We need more farmers like Denny and Brent Friest. This father and son team combines a powerhouse of energy and innovation with a goal of sustainability and smart management practices. Today as a group, we toured the Friest hog barns and learned about the process of raising pigs. The use of gestation crates has become a controversy across the country with them being banned in 5 states including Colorado and Florida. Stories of sick pigs, crushed babies and untreated injuries are often reported in the media, causing panic. I think across the nation, people are asking for humanely treated, grass-fed pigs for a cheap price. Going into this trip, that’s certainly something I wished could be feasible. I wanted to (and still want to) see if we can supply the world with grass-fed, free-range pork.

But this was before I saw the kind of operation Brent Friest is running. His pigs seem relatively happy. They can’t turn around or really move in their confinement, but they’re well fed and watered and their health is monitored. Brent told us that injuries to pigs and piglets increase greatly when they’re allowed to be free range. In the gestation crates, each pigs is ensured food and water whereas in an open feeding crate, the skinny pigs stay skinny and the fatter pigs get fatter. And since these pigs are making Brent money, it doesn’t make sense to have skinny, worthless pigs.

The second biggest problem people have with commercial pig farming is the nurseries which are set up much like the gestation crates with the sow, immobile in the center and the piglets are somewhat separated from the sow, but still have access to the teats and heated mats on the floor. The point of these crates is to reduce the number of crushed piglets and ensure that they have constant access to food. Brent tells us that in pig huts, piglets are more susceptible to cold and being crushed by the sow. To us, the piglets seemed perfectly happy and the sows are fed and watered. And I want to believe Brent when he says that this kind of pig farming is entirely humane and has a greater success rate than free range pig production.

What I want to get at is that this trip was a learning process. A single farmer’s practices can be entirely different from the next farmer and you have to take everything with a grain of salt. It’s up to us to visit all these different farms and talk to companies like Big Pig and figure out where our personal ethics lie. Right now, I don’t really have a problem with how Brent Friest is farming his pigs. His operation is relatively small compared to the bigger companies, and so he’s able to care for each of his pigs individually. That’s something that Brent and his father stressed the importance of. They own and operate their pig farms by their own rules and don’t have to answer to a larger corporation. Later in the trip, we will visit other pig operations and have something to compare the Friests’ practices to. Ultimately, the different pig practices are just an example of what we’re trying to accomplish on this trip—draw from a wealth of sources and create our own opinions when it comes to agriculture and farming in Iowa.

Tuesday, May 16 was an interesting day for the Farm crew, but especially for the guys I live with. First, Reid, Parker, and I woke up at 6:30 to artificially inseminate cows on the Sweeney Ranch. Once we herded the cattle and found the two females we needed, they had to be put into a head chute. Neither cow really wanted to be in there, so there was some trouble. Once the first cow was in, there was an issue finding the right parts, and she very forcefully broke through the chute scaring everyone in the barn but the relaxed Dave Sweeney. After that, it went fairly well. Once the second bovine was in the chute, she went extremely quick. After some unexpected car troubles, we arrived at Morris’s for breakfast at 7:45 and ate a classic Diane breakfast consisting of bacon and eggs. Once we were stuffed, we headed over to the Friest Farm.

Instead of riding tractors like we did Saturday, we had the opportunity to see their pig barn. Initially I was skeptical. Pig barns are a hot-button topic in agriculture, especially in a state like Iowa where there are hundreds of these barns in one single county. Some animal rights activists go crazy about the supposed inhumane conditions in these barns. They claim that the environments are too stressful on the pigs, they can easily get hurt chewing on the bars of their constricting metal cages, and sometimes they can even turn cannibalistic. Going into the barns, we couldn’t have had a better guide. Brent, who is a rather open guy, told us everything I could have wanted to know about how he raised his swine and how they were treated.

First, we saw the mill where the pig feed was created. One of the things Brent was most proud of on the Friest farm is their ability produce almost everything on site. They grow the corn to use for feed, make the feed themselves in their mill, and use the pig manure to put on their crops. One of the questions that came up in the food mill was about the use of antibiotics. Many claim that the pigs are being pumped with harmful antibiotics daily, and that these antibiotics not only effect their lives, but also effect human lives after consumption. Brent assured us this isn’t true. They only put in what they need to keep the pigs safe and happy. Plus, the antibiotics have no bearing on humans after consumption. Some, such as amoxicillin, are used on all types of humans and animals.

After the feed mill, we went to see the gestation crates. This is also a very sensitive issue. The crates are wide enough for the hogs to fit in comfortably, but they can’t turn around. Although this seems bad at first, once you enter and begin to look around it isn’t. In my opinion, the quality of life for these pigs wasn’t terrible. They get fed, are given plenty of water, and they are kept in a comfortable climate. The pigs in these cages aren’t treated bad. They are Brent’s property and his livelihood, so he keeps them in good enough condition to sell. Instead of being harsh and cruel, he genuinely tries his hardest to care for the pigs and ensure they are in good enough shape to be sent to market.

Next, we went inside one of my favorite places of all time, the piglet barn. Here, mothers lay in gestation crates while their offspring ran happily around them either feeding or playing. Some activists claim the gestation creates are extremely inhumane. They say the mothers don’t have room to move around and they are kept in a position where they can only stand or lay down. But, as Brent explained, this is for the safety of the piglets and the mother. A lot of babies die because they are stepped or laid on. The crates are meant to maximize the health of the baby pigs. Each mother pig is given ample food and water while she is nursing, and the piglets have unobstructed access to their mother’s udders as well as milk put in their spaces. Not only did we get to see the piglets, but we also got to hold them. In my opinion, this was one of the best moments of our trip. Some didn’t like the human contact, but others loved being held.

I think one of the biggest problems pig barns face is the lack of communication between farmers and consumers. Because of the biosecurity issue, most people aren’t allowed in pig barns to experience them firsthand. Before going into the Friest barn I was worried about what I might see. Most of the things I’ve heard about barns are horrible. I expected dead and tailless pigs everywhere. However, this wasn’t anywhere close to reality. As I said earlier, the pigs are Brent’s livelihood. They are in good hands. If anything is abnormal or the pig is injured, he can’t be sold; that’s money out of the Friest’s pockets. As we see a few more hog barns in the upcoming weeks it will be easier to compare what I saw on the Friest Farm. But as of now, I see nothing wrong with the way hogs are raised in large, independent barns. Brent said that every barn is different, and that no states have the same style, volume, or methods to raising pigs. Because of this, people need to look at pigs on a local level. There can’t be any catchall policies is pig farming.

So today was a piece meal sort of day. Since it had been raining and the fields were wet we had to change our plans a little bit, but it was still a fantastic day in Iowa. We started out our day with visiting the Friests’ pig operation. Now they have a unique operation because most of the hog farming in Iowa is done by a few cooperations that contract with farmers, but the Friests are totally independent. We started off our tour with the feed. Brent walked us through the way that they make the different feeds for the pigs, and each of the major ingredients that go into it. Brent then took us into the first hog barn. The first one was were they kept the breeding sows, and where his helping hand kept his show pigs. We next went over the the farrowing barn. In here we saw the piglets with their mothers, and also the pigs right after they had been weaned from their mothers. We got to hold the baby piglets, and Brent talked about the different procedures they perform before they separate the mothers from the piglets. We then made our way into the next room in that barn where the just weaned pigs were held while they got big enough to move to the final finishing areas. In the last barn we saw the pigs that were going to be sent to market soon. After seeing all the barns, Brent explained more the process of raising the pigs, and told us that it usually takes about 6 months from when the pigs are born till the get sent to market.

Later in the afternoon we went over to a horse farm that was run Jada Neubauer, who is married to HN’s nephew. She runs a horse barn, and houses other peoples horses along with her own. She trains her horses to pull carts, and her whole family competes in different levels, but the horses she houses compete in a multitude of different events. We were able to join her for the afternoon chores which included feeding, bringing in and putting out, and refilling their water. It was a great time because the horses were beautiful and very well trained. I personally got to bring in a horse named Jedi, who stood as tall as my shoulder. I tried to fit him in the van, but unfortunately he was too big to fit in. After a few failed attempts to kidnap some horses and petting all the barn cats we could find we left to get back for our evening presentation.

Tonight we had Denny Friests give us a presentation about sustainability, and how conventional agriculture tires to achieve a balance between production and substantiality. He talked with us about his practices, and his use of precision ag to make his farm sustainable. His main take away point was that the new technology allowed farmers to only apply the bare minimum amount of chemicals needed to grow their crops, and the new tech allowed them to have less of an impact on the environment. He also brought along Sam Stegma, and she talked to us about what different coops do to help make more farms sustainable. She told us about the different services that they use to help farmers determine the best seeds for their land, and when and how much chemicals to apply on the crop. Next we had Brian Perry from Land O’Lakes’ Sustain program which promotes sustainable corporate responsible (yep, this is the same company that sells butter). He talked to us more in-depth about the software that Denny uses, and how it is helping farmers meet the requirements of new farm regulations. Finally we had Ben Gleason from the Soil Health Partnership at the Iowa Corn Growers Association. He talked with us about soil health, and how modern conventional farming techniques are helping to improve soil health, which in turns helps improve crop yields.

Today we continued to pursue our amplify the lessons we heard about last week regarding conventional farming and precision agriculture by visiting what has been deemed the “big and bad” Monsanto. Prior to this visit, I only knew of the horrors of Monsanto. However our tour today of the Monsanto Company, at its Learning  Center in Huxley provided  me with new and surprisingly positive insights about Monsanto and its products. With all negatives aside, Monsanto is a company that offers subsidies and services to lower income farmers. Well known, among all other services, is Monsanto’s production of herbicide and pesticide-coated seeds. These seeds protect against some of the common extrinsic factors of nature such as insects and weeds that may negatively alter crop yields. The tour even featured a live robotic seed chipper system, showing how corn seeds are chipped and used for biological alteration. This alteration system begins with testing the DNA of one seed chip and using the DNA of another crop to increase the probability of greater crop yield. Genetic alteration, in this aspect, is justifiable. However, it may acquire unethical uses of genetic modification in the future.

Aside from genetically modified seeds, we were shown features of the precision technology constructed to aid farmers in all natural situations. All of these technologies are made to simply be added to a farmer’s tractor with result to increasing crop yields and to achieve the maximum benefits from farming labor. Other technologies provided area-precise seed planting which would prevent seeds from being too close or too far apart from each other. There was even a device that could measure the depth into which a seed may be planted, providing appropriate allocation of seed to soil.

Seeing all this technological innovation, I could only think of one thing. That is how extensive a career farming really is. Notwithstanding that pest and weeds can singularly eliminate all crops in a field, the even greater issue is that the act of planting seeds itself has its own difficulties. To receive the maximum usage of cropland, farmers have to take into consideration the planting of neat and straight rows while preventing seed proximity to close or far from each other. If seeds are too close, the crops will choke each other, causing poor crop yields. If seed are too far, then the farmer has wasted areas in which he or she could’ve had more yields. A second problem is planting depth. Seeds have different yields based on how far down they are planted into the soil. A seed planted too low or too high can cause low yields or, in worse case scenarios even no crop growth at all. The third but greatest issue aligns with location of seeds. Not all soil is the same. Some areas have better soil than that of other areas. A farmer has to know what section of his or her cropland promotes the best yields for the crops he or she is seeking to plant and which section promotes the best yields for other crops.

With all said, farming is a tough and extensive career. Consequently all services that work to aid farmers in their efforts should be considered both for their pros and cons.

May 15, 2017

One of the main reasons I had a strong desire to participate in this particular May Experience, is to be able to dig deeper into the debate between conventional farming practices versus organic farming ones. My freshman year of college, I took a first year writing seminar titled “Big Food,” that centered on the importance of organic farming in bettering the health and lifestyle of Americans. I however, do not necessarily agree with this type of philosophy because America cannot be fed solely on organic farming practices. So, being able to learn more about these different styles is something that I have been looking forward to for a long time. This morning, we were fortunate enough to visit the Monsanto Huxley Learning Center to learn more about conventional farming. This was a very modern looking building with a “self-guided” tour system that allowed visitors to move freely through the display. We however, were fortunate to have a real tour guide who further explained Monsanto’s practices to us and answered questions that we had concerning different topics such as GMOs, precision agriculture, and the research that goes into these methods.

Conventional styled farming can be defined by three different categories: Seed Science, Precision Agriculture, and Data Science. With the combination of these strategies, the total yield of corn, soybeans, and other agricultural products can be greatly increased, even on smaller plots of land. In fact, this concept is the overall goal of Monsanto. A great amount of research is applied to advances in breeding and biotechnology to identify seeds with the best qualities for growth in different types of environments. This is where different advances in technology can take place. For example, Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs)  are developed to allow a single seed to grow as efficiently as possible, while protecting the environment at the same time. To decrease the use of pesticides, fungicides, and other harmful chemicals, the seeds are developed to already have these traits incorporated into them before they are even planted. This goes against the beliefs of the extreme health people, who believe that GMOs are very harmful to human health and can even cause children to develop Down Syndrome. However, because so much research is applied to these modifications, health is not something that should be of any concern.

I also thought it was very interesting to go through a “timeline” of technology that has helped improve precision agriculture in today’s society. For example, soil health and depth is not the same in every location on a field. Improvements in technology have allowed more consistent and precise seed depth that is able to increase the total yield produced by the seeds. This allows each seed to have an equal chance of reaching its maximum potential. Before coming to Iowa, I had no idea that these issues were so problematic. I find it to be very surprising yet relieving to know that farmers have amazing technology that allows certain issues to be avoided, such as keeping a consistent seed depth. I also took Remote Sensing last year for my Environmental Science major and I am enjoying being able to connect my research to satellite images of agriculture. Being able to apply my learning to real world situations has been a great opportunity, and I am excited to be able to learn and connect even more.

Today was a very varied day. We had a large variety of activities: we ate breakfast, we toured the Monsanto Huxley Learning Center, we met with Iowa corn, and we split into groups to make cheese, artificially inseminate cows, or ride along with planting/cultivating.

At Monsanto, we discussed a variety of agriculture techniques and planting. They’re currently focusing on merging science and data science to maximize returns for farmers. I felt that the presentation was very high on the marketing end and low on the data. They had a variety of stations with focus areas, including seed science, genetics, traits, agronomy, and research. These stations focused on the seed science, while their other hallway focused on precision engineering, including variable rate planting, singulation, and depth.

Following Monsanto, we visited Iowa Corn, and met with three people there, including Elizabeth Burns-Thompson, T.J. Page, and Dr. David Ertl. Iowa Corn two wings, the corn promotion board and the corn growers’ organization. Iowa Corn has federal priorities, including environment, ethanol, trade, and safety net. They also have state priorities, including conservation/water quality, livestock, renewable fuels, research, and taxes. Iowa Corn also has a PAC, funded separately from the Corn Promotion Board and Corn Growers Association.

After Iowa Corn, we drove back to Radcliffe and split into different groups. One group went to Lost Lake Farm, where they milked cows and made cheese (I wasn’t a part of that, so I’ll let them expand). The other group rode along with farmers who were planting and field cultivating, including Denny Neubauer, Denny Friest, Brent Friest, and Glen Hodnefield. I went with Denny Neubauer, and we field cultivated for Caleb Knutson, who had broken down in his field. Following this, Sophie Friis and I participated in artificial insemination of cows with a local farmer.

May 14

Farmers’ connections to their land in Iowa is striking. When land is passed down from generation to generation, and is nearly impossible to acquire without inheritance, the ground becomes so much more valuable than the economic returns it engenders. As the Seed Savers orchard manager and leading decision maker for orchard land use, Dan seemed to empathize with this connection and obligation to the land and its intrinsic values. He reminded us of the historical values of the apple varieties that the land produces and the survival of a surprising number of species through time. His anecdote about one species that his orchard barely salvaged paralleled stories of charismatic megafauna like the elephant and giant panda that are facing the same fates.

Beyond the historical and aesthetic values of these limited species is the importance of biodiversity to the resilience of earth’s flora and fauna and the ecosystems in which they thrive. Dan told us that the varieties planted in the orchard were naturally resistant to disease, perhaps a testament to the enhanced resilience of natural systems with higher genetic diversity. Educating the public on the existence of rare and delicious apples (as is the goal of the Seed Savers orchard) is a good first step in the process of improving the viability and longevity of the species and others around the globe.

The next step in this process is to get biodiversity into the market. As Dan told us, the majority of apples grown in the US are limited to only a few varieties, a result of public demand and knowledge of only those few varieties. Mechanization of agriculture limits our ability to maintain large orchards with mixed apple varieties. But perhaps we could use the natural tolerance of these ancient varieties to create large, diverse orchards without needing chemical inputs. While it would be a slow fade to transition to a system with diversity as the dominant characteristic of orchards, the orchard at Seed Savers serves as a promising educational tool for promoting the historical, cultural and environmental values of biodiversity.

May 14, 2017

Today we went to the Seed Savers Exchange in Decorah Iowa. The main mission of this non-profit organization is to save endangered species of plants by saving their seeds and sharing them across the globe. Seed Savers Exchange takes threats to biodiversity seriously. It maintains a collection of more than 20,000 heirloom and open-pollinated vegetable, herb, and plant varieties, including over 1,000 varieties of heritage apple trees. They also grow their select varieties every year so they have the seeds available to sell.

When we first got to the exchange, its location was breathtaking. Rolling green grass, a creek, a beautiful red barn,  and even a  small mountain which had an apple orchard on top. We first walked into the exchange itself. There were so many different varieties of seeds. One variety I found intriguing was the six different varieties of carrot seeds ready for planting. When I think of a carrot I  only think of two which are regular and baby carrots. I had no idea how many varieties there were for a same type of vegetable, fruit, or flower.

After buying seeds we all walked up the little mountain to visit the orchard and hopefully get some strudel and cider. I was lucky enough to get the last piece of strudel, unfortunately, the rest of my group was not able to get any. as the saying goes, “The early bird gets the worm” and that was me getting the last strudel! However, everyone else did have the opportunity to try the cider. While at the orchard we learned from the head man of the orchard about the 700 different kinds of apples at the orchard. I never knew there were so many different types of apples. Some of the apple varieties in the orchard date back to the 1600s.  I think it is so amazing that seed savers goes around the country to save varieties of apples about to go extinct. Overall, I learned about the many different varieties of plants, and seed savers has inspired me to plant different unconventional varieties of plants at my own home in the future.

It’s Day 5 and breakfast this morning consisted of HN’s blueberry spelt pancakes and a PB&J strengthening smoothie. After that, a 2.5 hour ride in the van to the Oneota Food Co-Op. During the drive to lunch, HN pointed out to us that land prices vary greatly with topography changes and county line changes. This was interesting to me because this kind of information is readily known where I’m from. The division of heritage over county lines: Amish, Norwegians, and Germans is still prevalent in Iowa today.

We didn’t spend much time walking through Oneota’s before eating lunch, but the atmosphere mirrored a small upscale grocery store. From my understanding, a food co-op’s success lies in community support. Individuals purchase shares of the co-op and therefore essentially own part of the business and the idea is that customers are financially and morally invested in the success of the co-op. Like I said, it felt like a normal grocery store, but it’s nice to know that there’s more to it.

After lunch, we went to Seed Savers, a seed company that specializes in preserving heirloom seeds. On site, there’s an heirloom apple orchard that houses over 700 varieties of apples that have all grown during various times of American history. Our tour guide, Orchard Manager Neil Hamilton, told us his story in connection to apples. It seems that every monumental moment or person in this man’s life has something to do with apples. He’s found his mother’s favorite variety along with the varieties that first got him interested in apples as a field of study. The goal of the Seed Saver Apple Orchard is to preserve biodiversity in a country where it’s easier to practice mono-cropping with our produce.

Even though we’ve only been on the Farm for a few days, I can already tell that Saturday May 13 will be one of the best and maybe most memorable days in Iowa. The day started with us getting to sleep an extra 15 minutes; a small victory, but an important one. When we arrived at the Stole house, we were greeted by fancy “hippie” breakfast milkshakes created by HN . These shakes included ingredients such as kale, cayenne pepper, and agave, not what I pictured to be drinking on an Iowa farm. This was the first time I had ever tried anything like that or eaten kale. They turned tasting much better than I expected.

After breakfast and our daily briefing finished, we headed over to the Friest Farm. The Friest Farm is across the road from the Neubauer Farm and is owned operated by the father-son duo of Denny and Brent. I had the opportunity to ride along in a planter with Brent while he planted corn. On the tractor, we talked about a wide variety of things ranging anywhere from windmills to government regulations on manure. The coolest part was being able to watch from every angle as the corn was planted using the precision ag tools we learned about a day earlier. On a side note, Brent was easily the best person I have ever seen at backing up with a trailer.

We then ate a quick lunch and drove into Pella to see “Map of My Kingdom”, a play written by Iowa’s poet laureate, Mary Swander, at the Pella opera House. After the short one-woman one-act play finished, there was a short question and answer session with the playwright herself. Although both were a once-in-a-lifetime experience, my favorite event occurred later that night.

Once we finished our dinner cooked by Morris Stole, we headed off to my first, and hopefully not my last, barn dance. When we first arrived, I’ll admit, I was a bit timid. Everyone was standing around outside or in the hay barn chatting. In typical Iowa fashion, everyone at the dance knew everyone. So, our gang stood out like a sore thumb. When we went inside the barn we sat in our own isolated corner. Although in hindsight nobody was looking at us, I felt like everyone was staring at the out-of-towners sitting alone. However, once the band began playing, the entire place transformed. The dance floor was instantly flooded with people of all ages, and everyone knew exactly how to dance. Joined by Hagan, I went onto the dance floor, and we gave our best effort at dancing the two-step.

After a few songs, the “waterfall” began. This dance put men in one line and women in another, and we were randomly paired with partners. My first partner was an older woman, probably in her early 80s, who was an amazing dancer. She taught me the steps as we went along, and even though I didn’t catch on until the very end, she said I was a great partner. I tried another partner, but it had an equally bad outcome. Having felt like I embarrassed myself enough, I went outside to use the outhouse. While in line, I began talking to a woman. After some small talk, our topic moved to dancing. Little did I know, her and her husband, who had been married for about 40 years, had been going to barn dances together since they were in high school. She gave me some words of encouragement and was able to persuade me to go back onto the dance floor.

She gave me enough confidence that I didn’t leave the dance floor for the rest of the night. I danced with anyone from old women to teenage girls. As the night drew on, I even became better at the two-step. However, I think the most important thing I learned from the dance is how important community and friendship is to the people of Central Iowa. The same people go to dance after dance and have developed close ties. While walking around, I overheard men talking about their latest corn planting and politics, while the women talked about who brought what “snackies” and freely chatted about the upcoming week.

The culture in Iowa is very different from my neighborhood in South Carolina. My parents and my neighbors rarely talk. Once a year there is a block party, but nobody really wants to be there, it’s more of a chore. They tend to just sit around and talk about how people have let their yards go. Here, it is completely different. Neighbors are friends. These friends are treated like family. They genuinely care about each other and are there to help whenever it is needed. In small towns, such as the ones we are scattered across now, people tend to view their lives differently. Farming has no room to take anything for granted. Everyone really appreciates the little things. Being able to have a carefree night of dancing and friendship after a hard day of planting seems like a perfect Saturday night in Iowa.