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.

This week has been full of firsts!

My first time on a plane, my first time in Iowa, and my first time helping get chicken eggs straight out of the coop!

Coming from a small town myself there hasn’t been much of a culture shock for my first two days in Iowa. Everything is jut a lot more open. Less trees and more range. It’s a freeing feeling really. The menu hasn’t even been much a change. I’ve been grateful enough to have full menu of vegetarian and vegan options to fully suit my palate.

I think one of best things that helped me transition to the big state of Iowa has been the book, Storm Lake by Art Cullen. Coming in and hearing HN talk about some of things going on around the state I recognized from the book. I was also fully prepared for the terrain of the state because I had the pleasure of reading about the landscapes of Iowa. The most recognizable to me are the subtle rolling hills of the land. Iowa is no flat character in this chapter of Summer, and I am eager to see how dynamic and complex the character Iowa turns out to be.

To begin my journey to Iowa, I woke up at 3 am this morning (which is 2 am Iowa time) to head to the airport in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. From there, I took another plane to Charlotte where I had a three hour layover, during which I fell asleep and nearly missed my flight.

Thank god for the voice of a woman over the loud speaker who awoke me with “paging passenger Bernacki, please arrive at gate E28 for an on-time departure,” an announcement I am almost positive the entire airport received.

From there it was smooth sailing (flying) to Iowa. I touched down at around noon and remained in the airport flagging down the rest of the group until around 3 pm.

After an hour drive from Des Moines to Radcliffe, Iowa we finally arrived. We took the short-long tour of Downtown Radcliffe, Dr. HN’s hometown, total population estimated to be around 400 souls. This concluded our first ride (of many more to come) in the 12- passenger white van that will be our Mayflower of sorts as we discover the four corners of Iowa and what is in between.

Some things I am looking forward to learning during the 21 days of traveling the paved and graveled roads of Iowa are getting to witness and participate in different agricultural practices, visiting a dairy farm, and touring the Water Works in Des Moines.

I am especially looking forward to our visit to Storm Lake and the Nutty Farmer. Storm Lake because of the book that we read prior to our arrival that was incredibly interesting. The Nutty Farmer because I am curious about the runoff and erosion barriers I saw there on the drive by.

I will be staying at the Knutson residents for the duration of my trip. I met them both, and their energetic dog today and I am so happy. They are, like most Iowans very sweet and welcoming. Following a short break, which I utilized to unpack and settle in to my lovely home for the month, we met for dinner with all eight students and each host family. There was wonderful food (especially the vegan Alfredo) and wonderful conversation. 

Finally, we met at the Neubauer Farm barn to discuss what tomorrow will hold. In the morning, farm safety, and in the evening, composting 101 which I am stoked about.

Goodnight farmers and followers of the blog.

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.

Since our 1995 Grand Marquis was still at the car whisperer’s, our day on Friday, May 19 began a little earlier than normal. We had to be outside the Sweeney’s and waiting for H-N at 6:30 to make it to the Stole house with enough time to eat breakfast. Once we arrived, Diane’s quiche and banana bunt cake were there waiting. After our breakfast and daily brief, we quickly loaded into the van. We were forced to make the thirty-minute drive to Ames, to meet with Liz Kolbe of Practical Farmers of Iowa, in heavy rain.

When we arrived at Practical Farmers of Iowa, we were greeted by the office dog, Ginger. After we played with Ginger for a few minutes, Liz welcomed us and showed us to our meeting room. While the coffee was brewing, we began our discussion about the organization and some of the issues it handles. Unlike Iowa Corn, PFI does not address many policy issues; it does NOT have a lobbying arm.  It does on occasion make recommendations to the Farmers Union regarding policy issues that it might consider for its agenda.  They work with farmers

They are simply there for outreach and to let farmers know there is a helpful group on their side. One of the main issues we discussed was pesticide drift. In order to become and remain an organic farmer, you can’t use certain pesticides. However, if the farmer next to you isn’t organic and sprays his fields, there is a large chance that it could drift onto yours. If this happens, you can lose your organic certification. To combat this, Practical Farmers of Iowa produces literature, in cooperation with the Pesticide Bureau, of what to do if this happens to you. After our pesticide talk wrapped up, Sophie even got to hear what it is like to join their starter farmer program.

After we left Liz’s office, we had the opportunity to drive around the campus of Iowa State University. Although it was a nasty day, the campus was still amazing. Growing up about twenty minutes outside the University of South Carolina, I figured all big state schools would look the same; spread out, huge dorms, a lot of cheap apartments, and integrated within the city. However, this wasn’t true for Iowa State and Ames. The campus was massive, but also very compact within its realm. It seems like everyone I’ve met on this trip went to Iowa State, so it was cool to see the place. Once we left campus, we drove back to Morris’s for a break.

After our short break, which mostly consisted of eating homemade granola bars, we were off to “It’s All Good,” owned by the Fiscus family, for some lunch and ice cream. Once we finished our quick meal, we were off to Des Moines Water Works again. However, instead of touring and meeting will Bill Stowe like the day before, we met with Josh, an environmental lawyer at the Environmental Law and Policy Center. With the help of Jen, Josh discussed the case that DMWW was involved in. He explained how it went through the judicial system and how the impact of the case could have impacted the environment in a positive way. However, due to political pressures, a lot of parties that could have helped DMWW stayed out of it. At the end of his talk, Josh explained how he progressed to being an environmental lawyer and he began working at the ELPC. He even touched on his current bid for Des Moines City Council.

Once we left Des Moines, we headed back to Ames to go to Wheatsfield Cooperative. When we arrived at Wheatsfield, we were greeted with goodie bags that consisted of some literature, pins, and chocolate. After a short intro by Kim, we took a tour of the cooperative. She briefly touched on where their foods come from and how they choose their vendors. Kevin, the cheese maker we met with on Thursday, is even a featured producer there. After our tour, we ate a dinner consisting of some house-made favorites and local milk. Once we finished eating, we made our way back to the Stole house. Our night then consisted of talking and enjoying our free time.

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Ending my time here in Iowa wasn’t hard. And I don’t mean to belittle my time I spent here—I learned more about corn, Iowa, conventional farming and the people who produce all this corn, than I ever though I would. But as I leave Iowa and write this last blog from an airport café, I have an energy about me that is kin to the energy every farmer I met while in Iowa. An itching for a hard day’s work, and itching to put my head down and grind.

Farming in the United States has become a trickier subject for me, one without a comprehensive solution to a number of problems both on the conventional and organic side. I still don’t know how I feel about Monsanto and the never-ending debate of GMO seeds. But what I do know is that Iowans work hard and are genuinely happy people who love to eat, laugh and be around one another. The people I’ve met in Iowa grew up milking cows before the sun rose and slopping hogs from a young age and are just trying to find a way to make farming work in this 21^st century of GPS driven tractors and the Des Moines Waterworks. I encountered Iowa at a time of great change and it was a time of great change for myself as well. As Connie Mutell said, we will not be farming in this fashion in the next 50 years.

Unlike my flight to Iowa, where I sat next to some questionable characters, I was lucky enough to sit next to Jessie on our flight back to Atlanta. As we sat and talked waiting for takeoff, we both realized that we most likely won’t see any of our new Iowa friends again. Although our short three-week trip consisted of mostly travelling up and back in our twelve-passenger van, we also bonded with the people we were staying with and those we met along the way. Even if I make it back to Iowa in a few years, which I plan on, the odds of me seeing our new friends, like Morris and Staci, are virtually nonexistent. However, the memories I have made with the people on this trip will last a lifetime.

When we first landed in Des Moines, I was apprehensive. I only knew two of the people on our trip, and I wasn’t staying with them. Plus, when I left home, it was 80 and sunny. When we landed, it was 50 and rainy. One of my first thoughts was feeling like I packed completely wrong and would be miserably cold for three weeks. Luckily, that wasn’t the case. As we drove towards our new homes in Radcliffe, I knew I was in for a decent three weeks. Our main rendezvous point was the Stole house, or as Scott calls it, Versailles. My favorite part of our time at Morris’s was the cooking. Very rarely can you get a delicious home cooked meal and sit down with eight of your friends and enjoy a carefree meal. Diane was an amazing cook, and even though I’m at least ten pounds heavier, it was totally worth it. We ate like farmers. But, we didn’t really work like farmers.

Although there wasn’t much work to be done, the work we ended up doing was my favorite part of our journey. From the first weekend when I rode in the tractor with Brent Friest, to loading hay, I enjoyed every minute of work. My favorite memory was loading the hay on Jada’s trailers. The barn was hot, the hay was prickly, everyone was sweating, and after loading 375 increasingly heavy bales, everyone was exhausted. But, we all had fun stacking them on. By the end, I swear the bales were 30 feet high. In my opinion, there was nothing cooler, than going to the pizza place covered in hay and smelling like we’d been working all day. With every bit of work, there was a little pride knowing that I helped in a small way.

Even though working was my favorite part, we didn’t do it very often. Most of our trip revolved around learning about conventional ag, farm policy, farm issues, and environmental issues. Although we went to a lot of interesting places, like Des Moines Water Works and Drake Law School, I think my favorite educational meeting was with Ben “Dad” Knutson in the barn. Honestly, much of what we learned over the course of these three weeks went in one ear and out the other. Coming into the trip, I had very limited knowledge about anything agriculture related other than the dust bowl. But, Ben gave a simple talk that made a lot of sense. What he said helped tie everything together. He also showed that some farmers want to do everything they can to take care of their land, like plant cover crops and rotate crops, but sometimes it just isn’t financially achievable.

As Glen said multiple times, we had the chance to go anywhere in the world this May. Hopefully one day I will go to Helsinki or Italy. But, I can do many of the same things they do on those trips when I’m old and have money. Iowa is different. I know I’ll never have the chance to stay at the house of a former Iowan Legislator again. There is no way I could ever sit in a tractor and watch as the corn is planted for the year. Before this trip, I didn’t know what a morel mushroom was. Although I was unsuccessful, I still got to trek through the Iowa countryside searching for those elusive mushrooms. I even got to eat a few. Turns out, I like them a lot.

Like I mentioned earlier, this was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I wish I could have taken more pictures and document my trip better, but most of my favorite parts couldn’t be photographed or expressed in words. The long dinner table arguments and discussions that sometimes got a little aggressive made meals more enjoyable. The van rides, where sometimes I thought I would die, made us all closer. The more we talked, the quicker our rides went. When I arrived in Des Moines, I was with 5 complete strangers, two acquaintances, and a professor I had to impress. However, I left with 8 friends. If I could do it over again, the only I would change is eating more desert and taking more nights to look at the stars. I’m glad I took this trip. During my short three-week stint here, I have made memories that I will never forget, with people I could never forget.

Peace out, Iowa.

On Memorial Day, we had the honor of meeting with renowned author and climate change expert, Connie Mutel. Not only is Dr. Mutel a well-known a science writer, but she is employed by the Iowa Institute for Hydroscience and Engineering. Because of her background, Dr. Mutel is very well versed in in her field, and has first-hand knowledge of how climate change has had a direct impacted on Iowa. When we first arrived at the Mutel house in Solon, I was instantly taken by the beauty of their landscape. It is only fitting that a climate change expert would take great care and show respect for her land. The acreage is all restored prairie land. The way their property looks today, is the way it would have looked in the late 19^th century. Once we went inside, it was just as beautiful as the property. On a side note, her and her husband Bob built the house together in the 1970s. We set up shop in the living room and began our lecture on climate change.

My favorite thing about Dr. Mutel was how personal the lecture was. In her newest book, Sugar Creek Chronicle, she emphasized the personal message and narrative. According to her, readers don’t like being told what to do. They like hearing personal stories and options about what can be done. I agree with this idea. Sugar Creek Chronicle is dedicated to her first-born granddaughter. Mutel begins her work by explaining how the world she grew up in is vastly different than the one her granddaughter will experience. She even shared examples of how the personal message in the work touched her readers and inspired change.

At the heart of her lecture, Mutel talked about land transformation from the founding of Iowa in the 1800s to present day. When the first European settlers arrived on the western bank of the Mississippi River in the mid-nineteenth century, they began making the land farmable. They tilled the dense prairie landscape with powerful horses, uprooting thousands of trees and plants, all in hopes of making the land profitable. This proved successful, and with the invention of the tractor in the early 1900s, most of the prairie landscape was gone by Iowa’s statehood. As technology increased, farm size also increased. However, as farm size increased, crop diversity decreased. The corn soybean rotation that came about in the mid-twentieth century really depleted the soil. The problems that were created then, runoff and erosion, are exacerbated today in issues like Des Moines Water Works and the land tilling debate.

According to Mutel, agriculture only contributes about 9% of greenhouse gasses. Other industries, such as coal and oil, attribute much more. However, as a country, during the Obama era, we made serious progress towards clean energy. As you drive through the Iowa countryside, the landscape is littered with wind turbines and barns that are sometimes covered in solar panels. The world is also beginning to progress. International treaties, such as the Paris agreement, are meant to lessen the effects of climate change worldwide. If countries take them seriously, they will have a tremendous impact. Although immediate change is needed, Connie assured us that if everyone does their part, change will come. The world will continue to be here no matter what. However, if we don’t preserve what we have, humans may not last.

After our talk, we met with Mary Mascher’s family and planted melons and pumpkins. When I was helping her brother set up the tractor, I asked him about his snowmobile repair business. Steve said that during the 90s, business was booming. However today, they don’t get enough snow for people to use these vehicles. Steve blamed global warming. He also went on to question how some people could deny climate change when Iowa has clearly changed over the past few decades. Dr. Mutel did note that January had a record high number of above freezing days this past year. If there is no snow and ice, people can’t run their snowmobiles. If they can’t run them, Steve is out of a job.

Unrelated, but Jessie holding a baby sheep and me with Bella the Llama at one of Mary Mascher’s farms.

Although I have always been a believer in climate change, Connie Mutel opened my eyes to the topic even more. She made me think about my impact on a small scale. Some of the same rivers I have fished in for years are now noticeably higher. This could be due to the increased rainfall we have seen, not just in the southeast, but all over the country. The Iowa floods of 2008 and the flood of my hometown in 2015 can be attributed, in part, to global warming. When you think about yourself, you forget the bigger picture and focus on what directly has an impact on your life. When you change, others change, and your environment changes. If everyone makes a few small changes, we can stall climate change and begin to make progress.

May 30, 2017

Today we went to A renewable Fuel Research center partnered with Iowa State. I was truly amazed at all the different techniques that were being used to produce cost effective renewable fuels. I think the key phrase to look at before I discuss what we saw at the facility is the phrase “cost effective”. the facility has found countless renewable resources to use for everyday consumption. The problem is that they cannot compete with how cheap fossil fuels are. As long as fossil fuels are at the cost they are now, alternative renewable fuels do not have a chance in the market. According to our tour guide, it is not that they world will run out of oil, it is that the world will eventually run out of easy to reach ground level oil that is so cheap to extract and produce. But besides that our tour was really about the various different alternatives we are looking at along with the many uses of cash crops that are already produced such as Corn and Soy. For example we learned that the soybean stover is a very useful alternative to plastic and was used in place of plastics in car interiors before plastic was invented. Corn stover is also being used to be converted to bio-fuel. The only problem for corn bio-fuel is making it cost effectively.

We got to see bales of corn stover up close and it was fascinating to learn more about them. Each bale of stover weighs 1000 pounds and they fall on at least one farmer overhear and kill them. The stover for some reason is very prone to lightning and many piles of stover are not only struck by lightning each year but cause a fire. For clarification, stover is the leftovers of a crop in the field after it is harvested so for example corn stover is the cob and the stalk of the plant. After learning all about stover we moved to their processing plant where they grind up or distill different materials to try to convert to biofuel. Our tour guide explained how his favorite material to work with was eucalyptus and his least favorite was chicken manure which I though was very funny. After that we went to their algae center where we saw how they grow green algae to convert into bio fuel. They are looking into green algae because it removes waste from water to grow and can be used as fuel. They had an old way to grow algae and a revolutionary way to grow algae in the center. The old way was to churn algae in like a lazy river. This however is not very cost effective. The best way is to grow algae that grows on conveyer belts that g in and out of the water.

Overall I was very impacted by what I saw at this plant. I think it is truly amazing all the different things that we can make fuel out of and I am sure that we will find more. I have always been worried that we as a society would not find a fuel to replace fossil fuels but now after being at this center I have so much more confidence in our world.

Friday, we had pleasure of visiting the Living History Farms of Iowa. The Living History Farms is a live interactive history museum and tour of the epic transitions of agrarian Iowa to the technology advanced agricultural landscape that is rural Iowa today. Although we had another event scheduled and was short for time, it was exciting to physically step into different points of history. The outdoor to or extended to 500 acres, beginning with the 1700 Ioway Farm, the 1850 Pioneer Farm, to the 1900 Farm. At the 1700 Ioway Farm, we were able to the hunter-gatherer period of prairies that were Iowa before its takeover by Europe. It was fascinating to see some of the efforts of the late native americans to manipulate the land and soil. Their efforts were furthered by some of the the hand tools they construct to help till and manage the soil. It was also interesting to the social setting of the Iowa natives. We saw their huts, fire pits, and community quarters.

Even more interesting was the 1850 Pioneer Farm where we saw a few innovations of colonial Iowa including early settlement homes and first uses if confined or fenced-in livestock. It was amazing to see the transition from bone blades for digging and planting to wood and metal tools like shovels and crop curlers.

Lastly, we journeyed through 1900s Iowa, where we saw a landscape much like what Iowa is currently. The was a large white-painted wood home in front if a large red horse barn and right of a two acre field plot. There we saw, what one might call, an early tractor. It was tillage tool attached to rear of a horse drawn carriage. Much like the technology of today, tools could be attached and detached to the carriage as needed.

Seeing all of this while considering the technological advancements of today, I cognitively began to beg the question of the future of farming in America. If we could advance so much within a century, where would technology be on the next decade? Will we have robotics so advanced that farmers are no longer needed or replaced with designated monitors? These are questions to think about as we continue our journey.