Listening to Mark Lynas’s speech on GMO’s I was enlightened on the many misconceptions on them. In fact, Mark Lynas believed his whole life how bad and unnatural GMO’s are to the planet, he acquired data and fact checking and afterwards completely changed. Lynas opened his mind to the reality of how much we need engineered science to improve our crop yield and to also help the population strive. I find it very interesting how many people find it so unnatural and look to substitutions like organic instead, which is far worse than farming with GMO’s. While consuming crops that are organic, it can create a risk factoring death, where it doesn’t protect people from any diseases. Not to mention the lower crop yield it takes on, which takes away from GMO farming. Having a lot of people farm GMO, helps regulate nitrogen and leads to fixing the worlds problem with nitrogen pollution. Before watching this video, I also thought GMO’s were unnatural and feared them. After watching this video, I see how wrong I am to view GMO’s as unnatural when we humans need them to thrive for future generations and especially if we plan on having roughly nine to ten billion people on this Earth by 2050, then a good start would be to push biotechnology like GMO’s. Overall many people believe in a lot of misconceptions about the unnatural laws of Genetically Modified Organisms, and we should take ways to educate people on the idea.
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Hoober Inc. Field Trip
Going to Hoober was a tremendous educational experience where we got to look at what precision in agriculture truly gets involved with. We learned how important technology is and how much technology has changed throughout the years. It’s crazy to think that we have gone from human steering with a blind eye to a more accurate read with GPS steering. Some combines even come with automatic steering, making it virtually possible for a farmer to just push a button from their desk on a home computer and the tractor will go all by itself in the field, essentially allowing farmers to have an efficient farm. Seeing the drone fly up in the air and cover a lot of ground was amazing and to hear that they not only detect problems with crop growth and deficiency in nutrients but to are able to spray for pesticides which takes less time and management. Using a drone and new automatic sprayers for spraying pesticides also increases safety precautions, where the newer models with GPS will automatically shut off, not overlapping pesticides. Getting to ride the tractor, was amazing, not only for fulfilling a goal of mine in taking Agricultural classes but grasping the complete perspective of farming and to see how technology impacts a farmer’s profit. Overall, Hoober Farms gave us an educational impact by teaching us how farmers greatly need technology. If farmers did not have the opportunity to fly a drone around their property learning things like plant nutrition, growth patterns and possible shortages on their farm they would need more laborers, making their business less efficiency, causing them to produce a lower income. 
Fifer Orchards
Unfortunately I was not able to make the field trip, however I have lived in Camden Wyoming Delaware my whole life and I have toured the farm before. Fifer Orchards is a family farm, which just started to be 300 acres of land in 1919 by Charles Frederick Fifer, and then later grew to be what is now 2,500 acres of land for the fourth generation. Looking at this farm one can acknowledge how well the family has kept the legacy going with high quality produce that’s accessible and affordable. Fifer’s is especially known for their apples and peaches. Each year their peach ice cream is the highlight of the annual Peach Festival. I remember touring the farm a while back and being able to pick an apple right off the tree; it was as big as a softball. I remember biting it and hearing the soft but crisp bite. I remember learning all about Fifer’s crops and Delaware’s rich soil which is good for draining. They are on the leading edge of farming with no G.M.O.’s and teaming up with C.S.A. (Community Supported Agriculture) exchanging high quality produce locally. Being able to reach anyone in the United States within eight hours, the farm is efficient and accessible and is the sweet spot of farming and raising a company.
