My favorite part of Monday was meeting with Dr. Franklin. Dr. Franklin is the president of Des Moines University in downtown Des Moines. She is also a Furman graduate! It was so cool to hear how her journey from being a psychology major at Furman led to her being the president of a university. As I currently work in admissions, I have thought quite a bit about pursuing a job in a college’s admissions department and it was interesting to hear her journey from working as a professor, a psychologist and a college admin to becoming the president of a university. It made me reflect on all the possibilities for me after I leave Furman. I also liked hearing what she missed most about Furman and what her best memories were. She talked about taking walks around the lake with girlfriends and that whenever she goes back, she tries to take a walk around the lake. Hearing her talk about her love for Furman and the ways in which Furman has influenced her made me think about the ways in which Furman is affectin me and how things like this May experience will stay with me forever.

Earlier in the day we visited Corteva Agriscience. Corteva is essentially just a variation of Monsanto, they do the same things just under a different name. I found that the people we spoke to tip-toed around issues and never gave very direct answers. Their real agenda seemed cloaked and it felt like they were hiding behind the rhetoric of ‘moving into a better future’ and ‘new technology’ and ‘ending world hunger.’ In reality I believe they are a corporation that is monopolizing the seed industry and taking a us to a place that will be very hard to return from. Pesticide drift, price markets and other such variables force competitors out of the market and leave only the large GMO operations standing.

On Friday we went to tour an ethanol plant, Poet. It was pouring rain and just about the gloomiest day you can imagine and pulling up to the huge ethanol plant in seemingly the middle of nowhere was a bit of a daunting sight. I am embarrassed to say before this visit; I had no idea what ethanol was. I can’t say I was extremely surprised that it was made out of corn because if nothing else, we have been learning that corn plays a role in just about everything we do. I was excited by the idea of a gasoline substitute. Ethanol can help America stop leaning on foreign markets for oil and make some of the necessary product right here in America. It is not a perfect process, but it is at least on the way to improving the pollution in the environment.

Interestingly, we learned yesterday that Ellsworth College has gotten rid of their biotechnology program which is essentially what prepares a college graduate to work at an ethanol plant. This would make one assume that Ethanol plants can be very successful as people are having a hard time getting hired. Instead we learned that the training to operate the Ethanol plant takes a long time and they have a high retention rate of keeping the same employees for a long time and have no need for a new hire. This seems like it could become a problem as if colleges no longer have this program, when Poet and other plants like Poet eventually need to hire someone new, there is no one qualified. On the other hand, we learned that the plant has a really fast turnover in its maintenance division. They have found that no one that comes to work for them already knows how to do the job. After training them, the individual goes on to leverage this new knowledge for a better job and the plant has to go through the hiring process again.

Today we arrived at White Rock Conservancy. First, we spent a couple hours removing invasive species and picking up sticks on land that the conservancy is restoring to Oak Savanna, and endangered land form. This turned out to be pretty back-breaking work. If nothing else, I learned that I certainly do not have a future in gardening. The saving grace of this time of laboring was the donkey. The donkey, named Raji, was the guard donkey. Ragi was the ‘guard dog’ for the goats. The goats lived on the land to serve as browsers–they eat the plants that are above ground, notably the honeysuckle. Our group and a few other volunteers, were doing the work on the savanna floor removing the invasive species so the native ones could flourish. Following our volunteer activity, we had a quick lunch before going to Liz Garst’s house to pick her brain on all things agriculture. Ms. Garst is the grandaughter of the Iowa legend, Roswell Garst, who became famous for selling hybrid seed corn to Iowa farmers during the 1930s and for forming the Garst Seed Corn Company. To say Ms. Garst was a wealth of knowledge would be an understatement. She had very strong opinions, but from what I could discern, she was a much more middle-of-the-road person than many of the people we had thus far. She was a realist without being pessimistic. I found that the most interesting thing that she talked about was Iowa State. She spoke about how Iowa State was in big ag’s pocket. Big ag businesses pay for the research they conduct which means that the research has a bias and a desired outcome. Additionally, they only employ people with their point of view. This is especially upsetting because a place of learning should promote and display a diversity of viewpoints. She was not a fan of the philosophy that the University was required to speak “with one voice on agriculture” because it was imperative that it did so to “feed the world’s growing population.” This was interesting and made me reflect on after talking to Professor Heaton who was doing research for Iowa State.  Looking back, I do see that she did display the point of view that Ms. Garst talked about. I also liked Liz Garst’s argument that markets need to be less politicized. Trade and politics need to try to be kept more separate for the sake of everyone’s well-being.

Today we visited the Grinnell Heritage farm as well as the farm on the Meskwaki settlement. The message and overall stance on the ag business at the Meskwaki farm was very much like the message we heard at the Grinnell farm. I was surprised at how little I connected with the people at the Grinnell farm. The Grinnell heritage farm is an anti GMO- anti pesticide anti big ag, organic farm. We chatted with the owner of the farm, and he illustrated an apocalyptic point of view that America was in a state of failure and was on the path to major destruction. He portrayed the agriculture industry as evil and almost beyond saving. I found that the rhetoric he used, such as strong negative language, put me as a listener into a defensive place as I felt a bit like I was being told I was a part of the problem and I should be doing more and if I wasn’t on their side I was dumb. I found that this put me off just as much as the extreme other side displayed at Corteva and Monsanto. I also found that I actually even preferred the more positive rhetoric of moving to a better future and making a difference and excitement toward the future and new opportunities that Corteva and Monsanto had. On paper, I felt like I would be very gung-ho about Grinnell and their mission but the language and framing of their message was very aggressive and I found it to be very off putting. The message at the farm on the Meskwaki settlement was much more positive and hopeful and I really enjoyed my time there.

After visiting Bayer, the Iowa Environmental Council (IEC) was like a breath of fresh air. Jennifer was passionate about the environment and the changes that need to be made in the immediate future. IEC advocates for more regulations. I too think more regulations are needed especially since farmers have had plenty of time to prove that they do not need government rules and regulations to do the right thing. Since leaving it up to the individual to make changes has not work it only makes sense to try a new approach. IEC hopes that big businesses will see the changes needed for water quality as an investment for the future. An improvement of water quality would help tourism, realty, and overall state success. If big businesses get behind regulations to help the environment and improve water quality, the regulations are much more likely to be put into action.  Something I really appreciated about IEC is that their opinions and stand on issues were very clear and out in the open. This felt like a breath of fresh air after trying to decode the agendas of Corteva, Bayer, and the Agribusiness Association. I also appreciated that while they were talking about pretty serious and devastating thing going on in Iowa, they had humor and positivity. They had a plan to make things better and the enthusiasm and will to do it. The obvious passion and eagerness they exuded was infectious and made me want to be a part of what they were doing. Unfortunately, I do think it is a bit unlikely that big agricultural businesses will get behind restrictive regulations because in the end it all comes down to money. They want to make the most money with the least amount of work. Changes like the ones IEC wants to make will mean a lot of money will be spent and the businesses will have less room to do whatever they want.

Wednesday, May 22

Today at the Practical Farmers of Iowa, we learned about pesticide drift and how farmers can prevent and recover from pesticide drift. The biggest take away I had from the experience is that a big change needs to be made. If pesticide spray blows over from one farm (let’s call it farm A) onto a neighboring farm (we’ll call it farm B), farm B crop’s might suffer devastating impacts on the crop, and hence, on Farm B’s income. Farm B is not negatively affected if it is using the same pesticide on its crops but if it is a non-GMO farm or planting a different type of crop, Farmer B is in big trouble. This is because you have to pay for a stamp of approval to use the pesticide. If farmer B did not do that, they cannot sell a crop with that pesticide product on it. Farmer B has now lost their entire means of income and they have little to no means of saving themselves. Farm A can be fined up to $1,000, but the fine money goes directly to the state and Farm B does not see a penny of it. The only real way to get their losses covered is to file an insurance claim, but that takes a lot of time which the farmer does not have as they need the money. Additionally, Farm B can hire a lawyer, but this is a long costly process as well.

To put it in simpler terms, if you are the victim of pesticide drift, you are the one that is punished rather than the farmer whose pesticide drifted. So, the next step is looking at how one can possibly prevent pesticide drift or protect themselves from pesticide drift. The only real ways to do this is to make people in your vicinity aware that you cannot have pesticide on your crops, and they need to be careful. The problem with this is you are essentially relying on both weather (wind can spread pesticide very easily) and other people to save your crop.

This then led to a discussion about dicamba. Dicamba is an herbicide that kills weeds. Dicamba is essentially the new and ‘improved’ Roundup. One of the biggest characteristics of Dicamba is its tendency to drift, this means it can infect the nearby crops very easily. To hear from the source itself, we went to Bayer, aka new Monsanto. Bayer’s response is that all pesticides drift, and that’s just nature. They say there are ways to make it not drift, specialty nozzles etc. Hearing both sides back to back was extremely interesting.

The highlight of the day far and away was the arrival of Morris’s baby chicks. They were the cutest little fluffs ever seen on earth.

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Today we went to the Iowa Agribusiness Association, The World Food Prize Hall of Laureates, the Des Moines Water Works and the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation of Iowa State. The most memorable part of the day was the tour of the World Food Prize. When originally interviewing to take part in the Farm MayX, HN tasked those interviewing to look into a few agriculture celebrities and come prepared to chat about one. The person I chose to look into was Norman Borlaug. Norman Borlaug, among many other significant achievements, created the World Food Prize to honor people in the agriculture business who make a difference in the realm of world hunger and food supply. The award has been given out every year since 1987. The World Food Prize Hall of Laureates was a beautiful building and held a fascinating story. The part of the tour that stood out to me the most is the photography exhibit donated by photographer Howard G. Buffett. The exit was called Forty Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World. The exhibit displayed photos of people from around the world. Looking at the pictures in the photo display I can’t help but wonder how these people would feel about being displayed in an exhibit that is portraying poverty and hunger around the world. If they could see us walking around and pitying them and their circumstances what would they say? We were told some people go through the gallery and are brought to tears with sadness. The pictures were breathtaking and moving but at the same time almost intimate as we were looking at people suffering and impoverished. Additionally, many of the pictures were of children. It felt almost wrong to be exposing that innocence when they are too young to really consent to having their pictures used.

Today we went to the farm of Mitch Meyer and met him and Renae Zoske. Together they run a crop insurance agency. The interesting thing about Mitch and Renae is that they are also farmers. This allows them to have a personal connection to their clients because they understand first-hand what a farmer needs and have actually used the product they’re selling. In a business, such as farming, it is hard to understand the woes of a farmer unless you are a farmer yourself. It makes sense for the seller of farmer insurance to be a farmer themselves. Farming insurance protects a farmer against the many unpredictable things that affect a farmer’s yield. This can be weather, soil problems, pests etc. Farming insurance makes sure that a farmer can get paid even if he runs into these common unpredictable problems. Without farmers insurance, it would be near impossible for small family farms to stay afloat. It was very interesting to hear how the government plays a role in farming.

After lunch, we ventured out to help deworm goats. We probably were less of a help and more of a hinderance on our host Franklin as he tried to give his baby goats (known as kids) medicine for them to swallow as well as a shot. This is when I learned that the sound of goats crying is akin to the sound of a toddler wailing. Their cries are loud and honestly heartbreaking. I held a goat while it was being given its medicine. The goat was a lot more snuggly than I expected and a small part of me briefly thought “I should get one of these at home,” but then I looked around and the wet, muddy ground we stood in that was a mixture of good old fashion mud and goat feces, and thought “better not.”

Our first Sunday in Iowa had a lazy start. After luxuriating in my first opportunity to really sleep in, I ventured upstairs to rejoin the group. After being promptly fed by the best farm wife in all of Iowa (Morris) we headed out to learn about beekeeping and locally sourced honey from local beekeeper Mark Tinjter. Mr. Tinjter ventured out into the chilly afternoon to show us around his land. We learned about bee colonies and the many jobs of a beekeeper. I must confess I did not think beekeeping was that much work before today. It turns out, bees are much like toddlers, they have to be coaxed, shuffled around, constantly fed, and encouraged to get them to do exactly what you want them to do.

Mr. Tinjter enlightened us on the difference between male and female bees. The male bees are called drones and essentially mimic men in real life. They do not actually help the hive. They do not have stingers, and they do not gather nectar or pollen. They essentially do not contribute anything to the colony of bees beside their sperm. Their single act is to fertilize the queen. They mate with the queen in flight and then become officially useless. The female bees are worker bees and essentially carry the success of their colony on their backs. They work themselves to death to serve the queen and the hive. What a tragic life to lead.

We were lucky enough to sample some of Mr. Tinjter’s honey, and I can honestly say it was fantastic. We sampled three types of honey and were offered a drone larva. I have never seen anything so unappetizing in my life. The larva was small yellow bubble-like substances. Definitely not my cup of tea. All in all, the afternoon was very interesting and a refreshing break from learning about corn and combines.

Yesterday I arrived in Radcliffe Iowa. My first impressions were that the open space was beautiful and a welcome change from the stuffy environment of city life. The thing that stood out to me the most in my first 24 hours in Iowa is the close connections of the people here. Over dinner professor, Halva-Neubauer recalled memories from high school along with Mrs. Sweeney and Mr. Stole. The concept that they had all gone to middle school and high school together and were still in touch and close is amazing to me. I am only two years out of high school and I have already lost all connection with my friends from those years. This is partly due to my family having moved quite a bit growing up. I don’t have any deep roots anywhere, and it was interesting and so nice to see what that looks like.