As the trip has come to a close I feel as though I have learned more about farming that I thought I would on this May X. Being thrown into tractor safety on day one I thought I had all the bases covered, but then a calf had to teach the rest of it. Policy was the portion that I latched onto the most. All of the regulations placed on farmers, and the ones that can be ignored (spraying directions) and some water regulations. Meeting with the interest groups and commodity groups showed how people feel about the trade war, but that even if it is tough, some truly believe in it. Plus, the government giving farmers “bailouts” doesn’t hurt their opinions. They all drove the same message that they are out to help farmers and drive policy that assists them. Compared to the IEC, where it was a group of, mostly, young women who are fighting to regulate water and this will effect farming and animal operations. They care about water and not the baseline on a farmers account balance, they are driving their agenda just as others are. It can be a difficult trail to take. Farmers have definitely gained more respect from me because they work long, hard hours to provide food for the American people at a good price, and provide food for the world and trade for America. The experience is more than I can summarize in a blog post, and more events than one can capture. It has helped me better understand the agriculture system from start to finish, and the regulations and governance it is surrounded in creating controversies and problems for farmers to navigate. A farmer is truly a small business owner, politician, and will generally hold another “off-farm” job too. Thank you to the Neubauers, Dr. Halva-Neubauer, the Sweeneys, and to Mr. Stole for all that has been done behind the scenes on this great experience.

We woke up early and headed to Mr. Friest’s farm where four engaged in AIing sows and two rode in a tractor with Mr. Friest’s son. Before AIing sows we were treated to a tour of the Friest’s hog operation, beginning with the nursing unit. It was extremely similar to the Liljedahl operation, however, we saw evidence that the nursing crate for the sow can only work so well at preventing piglets from being crushed. We then fed some sows in another unit before being taken to the main event. To AI a sow, without being too graphic, you insert a tube and then begin an IV drip essentially. It is a fairly simple procedure, complicated only by involving the hog, which was not a problem the way we were shown. After our visit at the Friest farm we quickly turned around and headed to Iowa City to meet with professors and the Honorable Mary Mascher (D-Iowa City), a member of the Iowa House of Representatives.

We had a complication with our first meeting which was rescheduled for the following day. Thus, our first meeting was with Connie Mutel, who gave a climate change presentation to the class. Some of the interesting takeaways from this lecture were climate change has been observed since the 1800s and that Iowa is the world’s most transformed surface. For taking the class in the hydrology department the discussion surrounding water was lacking, however, she offered hope for the future. This was nice compared to our meeting the following day with Dr. Chris Jones, who offered more of a doom and gloom perspective. To him we are past the point of no return and he does not believe that there are any options to reverse what has happened. We discussed his blogs with him and he described where problems are, such as not knowing the amount of hog operations there are in the state, and not having the DNR personal to regulate the hog barns in a way that he believes is sufficient.

Monday night we had a fantastic dinner with State rep. Mascher, where we discussed the current state of politics and individuals views, and then transitioned to state-level issues. Rep. Mascher elaborated on the sanctuary city bill signed by the governor and said it did not change any practices, but worried for what it could lead to in legal cases and application. What was a more interesting discussion about proposed solar panel legislation. This legislation would change the pricing and place more of a burden on the individual with solar panels for connecting to the grid vs the power companies. Rep. Mascher wants a study to be conducted to see if the price is enough to warrant raising the burden shared by the individual. But this could harm farmers similar to the Welshs (near Lansing) who put up solar panels for energy, shade for chickens, and the financial benefits they get for sending energy back to the grid.

Back to Tuesday, we met with Dr. Dave Cwiertny to discuss water. A major focus of this discussion was well water. Well water is private water, and thus falls outside of federal oversight. It is up to individuals to check their wells; however Iowa has a state program on the county level that will test wells for certain bacteria, however, it is underutilized because it does not leave the well owners with anything other than a recommendation as to their next steps. Some people will also not use it because they view it as giving the state access to their land. The burden is in those who take the extra step and pony up the money to filter or shock their well. Dr. Cwirtny also discussed how other countries monitor water at the source and restrict by watersheds to reduce costs. He ended with offering some hope, our generation is much more informed due to technology, and looking forward this will result in problems being solved.

Land disputes can ruin a family, or at least harm a good relationship. Passing down land or one’s estate is a complex and serious matter that should not be taken lightly. It is a difficult decision for one to make and can be emotionally exhausting as well. “Map of My Kingdom”, written by the Poet Laureate of Iowa, Mary Swander, explores these issues in a way to promote dialogue among family members and others. The play is a one-person, one act play exploring the issues of the family farm being sold, or deciding who gets the farm. Stories told included selling the farm to prevent conflict, murdering siblings to get the farm, or convincing parents that you should get the farm for illegitimate reasons and creating sour relationships in their path. The play used Shakespeare and religious texts to reinforce the ideas discussed. Following the play there was a talkback with Mary Swander where she explained how the play related to her own life when her grandmother sold the farm. Following the talkback, a panel consisting of a reverend, a lawyer, and banker convened to field questions from the audience. Many questions were personal in nature or clarifying such as what is the difference between a will and a trust. The panel did a fantastic job, and the audience seemed to take well to the play, and the attendance was astonishing considering it was the first consecutive warm, dry day in a long time. The stage was also set up perfectly for the first performance in 40+ years at the Garden City Community Center.

On Saturday when we finished meeting with Art Cullen, we began our journey to Okiboji to meet with the “Queen of Water”, Mary Skopec. After arriving at Lakeside Laboratory, the most expensive land in Iowa, we were taken away to learn about water testing. We walked to a stream that had been created to help in filtering water running off into Okiboji to reduce nitrate and phosphate levels and increase oxygen levels found in the water. The tests were easy to conduct and only required a few moments before data could be collected. All of the levels were in the appropriate range. We then got into the van and went to a spot on the lake where we again tested the water. Here the levels were far higher than what was found in the stream, and the number of mosquitoes were far higher as well. Runoff into water sources is a serious problem for Iowa and one that should be looked into further and research preformed to determine what has caused the problems.

Friday morning we arrived in Storm Lake and had a meeting with Police Chief Prosser about the town. He described his career history and how he never believed he would stay in Storm Lake as long as he has, and how it has become his home. Storm Lake is a small town in Northwest Iowa where the community has grown while many small towns in the Midwest have become depressed and abandoned.  Storm Lake’s economic vibrance is due to its two Tyson plants and large immigrant population. The Chief then discussed an ICE raid he helped to organize at a local food hog processing plant, and how it is the biggest regret of his career. It destabilized the trust the community had in law enforcement, and the feds had, unbeknownst to the chief, contacted national news to be on site during the raid to get front page coverage.

Reaching out to the community and showing involvement, care, and compassion has been a key to integrating the community according to Chief Prosser. Instead of punishing those who are not maliciously breaking the law (ex. slaughtering a pig or lamb in their yard and cleaning the carcas within city limits), the police will talk to the individual, explain how it is wrong, and issue a warning.

Later in the day, we met with city council member Jose Ibarra, who echoed much of what Chief Prosser had said, and then spoke about the city council. He is the only minority member of the council and ran under the encouragement of a few friends. He ran to encourage those who do not think they have a voice in the community or are not focused on civic engagement to look at him and see it is possible. Mr. Ibarra also discussed voter turnout as an issue that seems to harm Storm Lake.

Saturday morning, the group met with Pulitzer prize winner Art Cullen and discussed many issues ranging from big agriculture to Storm Lake immigration. Art was extremely concerned with representatives within the government being in the pocket of big money. He showed less concern that the research being produced at land grant universities such as Iowa State, should be dismissed out of hand, despite his concern that big corporations were having an undue influence there. For example, he expressed some concern about the pro-big agriculture perspective at ISU, as he has been told by some professors to keep up the work (such as advocating for the Des Moines Water Works perspective on clean water) that he is doing because the professors cannot say what he is saying. According to Art (and enforced by others on the tour), the Farm Bill has resulted in practices that harm soil health. Planting fence row to fence row is not sustainable. He constantly criticized Nixon’s Secretary of Agriculture, Earl Butz, for bringing the “feed the world” mentality to US agriculture in general and Iowa in particular.  Art also agreed with the police chief and Councilor Jose Ibarra with their statements on immigration, and that the Storm Lake community has done a good job coming together and embracing their diversity. He believes that Storm Lake is a model of what future American small towns will look like in the future.  As immigrants move up the economic ladder, they will move out of small towns where their advanced degrees  result in jobs that are less prevalent in small towns. Finally, the most interesting point I took away from Art Cullen during this meeting was that farmers don’t want to be told how to farm by the government (relating to the Des Moines Water Works lawsuit) have all kinds of people who are telling them how to farm.  Cullen contends that farmers are being told how to farm by the bank; they are being told how to farm by Monsanto; they are being told how to farm by John Deere; and they are being told how to farm by ISU extension.  But, when it comes to government telling farmers how to farm, that is viewed in a different light.  It is interesting when the government gets involved how people’s views shift.  Even though farmers constitute about 2% of Iowans, everyone in Iowa is related to a farmer and knows the impact and implication of any political decision involving agriculture.

Thursday we arrived at seed savers to volunteer with their work crew, and assisted in weeding some of their plots in the morning. Following this the group arrived to the local co-op for lunch and were treated to a local meal. We learned that they considered local to mean within a 100 mile radius and attempt to clearly mark products that meet this categorization. Shoppers can join their membership program for a cost of around $125 one time payment and if one joins they are treated to special member discounts once a month and once a quarter. Their goal is to have a significant impact on the local community, helping farmers and employing local members. Furthermore, locals may volunteer and be treated to other discounts. An interesting point made was that not all products in the co-op are organic, some products are unavailable unless conventional or the organic supply can not meet the demands of the customers.

Following lunch and a tour, we arrived back at seed savers for a 3 hour long crash-course in all things Seed Savers. It began with the history, where the founder had collected seeds from her grandfather who shared the significance of them to her and their family history of planting the tomatoes and flowers. She then took out ads in papers and magazines that gardeners read to see if others had heirloom seeds and wanted to exchange them with other gardeners. This then grew slowly via a “grassroots” movement into what Seed Savers is today.

Following the history we then got a tour of the display garden and learned that they compare similar seeds right next to each other in that garden to see if they have duplicates. We were then taken to the seed vault and explained the sorting process and talked to the Seed Historian about the narratives surrounding the seeds and how they are collected. We then learned about grafting buds from apple trees into root stock and how the orchard functions at Seed Savers as well as their partnership with a local cider producer. It was an extremely insightful tour into how important it is to maintain multiple varieties of non-GMO seeds, done sustainably on site.

On May 28 and 29 the group toured both Organic Valley farms and their distribution center as well as their HQ in and around the Cashton, MI region. When we arrived at the Kruse’s farm the group was instantly treated to a nice, mid-western greeting. We then learned about Organic Valley’s origins. It began in the 70’s with 7 founding farmers and slowly expanded to where they are now with over 2000 farmers. Its goal was to create an organic standard and was instrumental in the process. Now, its goal is to help make small farms profitable and to stay in existence.

The 28th began with breakfast, then a trip to the local Amish farm. We began the tour in the local store and bakery. Then we went to the milking parlor and learned about their dairy operation. They milk the cows every morning and feed them grass, oats, and hay. Compare this to the Welsh farm we visited later in the day, where they feed their cattle (for beef production) organic feed under the Organic Prairie label (part of Organic Valley). The Welsh’s operation included pigs, chickens, and cattle. The pigs were in a sloped pen, similar to what the Liljedahl’s used prior to their current buildings. The pigs can be in a covered area or out in an open area and have 40 to a section. The chickens are raised in a barn, then when they are old enough are transferred to a new laying facility that is one of five in America. It simulates the perfect environment for egg laying and meets organic standards, and is even powered by solar panels.

The Organic Valley label now has faces to the name for me, which will be difficult to forget after the great experiences. It is interesting seeing how organic farms operate similarly to non-organic but are cheaper to run when the livestock is all grass-fed and yields a larger return than non-organic, non-grass fed alternatives.

On Sunday the group made the trek to the Southwest corner of Iowa to visit my distant relatives, the Liljedahls and their farm operation. After three hours in the van we had arrived and were greeted with a warm Swedish welcome and discussion about any and everything farming and hog related. Mr. Liljedahl was mild mannered and did not take any extreme stances, and in line with many of the farmers we had talked to, he was not a fan of the trade war and wished the government did not have to supplement the income lost as commodity prices fall, but he was happy to accept it. However, he believed that this would most definitely have an impact on the upcoming election, but the scale is not quite clear. My friend in Shenandoah believed the opposite, stating that there would be minimal impact if any in the 2020 election.

At the Liljedahl farm, the group was treated to a tour of his hog operation. We toured the gestation room where some were off-put by the hogs confined. However, I did not have a serious problem with this as the sows have a history of killing their own and this reduces the likelihood of them laying on them or eating their piglets. We then went to the farrowing room where the hogs were again confined, but this prevents them from fighting and killing each other. Finally, we went to the finishing room where the pigs were in confined areas, but had room to move around and interact with other pigs. They are then sold every week, about 16 at a time.

It was very neat to see the ins-and-outs of a hog operation and to be able to see what other groups have described. Mr. Liljedahl’s mindset of showing people how the operation works and letting them come up with their own opinion is the right idea, and prevents people from just listing to what people want you to believe about them.

Over the last two days, the group has visited an organic farm, community farm, and a conservancy across Iowa. At Grinnell Heritage Farm, Brandon and I were immediately singled out for wearing our Corteva hats, not worn intentionally, but out of convenience. This would set the tone for the first half of the visit… doom and gloom. The world will end if we do not mitigate the environmental issues pesticides cause! And pesticides and herbicides kill all organisms in the soil, were along the lines of what we were told. Following the lecture, we moved outside and the assistant took over the conversation as the owner of Grinnell had to step away for a moment. He continued the doom and gloom speech and was then asked about his diet. He discussed foraging for his food, as he eats almost no meat, and eats weeds out of his yard, such as stinging nettle. We then were taken on a tour fo their land and taught about their agriculture principles; as they do not use any chemicals to be an organic farm, they instead use other plants to shade out weeds and add nitrogen back into the soil.

Our next stop was at Red Earth Gardens on the Meskwaki Settlement. The Meskwaki is the only Federally Recognized Indian Tribe in Iowa, and they own their land, thus are not on a reservation. This results in more autonomy. Red Earth Gardens goal is to help the community become more educated on what they are eating and to help in assisting the community. An example of this is a job program where those who might have struggled with jobs in the past are employed and guided through the process and taught new skills with the goal of helping them start their own business or become employed in a field of their choosing. They grow organically and also use plants and cover crops to assist instead of crop controls. The farm’s permaculture specialist, Adam Ledvina, believes strongly in rotational grazing, like Brian Wosepka, and will be using the same method with chickens, when he introduces them to Red Earth later this year.

We then slept, and the next morning traveled to Whiterock Conservancy where we first helped in removing thistles and Dame’s Rocket, another invasive weed, from the land after goats had already grazed the honeysuckles away. As the group did this we befriended the goat’s guard donkey “Raji” who was extremely kind until someone encroached on the goats, proving his worth. After a great lunch outside we then met with Liz Garst, a prominent Iowa Democrat and soil conservationist. She discussed all sides of soil problems but came across as having a reasonable view and not too extreme. She believes that the free market should exist and should not be regulated but knows that regulations must be put in place to achieve safe water and healthy soil. She believes that like the ’86 Farm Hill subsidies should be linked to performance. However, because soil only regenerates 1/2 a ton of topsoil a year we can not revert to the ’86 Farm Bills regulation of 5 or fewer tones a year. The subsidies should assist the farmer in achieving this goal, and there MUST be enforcement of these standards for it to work. She attempted to be modest my saying she has a small 3,500+ acre farm, however, that is massive compared to what we have been told is even a large farm. She uses pesticides, but also no-till. She believes in a balance and no extremes. We ended the night with a great meal of rice, beans, burgers, and hot dogs followed by a bonfire with smores. Whiterock Conservancy has been a great destination.

The highlight of today for many was seeing buffalo in the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge; however, the largest takeaway of the day for me was discussing runoff and water pollution with the Iowa Environmental Council. The focus of the conversation centered around nitrogen runoff as Jennifer Terry had worked for Des Moines Water Works for a period of time which overlapped with the water lawsuit. First, we discussed drainage districts and how it is a powerful political entity. A drainage district is owned by two or more farmers. Jen said that these districts have power with little accountability, a dangerous combination in her estimation.  They can tax property and use eminent domain to make those within the drainage district upgrade their tiling systems. I believe that drainage districts could be used as a solution to the water problem, but more on this later.

Tiled water does not stay local, and the runoff goes into the Des Moines or Raccoon rivers and to the water filtration facilities, where local taxpayers pay for the nitrates to be filtered out at the tune of up to $8,000 a day it is used. A solution proposed is to monitor tile drainage and keep the source below levels and if this is done give the farmers/ drainage district a bonus. Usage of oxbows, no-till, and wood chips to filter nitrates are all valid solutions; but after visiting the Neal Smith Wildlife Refuge and seeing their STRIPS project, I am convinced that prairie strips could be the most practical solution.

Omar de Kok-Mercado, a STRIPS Iowa project coordinator, showed the class how practical it is. You must grow the strips to be at least 30 ft. long and they help strengthen the soil, and capture runoff. They must use all local plants in the area and have two blooming flowers. The solution that seems practical to me is to create laws (possibly on a state level) to use the drainage districts as a tool, and to require any use or areas that pool water easily or are extremely unproductive to be turned into prairie strips. They will help to reduce runoff, and the landowners will receive incentives from the government that are listed in the 2018 Farm Bill for participating. Omar had said there were about 65 prairie strips on farms in Iowa currently, and all were created before it was listed in the Farm Bill, so this number is expected to increase.

What the STRIPS project does is similar to what Heath Stolee is doing, however, it is on a larger scale, and is not permanent as a farmer may remove the prairie strips whenever they choose. This project is one of many solutions currently being researched to reduce runoff and to me looks more promising than Miscanthus.