Ed Kee lectured to our class about the “Agricultural Giants”, also known as Iowa and California. Iowa farmers till 30.5 million acres and farmers in California till 25.5 million acres. The top agricultural products grown in both of these states are corn and soybeans. California has a total of $47 billion in Agricultural sales. California ranks first in many different commodities. These commodities range from milk to almonds and grapes. Some farming operations in California have 50,000 acres or more while more average farms have about 330 acres. California alone produces 2/3 of the U.S. fruits and nuts. Tomato processing is also a very big deal in California. Over 95% of our tomato products come from California. Growing a large amount of something comes at a price, which California farmers know. Water in California is a lot more expensive, due to water quality, so some California farmers own water rights which help make their water less expensive. Moving on, Iowa is the largest producer of corn in the world. The economic activity that is generated off of corn in Iowa is $8.8 billion. Iowa harvests 13.1 million acres of corn a year. Iowa also is home of the largest family owned seed company, Stine Seeds. Along with that, pork is also a big deal in Iowa, they raise 20.9 million hogs annually which is the equivalent of 32% of the nations pork production. Just by these statistics we can tell that Iowa and California have tremendous agricultural production. Along with the valuable information on Iowa and California we learned about the Port of Wilmington which is right here in Delaware. This port alone created 5,900 jobs and makes $436 million in annual business revenue. This port made it possible for exports coming out of Iowa and California with products such as cotton, soybeans, horticulture crops, ect. to be delivered right here in Delaware.
Category Archives: Production Agriculture
Guest Speaker Ed Kee: Iowa and California “Agricultural Giants”
“Iowa is an agricultural force in the United States and the world” (Ed Kee). Mr. Ed Kee, former secretary of agriculture, informed the University of Delaware’s understanding today’s agriculture class about the agricultural industry in the states of Iowa and California, their contribution to the states economically as well as the U.S. in food production, the climate and soils, and the advantages each state has in production. Within the state of Iowa, there are 87,000 farmers that till 30.1 million acres throughout the state and 92% of the state’s cash income comes from their leading production in the crops of corn and soybeans and in the production of pork and beef; all of which contribute to the states exports of $11 billion in products annually. However, the state’s success in crop production is all due to the climate and soil fertility the land holds. Iowa, unlike many eastern and western states, has a climate with a consistent moderate temperature and a rainfall of only 24 to 36 inches per year; the region also has loess soil that is composed of windblown silt and clay particles that hold nutrients and moisture longer which allows the crops to grow and be produced at a better rate than most states. Although Iowa is one of the largest producers in the world, California also has a large production rate of specific crops for the state and the U.S. as well.
California is able to produce vegetables and fruits such as tomatoes that account for 95% of the U.S. tomatoes, strawberries and other known fruits and vegetables in a shorter time period that allows the world to have a constant supply of those products. Essentially, with California’s high production rates, California is able to make $47 million a year in ag sales and exports 26% of its products that make the states agricultural industry have a $21 billion-dollar value overall which makes the industry very important within the state and for other states across the U.S. From this presentation, many things about the agricultural industry in the Iowa and California can be learned, which can help the students and myself to develop a better understanding of the industry as well as develop a broader perspective of the industry as a whole.
Throughout this lecture, Mr. Kee discussed the agricultural industry within the state of Iowa and California and their uniqueness economically and in food production which led myself and other students to develop a further understanding of agriculture in those states, a broader perspective of the agricultural industry overall, and learn an interesting fact. The interesting fact I learned throughout Mr. Kee’s lecture was that Iowa and California are the largest producers of crops and other products such as beef, pork, and milk which makes it very important to sustain the agricultural industry in those states now and in the future time.
How Iowa and California Contribute to Agriculture in a Big Way
September 25th, 2019 Mr. Ed Key talked to the class about agriculture in Iowa and California. Iowa is an agriculture force. Although it is ranked behind California in cash farm. Iowa has 87,500 farmers till 30.5 acres. That’s a lot of farmers to cover a lot of land. Iowa ranks first in corn production. Farmers harvest 13.1 million acres of corn. Iowa also ranks first in soybean production. They have 9.8 million acres of land, 553.7 million bushels. That’s 57 bushels an acre! Iowa ranks first in hog production as well. They raise 20.9 hogs annually. That’s 32% of the nation’s pork production. They are the nations leading producer of eggs. Iowa chickens laid 12.5 billion eggs last year. Mr. Key also taught us a term; loess: which is wind blown deposits of silt and clay. California is ranked first in tomato’s, almonds, grapes, milk and cream, strawberries, flowers and foliage’s, walnuts, hay, and lettuce. California exports 26% of its agriculture production by volume. California is the 10th largest general economy in the world. 95% tomato’s come from California. These two states imply a lot of hard work and effort in providing the nation with certain grains, fruits, dairy, and meats. They feed millions of people a year. The coolest thing I learned was that 40% percent of corn crops go in animal feed and 40% goes to ethanol.
Ed Kee’s lecture on Iowa and California
This morning on Wednesday September 25th Ed Kee came and spoke again on how Iowa and California are Agricultural giants. California is number one and Iowa is number two. Did you know that 85% of Iowa’s lands are farmlands? They also have 87,500 farmers to till 30.5 million acres. This year, Iowa ranked 1st in soybean production. They had 9.8 million of acres. They were also ranked first in hog production with 20.9 million hogs raised annually. Lastly, they are the nation’s leading producer of eggs.
Iowa has perfect conditions to crow crops in the agricultural industry. There is about 24-36 inches of rain a year, not super hot during growing season, and it is very fertile. They also have a quarter of the nations ethanol plants which is crazy.
California is number one in agricultural sales with 47 million dollars. California has many great spots for grow lettuce, strawberries, broccoli, and other such greens because of the Pacific Ocean. Close to the ocean gives off a nice breeze which helps the crops. A bad thing about growing crops in California is water demand. The cost is quite high because the state is so large. Lastly California is ranked first in 9 commodities! Ed Kee really knew his stuff and showed us a very interesting and engaging PowerPoint. The former UD Secretary of Agriculture did a great job.
Mr. Walter Edwin ‘Ed’ KEE on DE Ag and its importance as a food shed
On September 16, 2019 Mr. Ed KEE spoke to us on Delaware Agriculture and it’s importance as a feed shed. The talk began with a bit of bio provided by both Prof. ISAACS and Mr. KEE, who shared a brief synopsis of his education and his ties to the University of Delaware’s continued work in the advancement of modern agriculture. He stated that although UD became a land grant college in 1869, it wasn’t until the 1990s, when Dean Harry HAYWARD initiates the university’s purchase of $20, 000 worth of campus-adjacent farmland, that the Agricultural department started to make great strides- with the help of Dr. Bill MITCHELL, a WW2 veteran and extension agronomist.
Mr. KEE’s eight year tenure as Delaware’s Secretary of Agriculture, and two published works on the history of UD’s Agricultural Extension and Carvel Research Center, meant he had the background to give the class an in-depth picture of Delaware farming from the Colonial Days to today- including an interesting a related anecdote into Prof. ISAACS’ ancestry to illustrate the tenacity and determination required of farmers.
From the Revolutionary War to the early 1800s Delaware primarily exported wheat. After the completion of the DE Railroad in 1859 and the DuPont Highway in 1924 Delaware is able to improve the ways in which food is transported, shipping produce as canned goods in water or brine. Many canneries are built around Delaware to process vegetables and fruits like tomatoes, peaches, and strawberries, but also ‘fruits of the sea’ like oysters, employing many individuals to move shipments from one point to another. One cannery, the Stokely-Van Camp Cannery, was an early example of early agribusiness and the thought process behind environmental accountably. The cannery, and other processors like it, would discard bean husks and effluent directly into the canals and waterways they were built near, clogging and polluting the watershed with excess nutrients and detritus. This myriad number of canneries, mills, and factories would decrease from hundreds, to a mere two that remain today- PicSweet and Hanover- large companies that bought up smaller ones for better brand recognition.
The processors of the early 1900s did well, but the farms that provided them with product were rarely operating at peak efficiency. Mr. KEE, citing Prof. ISAACS family line as an example, stated that most small farmers before WW2 would barely eke out 30 bushels of corn year after year, only just making a profit, but continuing to grow anyway. It wasn’t until after WW2, when farmers embraced new technologies such as Henry WALLACE’s Pioneer Seed Co. seed stock and hybrid varieties, that they were able to increase their yield to 80 bushels. Similar scientific advancements occurred with poultry, dairy, and other forms of produce.
The increasingly high yields and technological advancements in agriculture have made the farming field one that requires a consistent, regulatory environment to turn a profit. Through increased education, business procedures and regulations, farming has improved not only for the farmer, but also the consumer.
As stated by former Guest Speaker Ms. Georgie CARTANZA and Professor ISAACS, Delaware’s unique geographic position places most of it’s farms within eight hours driving distance to 1.1 million people, or 1/3 of the U.S. population. 76% of the state is open space, with ≈2/3 of that amount dedicated to farmland- ≈800 farms. Of the 41% of the land area dedicated to farms- a total of 115, 000 acres- a total of ≈30% is permanently reserved through the AgLand Preservation Program, which was established in 1995. The AgLand Preservation Program is a core feature of Delaware’s Agricultural economy, providing a steady and reliable market for farmers. Through the AgLand program, land can be given to the state for preservation in perpetuity, or sold by the farmer to another farmer so the property remains apart of the Agricultural System.
Another program Mr. KEE shared with the class was the Young Farmers Program. Mr. KEE haunted earlier that many farms are small farms of about 30-50acres. Unable to compete with the ‘Big Ag’ industry for a larger share of the profits, about 40% of those farmers have off-farm income generated from other jobs such as teaching, factory work, or school bus driving. The Young Farmers Program provides $500, 000 for a qualified young farmer at 0% interest for 30years.
In order to help farmers young and old, make larger profits, many states have increased efforts to educate the public on farming as well. Unlike the post-WW2 farmers, many modern-day consumers tend to be resistant to the innovations made in farming. State Universities like UD try to educate to public on current farming practices. Such practices discussed in class included Integrated Pest Management, used to identify and target specific pest to employ a targeted and controlled response that generates as little perceived amount of environmental harm possible; the use of Center-Pivot Irrigation Systems, irrigation that can be moved and monitored remotely via a cell phone for the optimum application of water. Many more practices went unmentioned due to time constraints, but the need for greater public education regarding agriculture was greatly emphasized.
The lecture closed with a discussion on the cultivation of hemp and the controversies surrounding a potential future cash crop. Hemp might be harvested for CBD oil or fibers, though its legality is still not consistent across the U.S.- particularly by the FDA as food additive. With and uncertain future and an unidentified market, many farmers might embrace the crop from and ethical standpoint, but can’t financially absorb the costs to grow it without a guaranteed profit. Mr. KEE spoke of a group of Hollywood investors that approach a family farm of several generations to grow 1000 acres of hemp for them to process and ship. The farmers agree to take the risk, but only if they were paid upfront. The anecdote served to illustrate the balance between farmers and consumers, and how consumer demand and existing markets play a critical role is what is produced and how much.
Field Trip #1- Ms. Georgie CARTANZA’s Organic Poultry Farm
On September 7, 2019 the entire class took a trip to Dover, Delaware to visit a poultry farm. Though I grew up not too far from this farm, I never new of it’s existence. The farm is owned by a Ms. Georgie Cartanza, a Nuffield Scholar and the current University of DE Poultry Extension Agent. Ms. Cartanza began the trip by introducing herself and sharing a bit of backstory. She told this to us while we sat on a makeshift amphitheater of sorts made up of packages of pine shavings set up on the concrete heavy-use pad in the shadow of a barn used for storage.
After the presentation, we were presented with Personal Protective Equipment- intended more for the chickens safety than our own- in the form of rubber booties, coveralls, and hairnets.
Looking quite stylish and now rendered unable to sneak-up on anyone, we loudly rustled and awkwardly shuffled around the other side of the barn where we saw the EcoDrum and the product of it’s ‘in-vessel composting process’.
Opposite the barn, we could see behind up an identical structure with a manual composting drum.
After marveling at the innovative composting technology we walked over to the actual chicken houses themselves. We got to hear about the technology used to run the chicken houses, namely the Environmental Controller- revolutionary device that allows a single farm to take care of 37, 000 chickens. A prominent part of that technology, displayed broadly on the sides of all the houses, are the large fans to bring the temperature of the chicken house down when necessary.
We also learned about the pasture areas between the houses and the advantages and disadvantages of allowing chickens to roam in the yard. Not yet in use with the young chickens were ramps, hanging water dispensers, bully boxes, ramps, and shade structures. Along with the man-made shade structures were natural shade structures of cattails running down the center.
The culmination of the trip was the experience of holding baby chickens- these particular chicks were a mere two days old, still bearing the pink streaks of the tinted spray vaccine they received before arriving.
The class, joined by Ms. Cartanza, didn’t leave Dover before stopping for lunch at Chik-fil-A- paid for by the Professor. We parted ways with our host after lunch to return to the Newark campus.
The Newark class section would see Ms. Cartanza again, albeit remotely, for Monday’s first class guest lecture.
Ms. Georgie CARTANZA – Evolution of the Delmarva Poultry Industry
Graced by Ms. CARTANZA’s presence yet again, she both repeated and elaborated on some of the finer points she had made on the field trip.
Having had extensive experience in the poultry industry as a field supervisor, waking up anywhere from 4-7am and working 50 hours a week minimum, to working as an employee at Mountaire teaching people how to build two times bigger, better chicken houses, Ms. Cartanza still had a wealth of knowledge to impart.
Working as an organic poultry contract farmer, for Perdue’s organic Division Coleman, Ms. Cartanza shared some of the logistic and political issues surrounding the operation of her farm and organic poultry farms in general.
Because contract farmers compete for their contracts with different companies, growing their chicken competitively. Ms. Cartanza’s in a smaller 20acre farm, one of many strewn about the state and the peninsula, but with ¼ of the U.S. population within eight hours of her location, she maintains an edge on the competition. Delaware is not the leader in broiler production, but it does have the most broilers per square mile, with the largest organic processing plant in the country.
The poultry not only has to generate income for the company, but also pay for the capital involved in producing it- the cost of four chicken houses is much more expensive that the land they’re placed on, coming in at over $1.5mil whereas the acreage was just $20, 000. The biggest expense Ms. Cartanza said she faced after chicken feed was her mortgage and electric.
She, as a Nuffield scholar having spent time in Brazil as well as Mexico, Cornell, Ireland, & France, had not just a local Delmarva or U.S. perspective on poultry farming, but a global one.
Ms. Cartanza said a lot of the expenses and adjustments she must make around her farm don’t necessarily come from government agencies as a result of scientific study, but from the uniformed masses and their personal feelings on what makes chickens, ‘happy’.
For example, Ms. Cartanza said she has a manual composter that’s worth $12, 000 and is capable of processing 1.5 flocks, while her Canada-made EcoDrum, with it’s inverse-composting can process 5 flocks with less time and effort from the farmer. The new equipment isn’t really necessary, but it looked good to environmentalists. Chickens purportedly need 4-8hrs of darkness for melatonin production, but that may not actually help the birds at all.
Another example would be the way chicken houses have been restructured over the years. Ms. Cartanza pointed out while we were at her farm, that the window sizes on the building had to be upped due to evolving public sentiment around the amount of light chickens require to be, ‘happy’, but not necessarily healthier. The larger windows decrease the R-value of the overall house, while the transition from curtain-sided to solid-sidewall houses increase the R-value.
Outside the houses, in the pasture area, Ms. Cartanza must provide shade-areas, buffers, and enrichments that can take the form of patches of warm season grasses, like cattails and miscanthus, trees, like hybrid willows, and toys, like ‘bully boxes’ and ramps. Some of these additions, like the buffers, can help remove harmful particulates from the air, appeasing nearby neighbors, but the grasses can also add to the difficult of managing the chickens environment, creating dense growth that chickens can hide and be lost to the farmer in.
Once the 2-day-old chicks we interacted with reach three weeks old, they will have the option to go outside the chicken house. Allowing chickens to go outside makes them more at risk for predation and contamination from other birds and their droppings in the pasture that could carry Avian Flu virus. The chickens will instinctively stay inside at high noon when they are most visible from overhead, but they also seem to be most comfortable in the artificial, but regulated environment of the houses. The houses are kept at 92degrees F° via large tunnel ventilators that suck out the 8btus of heat that each chicken produces and also blows cool air through the chicken houses, protecting the birds from heat exhaustion by extracting body heat
The organic process also has restrictions on how it maintains the physical health and the environment of the chickens. Ms. Cartanza is permitted to use substances such as oregano, apple cider vinegar, copper sulfate, boric acid, and liquefied citric acid to care for the chickens.
Technology allows Ms. Cartanza to care for 37, 000 chickens more or less independently, but years ago that would have been impossible. That relative ease allows Ms. Cartanza to theoretically fed 780, 000 families from the output of her farm.
People who don’t like the poultry industry might be hard-pressed to find fault with the jobs it creates or how it helps the local economy- for every 1 jobs in poultry, 7 are created in the wider community. Labels in marketing are also used to sway public opinion- ABF or ‘Antibiotic Free’ chickens applies to any U.S. chicken, as the chickens must be cut off of any antibiotics 2 weeks before processing; NAE or ‘No Antibiotics Ever’ sounds good in theory and may appease animal welfare groups, but allowing chickens to potentially suffer for the sake of the label is debatable; and Organic chicken means a chicken is free-range and feed only GMO free feed from organic certified ground, which means additional organic corn and soybeans must be sourced from foreign countries like Argentina and Turkey, increasing the carbon footprint of the organic. The Global Animal Partnership (GAP), a coalition of vegetarians formed by Whole Foods that can threaten chain restaurants and businesses that don’t sell the type of meat they sign-off on, and other political figures with specifics leanings
Genetics, nutrition, housing, and technology have contributed to increasingly larger chickens. In 1957 chickens took 56 days to grow 2lbs,- today a modern chicken can reach 9lbs in the same amount of time. No steroids used- selective breeding makes larger chickens. Maturing in about 20 days, they are able to evolve faster.
Ms. Cartanza stresses the importance of environmental stewardship, saying poultry farmers don’t want their farms to be unhealthy or toxic places- they raise their families on the farm. They also don’t want suffering or dying birds- lost birds means a loss of money. At the sound of an alarm, a farmer may have to wake up very early, climb a grain bin, run to restore power, or confront a predator or pest- they may have as little as 20minutes to save a flock in the wake of natural disaster of power failure. She mentioned CO2stunning used in a Milford poultry plant to put chickens to sleep before processing- must be alive to process.
Ms. Cartanza says the next big issue facing poultry farmers after the nutrient pollution of waterways will be air quality, though the sustainably of poultry farming itself, whether from an economic or environmental standpoint will be debated as well. A big part of farming in general is the effect it has on the environment. Farmers can be easy targets, when only 2% of the U.S. voters farm and of that number most face more strict regulations on how they farm than a golf course owner or someone with a residential property applying a myriad of various chemicals to their properties.
For Ms. Cartanza herself and her farm, her next big challenge might just be eliminating some of her power costs, one of her biggest expenses as previously mentioned, at $5, 000 a month. With a housing unit for an off-grid 20,000V power generator, Ms. Cartanza may consider going solar next. A solar power system would take 15 years to pay off an might last for 25-35years. A part of the farming process is weigh risks, and Ms. Cartanza deemed the risk too great.
Regardless of an individuals approach to poultry farming, or working in general, Ms. Cartanza reminds the class of the importance of maintaining humility and, ‘doing little things well’. She also reiterates the importance of vetting the news and the science and not discounting another person’s views. Even though she grows organic, she did it to follow the market and industry’s trajectory towards increasingly organic foods. Ms. Cartanza did say she will buy and eat conventional chicken and has noticed no difference in quality. She also states it is impossible to feed the world organically- in 2050, 9bilion people are projected to inhabit the world.
Overall, I enjoyed the trip and the lecture. Some memorable events include:
- One chick slated to be euthanized later by ethical/humane cervical dislocation, i.e., ‘wringing it’s neck’, possibly due to an error in the in-egg fertilization process where a needle is placed through the egg shell 3days before the chicks birth which may have caused ‘Star-gaze syndrome’, piercing the birds’ spinal cord
- Holding a 2 day old chick in my bare hands that could barely stay awake
- Learning that, contrary to what I had read previously, chickens are still caught by hand and live-hungèmachines were not as successful as hoped
- Perdue tried for 1yr, but the results still were not as good as the 7man team that can take up to 4 6.5lb birds in each hand & can earn up to $30,00 a year catching poultry 6days a weekèEurope is often a few years ahead of the U.S. as far as tech
- The Chik-fil-A lunch that followed where I saw a WW2 vet
Positively Poultry
Poultry farming has been a very controversial topic in the news lately. There has been a lot of talk about hormones in chickens, family farms being factory farms, chickens being housed in cramped spaces and unhealthy living environments, etc. Not only was all of this proven not to be true by organic chicken farmer, Georgie Cartanza, but just because those things are being said, being in the poultry business can be more difficult. Chickens were believed to have been given hormones in order to grow to the size that they are today in comparison to those 50 years ago. The reality is, because of better feed and selective breeding, chickens have just gradually become larger. Georgie Cartanza gave examples of why someone might think her chicken farm was a factory farm and the truth of the matter is, because of advancements in technology, farmers are able to take care of more birds and more efficiently. Many times pictures are taken on a farm but are focused on an area that can be construed badly. The reason chickens look so cramped is because they flock closely together. Any animal will group together whether it’s for warmth, the sense of security, or safety. The chickens had more than enough room to roam, they just chose to be close to others. Even with all of the stigma going around about chicken farming, Georgie Cartanza still takes care of her business with a positive attitude. The advice she gave to all of us in pursuing any career was to always be positive.
Dave Mayonado & Biotechnology
In class we had the opportunity to hear Dave Mayonado talk about biotechnology and his experience with Monsanto, and now Bayer. He started out but briefly talking about agricultural practices before we had all this precision agriculture technology and biotechnology. Explaining how land grant universities had the ability to conduct great amounts of research about agriculture. Afterwards he began to dive into how the knowledge of genetics and proteins in a plants genome has created for so many advances in agriculture. The ability for seed companies to insert targeted traits, silence traits, or add traits into a plants DNA allowed for them to start producing seeds that wouldn’t die from glyphosate, withstand drought better, produce higher levels of oil, and much more. This changed the face of agriculture. However, this technology is something that is heavily targeted but anti-GMO activists despite the fact that it is constantly being proven as a safe technology. In being employed with now Bayer, Mayonado has to be an agvocate for such technology, although that may not be formally in his job description.
I thought it was really interesting how Mayonado explained he spends a lot of the time in his job, working with government officials to educate them on this technology. The food and fiber system is quite the platform for political figures but yet a lot of them really have no idea what they are actually talking about. In saying so, I think a lot of people don’t realize that major seed companies have to take many different roles in educating consumers/political figures in order to continue to have successful company. He also talked about how they are constantly having to research, create, and produce new products in order to keep up with the producer and the demands. A big concern with this technology is the development of resistance in pests, so marketing new products so producers have different modes of action is crucial to a biotech company like Bayer. Creation of such products is lengthy, costly process but if done correctly can be very financially rewarding. Clearly, Monsanto/Bayer have been able to do just that.
Mayonado gave a great lecture pertaining to biotechnology and his experience within the company. Although I may not have understand all the technical science in his presentation, the one point that stuck out to me was that he never has the same work day. Things are always changing, and that is innovation something that excites me as a future producer.
Building Sustainable Agriculture
Tuesday November 13th, Bill Cowser and Bill Northey came to the UD STAR Campus to discuss biofuels and modern agriculture. All majors were welcome to this hearing and as a bonus at the end there was free UDairy ice cream! On Bill Cowser’s farm he raises beef cattle and grows soybeans and corn. He mentioned that every third row of corn goes to produce ethanol. In Iowa, 39% of its corn crops is used for ethanol. Cowser also mentioned the three commodities that come from a corn field: stalk/corn, feed, and bedding. One thing that I thought was kind of funny was what Cowser calls “The Chase.” The Chase is one thing that he needs/ wants to control the most but is unable too. He would like to control the weather but it’s impossible. He even said that he knows he can’t be he’s going to try. This past summer Iowa got a lot of rain. More than Delaware which destroyed some of the crops there.
Both men talked about the main goals of the agricultural industry. For instance, farmers want renewable, sustainable, environmental friendly, and profitable products. If it’s not profitable then that’s a huge lost right there because no one will be able to afford it and therefore, no one would buy the product. They also talked about the VTA or the Vegetative Treatment Area. What this is, is an area of perennial vegetation, like grass or forage. It is used to treat runoff from either a barnyard or a feedlot by settling, infiltration, and nutrient use. And when the runoff has settled into the soil, natural processes allow plants to use those nutrients. To me, this presentation was really interesting to hear. Even though it went over most of the topics we covered in class there was more to learn from it which is pretty cool. It’s also nice to get an insight view of the production from a different area.
Building Sustainable Agriculture – Bill Couser and Bill Northey
I was able to go see Bill Couser and Bill Northey speak about creating sustainable agriculture. Although I had to leave early due to an evening class, I gained a lot of knowledge about production agriculture in Iowa from Bill Couser.
One of the big points that stuck out to me from Couser was the fact that he said he tries to farm in a renewable, sustainable, environmentally friendly, but yet profitable way. Although this is pretty much commonsense, his reasoning for doing so is what stuck out to me. He wants to not only promote sustainable farming in general, but most importantly he wants to give the generations to follow nutrient rich, well managed, profitable land. Throughout his presentation you could tell that all the different management methods he has put into place since the 1930’s has been made to do just this. Putting in place different systems to control runoff and nutrient leeching from his feedlot, implementing more cover crop coverage on his land, practicing more no till methods, and also producing more commodities from one crop are all practices he has incorporated to better off his operation which ultimately will better off the upcoming generations. It interesting to see how leaving a productive farm goes hand in hand with environmental stewardship/sustainable agriculture. This is something I see in my operation at home, as I am getting older I see these little management decisions my dad makes to continue to create a sustainable and profitable farming operation. I also really enjoyed his comments on trying to control, or lack there of, the weather as a farmer. Weather is a continuous battle that farmers face.
Overall it was great listening to Couser speak about sustainable agriculture and see how even in Iowa, the concepts still hold true for farming in Pennsylvania. I always enjoy seeing how different operations run and the different systems they have in place.
UD Building Sustainable Agriculture Seminar
On November thirteenth, Bill Cowser and Bill Northey visited the University of Delaware to discuss biofuels and modern agriculture. Bill Cowser produces corn, beef, soybeans, and ethanol in Nevada Iowa. Cowser’s farm has grown from accommodating 50 beef cattle in the early 1900s to accommodating a couple thousand beef cattle. Cowser has worked with the EPA to accommodate the high levels of rainfall in Iowa through a multi-step filtration and reuse program on his farm. Cowser also raises his beef cattle on concrete so he is able to retain and use the manure produced on his farm. Agriculturalists are also looking at the way that they are affecting the environment through water management and nutrient management. A variety of cover crops are utilized to protect the soil from erosion as well as absorb excess nutrients in the soil. There is also research and development occurring to reduce nutrients that wind up in rivers and other bodies of water. Currently there is an issue with hypoxic zones in bodies of water that wind up killing aquatic life. Thanks to technology, crop fields are no longer blanketed with fertilizer or pesticides. Technological advancements have allowed farmers to tailor the application of sprays and other materials based on the needs of different areas of a field. This technological advancement has also saved farmers money. Corn is the crop that allows processing plants to produce ethanol. There are 42 ethanol plants in Iowa presently and these plants produce 4 billion gallons of ethanol a year. Half of the corn being produced in Iowa goes to the production of ethanol. Ethanol is produced for less than traditional gasoline. Agriculturalists are finding a way to utilize all components of the corn plant. Husks and other components can be used as feed, fertilizer, and the production of charcoal and other products. It was interesting to learn about aspects of modern agriculture and biofuels from Bill Cowser and Bill Northey.
UD Farm Tour – Scott Hopkins
On Saturday November 10th our class toured the Newark Farm on our very own University of Delaware’s campus. Although I was not able to attend I am decently familiar with the campus farm. The UD farm was one of the first things I toured at the University of Delaware. I was immediately impressed by all the different aspects of the farm and the amount of research that they are able to conduct.
One of the main facilities I am pretty familiar with is the milking parlor. It was really cool to see that operation and how they use the milk for UDairy. This is a prime example of how UD is trying to connect the consumers to the product they are buying. This is a big trend for consumers and it is a great marketing technique for UDairy and UD’s dairy. I also am familiar with UD’s dairy because I have had to work a milking shift through one of my classes freshman year. It was good seeing how they take sanitary precautions while milking and also with sick cows. The dairy also has a great basis for research in the dairy industry from feed analysis, exploring the rudiment stomach of the cows, and many other aspects.
Besides the dairy, there is Webb Farm which has sheep, horses, and steers. I have been there before for other classes and it was cool to see how they are putting in place different management methods, like pasture rotation. Also, I know many classes have labs that give the ability for students to get hands on experience with these animals, something that is so crucial in the learning process. In addition, the apiary is a pretty cool aspect of the farm. Bees have had quite the presence on social media due to their importance to our food supply so seeing how UD is doing their part in research and production of bees is awesome. Overall, I think the UD farm is something that makes this university so unique because of all the different research aspects and experience students can gain through it.
Industry and Academia in Ag
Dave Mavonado came to speak to the class about Industry and Academia in Agriculture and how much it has evolved since it all started. The main thing that he talked about was how much the agricultural business has changed and developed over the last century. The reason why it has changed so drastically was because of the four topics Dave spoke about: labor, mechanics, chemical usage, and biotechnology. Back in the day, it was all hands on deck. Farmers mainly relied on the use of animals for labor. Such as pulling plows. There would also be groups of people in the fields harvesting the produce by hand because they didn’t have combines or tractors like we do today. It wasn’t up until steel came about that helped the agricultural industry evolve the way it did. Tractors slowly started making its way into the business and helped the farmers produce a higher yield of crops because they were able to get through everything much faster. Next was the use of chemicals. This allowed protection of the plants to repel itself from pests that might damage or kill the crop. Finally, biotechnology. With biotechnology we are able to produce a much higher yield in a shorter time frame without harming the produce like GMO’s. There’s also CRISPR which allows scientists to take a certain gene out of the plants DNA and make it better so the farmer can produce more.
Dave also talked about the different grants that were and still are available today. The Morrill Acts of 1862 and 1890 established the raising of funds to create land-grant colleges. The Morrill Acts mission was to take kids who did not know a thing about agriculture and teach them about practical agriculture, science, and engineering. But in order for kids to learn about agriculture they needed the land. Hatch Act of 1887 lead to the creation of agriculture experiment stations to be affiliated with the land grants. If it wasn’t for these grants who knows what the agricultural industry would be like today.
Changes in Ag in the Monsanto/Bayer Company
In listening to Dave speak on all that has changed in agriculture and in the company he works for, Bayer, he focused on four main topics as the beginning of that change. This change was based around tools used to control agricultural pest and managing them. The first of these changes was labor. In the beginning of agriculture labor was highly reliant on animals to pull the tools they needed to plow the fields, followed by someone pushing the tools. In order to collect these crops large groups of people, often families, went out to their crops and would pick one plants that were ready to be harvested. In todays world we are heavily reliant on machinery and fewer people in order to harvest crops. The second main step in this change was mechanics. Steel was a main part to this change, as it became more of a reliant for farmers and their families and yields to the increase of agriculture during the early days. This is what evolved the industry to become more reliant on machinery and allowed the industry to begin the era of tractors. The third piece that impacted early agriculture was the use of chemicals, where they would use small molecules in order to aid to the crops. This allowed chemicals to protect the plants and repel the pests that may be ruining or have the potential to ruin a crop. This was also a time point of no till and chemicals greatly affected this. The final piece to impact agriculture pest management was the biological aspect, where we began using things like GMO’s to give us higher yields using less input. This was also a time of CRISPR (where you can isolate a certain gene) and RNAi (when you could shut off certain genes) which greatly impacted the ability for a farmer to produce more food and to gain higher yields, all to benefit the consumer. Without listening to Dave speak on how important these factors became in the field of agriculture, it could be difficult for one to think back on crop production and to realize just how far it has come.