I-80 that this Chicago boy is used to. I noticed a lot of differences including water towers, cows, wind farms, silos, and barns.

The first part of the drive concluded as I was driving through Iowa City. I made a quick pit stop to see my cousin for breakfast at the University of Iowa who recently won the Big Ten championship in the 400 meter hurdles. When the long drive finally concluded, I made my way into the Des Moines International Airport to meet with up Dr. HN and the majority of my peers. We had a quick lunch in the airport, then most of us made our way to Radcliffe. While some others waited for the other students to arrive, we met our host families and got settled in. The three guys Rob, Brandon, and Luke on the trip are paired with the Sweeneys, the three girls Hannah, Adare, and Sydney are staying with Morris Stole, and Sammy and I are being hosted by the Knutsons.

Once we all got accustomed and settled in, we made our way to Morris’s home with our host families, where we made our introductions to each other and enjoyed a very nice dinner. Right after dinner was finished, the group wrapped up the day at the Neubauer barn and discussed what we did today and our agenda for tomorrow.